Nickfromwales

Any chance of a pic of the spout first? Just to confirm that method will work.

Ok so this is gravity fed not mains. With the hot water running, put your hand tight over the end of the spout so the palm of your hand stops the water coming out of the spout. Then turn the cold tap on ( that will be at mains pressure ) and slowly force cold back up the hot pipe. It sounds like an airlock so back off with the chainsaw just yet

On a Wren ( aka wretched ) kitchen, I chopped the base décor ends, as you say to get the extra free mileage, and added around a half dozen additional décor end details to the customers delight. When I asked Wren to accept returns for the 11 various wall and base décor ends that were surplus AFTER the extra details were executed, they got their "lead designer" ( guy was a total penis ) to ring me to tell me I hadn't followed the plan properly and they should all have been utilised. I had a 'quiet word' with him and they were picked up around a month later, as they don't let you return direct to store. It was during the 'quiet word' that I mentioned that the "lead designer" ( 11 years experience mind you...……….) had purposefully omitted the customer's washing machine from the kitchen plan. When I asked where it was going he said "in the utility room, out of the way"......to which I replied "you've been here 3 times for a survey. WHAT UTILITY ROOM ?!?" as the customer didn't have one . Dickhead. Great trick with expensive kitchens, and can be an easy way to half the cost of décor ends ( which are usually massively overpriced for what they are ). Another trick is to work out if you have any shadow gaps to make up at the ends of the runs and to slice that out of the middle of a décor end panel during the 'halving'. Then spend the saved money on beer. Cheers!

The 2 IC's at the turn point of the two garage corners, prior to the one directly for the plant, are surplus to requirement. There's no reason why they couldn't be long radius bends IMO. As @PeterW said, a bit OTT. Peter, if the underground rainwater stuff is all French, is there any point in gulley pots? I'd say just drop straight into the ground on rest bends with rodding access immediately above ground. I'd expect this to be ~£4k *max tbh, considering plant is being provided. *Edit £4k labour £7k materials is a bit ………..

What was your total costs for groundworks?

310mm wide? What are your joist centres at?

Who did you get a quote off?

To not allow the OP to fear these things, its best to admit that you turned the stored temp down too low, and that is why you ran out If you ran your setup at a higher set temp I doubt if you'd have ever had a problem as your cylinder is enough for a couple plus 2.4 children with ease, ( when fortified with an immersion to boost the stored temp as is supposed to be for 'normal use' ). This cascade setup is exactly what I would do if I had 'tinkering time' TBH, and should work really well with ST. As said you need a separate tank to raise to the lower stored temp to combat the main cylinder from not firing useful heat into it when the temp probes say the main cylinder is sitting out of the beneficial range, typically that which the ST is often producing in our less than sun-blessed country. I proposed a 2-stage setup like this for a client who wanted to go off-grid, triple cascade with a pair of TS's as sub low grade + low grade storage so nothing went to waste. These would have been boxed in and flooded with Vermiculite / other suitable full-fill insulation to retain whatever was produced. Problem is, that lot would need an outhouse / boiler room all of its own, around half the size of a domestic single car garage, so is just totally impractical in most instances. Low grade heat is of value, but you need to store shitloads of it to have any useful energy capacity, hence the mention of the 15,000 litres stored in a gable. Anything smaller would have been quite inconsequential. That said, I would likely come to my senses and fit as much PV as I could, dumping any excess into thermal storage, ( probably Sunamp as its simply the most efficient at retaining whatever you produce ), and accept that in the summer I'll need to buy near to zero electricity ( I'd 100% fit AC batteries ) and what I saved in the summer would offset ( not eradicate ) my winter energy costs. Electricity is just a WAY more universal an energy to harvest and utilise, but this equation is hugely affected by, and the decision dependant on, a lot of factors; fabric choices, quality of glazing, airtightness with heat recovery, temperature ( and type ) of the space heating emitters, total annual energy requirements and on what do the divisible %'s go towards, and so on....and on....and on. Regularly residing over 45oC will stave off most concerns, being boosted daily by PV almost wipes that out, other than winter times of course. Thermal stores are a little mis-understood and are quite universal in their chosen applications; A TS can be just like a buffer tank, and not do DHW at all, all the way through to multiple inputs / outputs and a DHW coil ( internal coil, or external pumped plate heat exchanger ) and can be heated by electricity via immersions, by gas / oil / HP via a dedicated, hydraulic input coil. The water inside a TS is primary grade water, the same as the water in your radiators, whereas the water inside an UVC is clean fresh potable ( drinking quality ) water, the water that actually comes out fo the hot outlets. DHW, therefore, in a TS is produced instantaneously, so look at a TS like a giant wet combi boiler, with heated water doing the job of the gas burner in providing the heat energy required for DHW production ). TS's can be a static body of water, simply heated by a coil or immersion, or can be constantly circulating through the boiler and the central heating emitters as one huge unified body of water. In other mixed water solutions the heating circuit(s) could all be taken separately from internal coil(s) eg to keep glycol in an ASHP / GSHP install to a minimum volume by hydraulically separating the inputs and outputs, plus the heat inputs can also be introduced via a dedicated coil / coils say to separate ST from a gravity boiler system and so on. When you start mixing heat sources and outputs things get quite flavourful with regards to controls, isolation and general associated complexity, so choose well ( particularly if you are going to ask a 'plumber' to come up with a way to get this to all harmonise.

