Nickfromwales

Most stopcocks don't fill the requirement, even brass ones which are supposed to fall back and seal themselves ( only really effective under forced back flow imo ) so that's why all water authorities ask for a stand alone NRV immediately after the stopcock on the rising main. If your coil of mdpe is teed off the underground main supply then you should fit a stopcock and a double check NRV immediately after it breaks ground. After that you can do what you like.

Basically just preventing back flow into the main is the criteria, howsoever achieved. After the domestic stopcock you don't need anything really as far as water bylaws / regs are involved / concerned, but it's better to have non returns on. or immediately prior to, the outside taps so draining down inside the house can never syphon dirty water back from a connected outdoor pipe / hose into the potable network. Again, anywhere where the MAIN rises needs the bylaw adhering to, and a non return outside tap does not tick that box .

Pmsl.

Your tank is an UVC is it not? 1oC per hour is typical, even for an well insulated cylinder, I think, and not disastrous tbh. Your backed up by gas though iirc, so with the boiler kicking in to replace lost heat do you find the heat exchange rate isn't enough to cope with demand ( linear )? Eg heat capacity of the UVC + gas boiler input doesn't give much sustain ? Oh, and what kW boiler did you go for?

@JSHarris Do You know if there is a similar room thermostat to your wireless one, but hard wired? I'm thinking of recommending them to the customer I did the manifold and auto-balancing actuators for as they have the basic Honeywell rotary manual stats with a horrible 1.5oC hysteresis . The house has pretty poor floor insulation ( ~70mm pir over a ventilated block and beam ) and a thin liquid screed, so the overshoot is difficult to manage, plus, as the rooms are quite big, the undershoot takes some time to recover. The manifold temp is set a bit higher than would be ideal ( so further exaggerating the overshoot ) so I think an upgrade to the stats would pay dividends.

Do you have any numbers on how the solar thermal is performing ? Iirc, you didn't go with any Pv, no ?

£140 for that 4-way connector will buy you a lot of.............other more necessary stuff. These are unnecessary IMO, and can be replaced, quicker and more easily, with simple Wagos and boxes. You don't need the disconnect-ability as your generic lighting should be fit-n-forget And yes, stay away from these temptresses, or one swift yank and you'll be changing gender

Now, now ? Folk who are currently jumping through hoops whilst bent over backwards would kill for one, even if it did look like a dog license. You could always send it off and have it made into wallpaper for a nice feature wall ??

Yup. Total and utter madness. They rust out in weeks, just crazy that it's not brass also. Good point ?

Why not put Ufh pipes in so the room can be used year round? With the ashp and less than £100 worth of pipe it seems a no brainer ?

I think in the blistering heat of the Scottish highlands you'd be best off continuing to do so. Or, retro fit an internal isolation valve like I did ( to stop the kids arsing around ) and change to a regular ourside tap so you can just turn a valve off and leave the tap open seasonally.

They ( the non return ones ) all have that but it's not meant for routine use. Iirc it's for service / maintenance use.

25-29/30 turns is fine, and the tap will just displace what it doesn't want leaving a 'collar' of tape between the two mating surfaces. Quick whip round with a stanly or junior hacksaw and clean off the excess on show and it's job done. Can't say I've seen much of that TBH, but in colder climates it makes perfect sense as the slug of water trapped between the tap and the NRV has nowhere to go. Best solution is 1) isolation 2) nrv 3) tap. Isolation and nrv inside of possible and when the frost hits just open the tap and close the isolation to prevent bursts.

You only fit NRV's above ground, so basically anywhere where the incoming cold main rises above ground you should have a stopcock and a NRV directly after. Relying on the one in the tap isn't the best measure TBH as in most instances the outside tap is already covered by the house arrangement, ascits fed from the domestic supply not the main. You should have a stopcock, and double check NRV whenever connecting independently to the main .

Tres bien Rodney ?

The link for the stat with 0.1oC hysteresis is here Very important with UFH to reduce the over / undershoot with such a device

Which bit are you standing in ? Welcome aboard from inclement swansea . If you are committed to this persuit then please ask for blogging rights here as it would be of great interest, generate some discussion and provide an excellent, near unique insight to the straw bale journey.

+1 Leave the first pass go off overnight as it shrinks back a lot as it dries, when applied thickly.

Under no circumstances should you attempt to use this as a finish or caulk . Its horrendous post-cure and dried rock hard and brittle. I caulked a bedroom once with the solvent free grip fill / adhesive and it all dried like a prune, shrank back, split and left two jagged edges which needed scraping off and redoing. Total mess and really hard work. Also, do not use it on anything new non-porous as it'll stay uncured / wet for weeks. Choose once, fit easy, last long.

Hi and welcome mark . Its ALL about the plumbing TBH, the rest will simply fall in behind it Ill be visiting the S&BiL over Xmas ( Broomfield ) so do you think you'll be ready for 1st fix by then ? Congrsts on winning the fight, now for the nice bit......Enjoy!

Happy days. Keeping the bit wet just makes such a difference. If drilling dry I found the high speed killed the bit a lot sooner, but as I was in a finished, grouted and sealed bathroom I had to drill dry with the hoover. Result, and thanks @Dee J for rounding the thread off .

You a million % sure? It wouldn't be that much disruption. One big primary hot = lots of wasted time and hot water. You might be able to pull a pioe through by dropping lights etc. Ask the plumber as he's know the layout best.

45 seconds? Have you got a pic of your setup Wendy? Maybe you can retrofit a HR pump cheekily just to warm the manifolds and the immediately connective pipework . That would shave a LOT off that time.

That's when it's worth fitting one, but please check and clean it every 6 months until it is evident that annual cleaning at the service interval will suffice.

Just give me the nod and they'll have a visit from the welsh mafia You don't have to only speak about building here, we love a good natter and I know that your not alone here in your predicaments, and their severity, so any time you want to offload just go for it. When your home is finished and looking a million dollars it'll be your turn to shine, and you can then give a smug FU to the jealous hairy scrotum-faced neighbours. And yes, you can tell them I said that ?