You'll only get flak if your still grouting in 2020 ;).

Thats the killer with multiple heat inputs. Need a lot of thought and timed control to maximise on each discipline. Just done one with a log gasification boiler, and not everyone realises they're eligible for RHI, vs a wood-burning stove with back boiler which is not eligible. Guys getting £12k back over 7 years. Bingo. The above collection of 'technologies' would indeed be very expensive to have properly designed and installed, so you do need to look closely at how much capital investment you would need / can afford, and the RoI. For me, I'd only recommend ST for somebody with a swimming pool. Right amount of energy at the right grade, at the right times of the year.

I'm a bad person ✌️?

I dont have the figures to hand as that was a quote I passed on, but I could get them with little difficulty if you want?

If I thought you were being argumentative I would say; " @scottishjohn stop being argumentative". I have said nor implied that so be mindful of how you read things please I'm stating facts, and offer that information for the benefit of the forum / thread etc, and I only stated one example to dispel what you have said eg ( and to quote ) "the 7 year payback is now twice or more" which is not the rule, clearly its the exception, but is a statement you conveyed as definitive aka a bum steer to the OP. If you have been quoted to that effect by someone then I suggest you look elsewhere All the members here receiving PV installations that I'm around are all walking around with smiles, and respectable figures for the RoI. Longest breakeven I've seen is 13 years, on a heavily fragmented and difficult array, but still worthwhile as the equipment had such long warranties and expected productive output / lifespan.

Yes, but you hand-crafted each panel from milk-bottle tops

Yes MCS, and Gloucestershire. The fit and export figures were a pittance, and should NOT be any point of focus in a well designed and conciencious installation. The figures to focus on are the breakeven point, less the nonsense, and the amount of electricity costs it will offset over it's expected useful lifespan, less maintenance.

That is an assumption which is unfounded. Comments like that do nothing to contribute to a thread where the OP will only benefit from / rely on factual information produced by individuals who are doing these installs many, many times a year. I comment with high frequency on plumbing etc as I've done it for over 23 years, and would consider that information I give out is subsequently robust. I dont offer opinion unless after giving my opinion I put ( IMO ) to make folk aware. No PV system would have a payback of 14+ years, unless it was surveyed, sized and specified by a tool.

You do a survey, like I do, and prove that its worth it Current client; £13.5k cost for a 9kW system. Breakeven at year 10.5. System guaranteed output of min 85% at the 25 year anniversary, with an expected lifespan of 30+ years. Over £25 years the array will produce ( offset the purchase of ) around £34.5k of electricity. Worst case of 2.5 inverter changes in the 25 year lifespan ( Solaredge with 12 year warranty, not cheap Chinese crap ) so allow ~£2.5k for known maintenance. RoI = £18.5k over 25 years, plus whatever additional free electricity it then goes on to produce until it dies. See it now? ?

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Never use solvent weld underground. With heave etc you need the flexibility of the rubber seals in the fittings. A solvent weld underground probably wouldn’t live through the backfilling of the trench. ?

Yup. Two beads abutting to give a decent 'chunky' appearance and create uber-sharp and arrow straight lines / edges. Plasterer was a demon for detail, and that's obvious in the quality of the final product. In all the vaulted junctions / intersections stop beads were used and skimmed in to for some of the straightest lines I've seen in a very long time. Top crew.

Hepworth are a good manufacturer, also Terrain, Polypipe and Flo-plast. Much of a muchness tbh though. Longevity of the fittings is generated by correct installation and ensuring the pipes / fittings are buried or supported accordingly. Standards exist for this so its relatively safe to proceed with any of the above. Just ask bonzo for a materials list and buy the stuff yourself. Simples. ( unless he's willing to give you the VAT equivalent as a discount on his labour ).

When done you can stand on the front lip and it'll not move a jot. You'll need to allow the CT1 to have fully cured, so 72 hours is wise before doing any ass-robics

My laptop is on windoze

Can I use that instead of iCloud? Those robbing fuckwits want more money for way less storage ?

Hey-up. You have to click on them. no pic of a play button but yes, I got to watch you flush your bog. My life is now complete