TheMitchells

Could you not line one wall with cork tiles? They are ideal for absorbing noise??

The Commissioning chap came round yesterday, checked the system and listened to our tales of woe. He said that the flow temperature was 10oC lower than recommended and the water temp was only at 44oc when it was specified at 50oC. But apart from that, all was okay. After some tweaks to correct the temperatures, he left. The house is warm enough and Dad seemed to listen to his advice re maintaining a fairly constant temperature, rather than trying to turn off things then expecting them to warm up when turned back on. (Even though I had explained the same several times before - but then I'm just his daughter! What would I know........) So we spent £7k, plus a £7.5k grant from the Government, and from start to finish it took from 11th November till 3rd December to install and make it all work satisfactorily. Not really the best advertisment for ASHP's but if it keeps the old folks warm enough and saves some money from the old system, then I'm happy.

I should have known it wasnt going to happen. The Commissioning engineer is now coming next week to give the company time to sort this all out. Which is a good job. The electrician was moved to today (wednesday) as the new Honeywell thermostat was arriving yesterday. However, when i arrived this morning, the electrician was resetting the programme on the old one! He assumed I was not intelligent enough to programme the correct temperatures!🙄 Despite being one of the two who had left it on the factory set schedule, for those out at work all day, not 85yr olds sititng at home all day!! Grrrr! Then i found out, he had not been told about the new thermostat, and questioned why we wanted a wired in version and not wireless😖😩 He left shortly after, saying he'd be back tomorrow with the new thermostat to wire in.........

The owners of the company are on the HousePlanningHelp podcast number 362 for a talk on making Passivhaus easier. https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/podcast/ They do say that initially they will limit the number taken on to 6 per year but hope to increase slowly, should the demand increase. And really, its only for Aberdeenshire. But hopefully others will follow suit if it takes off.

Have just received details of Coldwells new concept of turnkey Passivhaus designs. Pick your design and they'll do it all for you or build to weather proof and you finish off. https://www.coldwellsbuild.com/ Initial thoughts are that they look like a good idea. But cannot see a plant room in the plans. Are they calling it a utility room? I like the Argyle. 🤔😁

Thought folks may be interested in our recent stay in a Passivhaus B&B near Malvern. I wanted to experience the environment of passivhaus with MVHR and see if i could convince the OH that retrofitting and adding MVHR could be something that we should do; particularly if/once we move into our new place in 2025. It was a fab place and I would certainly recommend it for anyone who doubts the improvements from building Passiv. I loved the peacefulness, warmth, even when next to large windows, and the low bills they say they have.😁 I hoped it would give me a better sleep but I'd need a few more nights to see; particulally as they had turned on the en-suite towel rail for a while in the evening and it was too warm for me. i ended up opening the large patio doors during the night. The owners could not have done more to make us welcome and we had an educational talk in the Plant Room from Andrew. I found them on the Passivhaus Trusts website event which holds Open Days, usually late in the year. https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/ It is called Woodlands and is at the end of a long lane, with super walks right from the doorstep. And the Oak frame was amazing.

If you look carefully there is a box which controls the hot water timetable, but just to the left of it, is a simple switch in the OFF position! that supplies the power to the box.......

Thank you, our system does have Weather Compensation so hopefully that will help. And yes, I have set it to be on most of the day at a general temp of 21oC only dropping to 16oC at night. The programme left by the electrician was for 21oC between 6.30 and 8.30am, dropping to 16oC till 4.30pm, then on again for the evening and off at night. Obviously not suitable for two 85 yr olds at home all day! while there yesterday (Sunday) I insisted that the company boss came out as there was no hot water and even when boosting the thermostat to 28oC, it was barely reaching 19! When he came out, and checked things, including speaking to the electrician who was there Wednesday (his business partner), we eventually realised that the switch controlling the hot water was turned off!! You couldnt make it up! So after turning it back on - the water started heating up and when they rang me later in the day, the place was warm enough. I do wonder if the probelms occurred when the 2 electricians were rushing to get everything installed and running on the original Friday, when they wanted to get away by lunchtime. 🤔 Tomorrow an electrician is coming to replace the wireless Digistat with a Honeywell Home wired thermostat. Then Wednesday the commissioning engineer will come to check everything and commission it! Hopefuly by then, I can report it is all working to perfection and the company have sent mum a large bouquet to apologise for the week of incompetance. 😄 Fingers crossed.

Would you like to explain that so i can understand?

So today I went over to the house and while it wasnt cold, it was not warm either. The Digistat said 18C and I used the App to increase that to 22o while I took Mum to her hairdressers and Waitrose shop. Having agreed with ProDaves comments, I rang and asked the electrician who did the install to finda simple wired thermostat that Mum and Dad have a chance of being able to use. He suggested a Nest thing but I said I wanted wired. After a while, he sent details of a Honeywell one, whichis the exact one they had for the old system. Perfect. I am now waiting for them to say when they will come and move the old one - its still on the wall but as its quite close to a radiator, it will need moving. They didnt seem keen but I think its the only/best way. Back at the house, it seemed warmer but still not up to the 22oC. Also the hot water was only lukewarm 🙁 I changed the actual Digistat to increase the temperature to 21oC all day with 16oC at night. The house is certainly not cold but I dont think it was up to 21oC when i left. We shall see what happens next. Poor Mum and Dad are so tired of all these problems (as am I) and I do think it would have been much easier to put radiators and a gas boiler in. Its a shame I have principles and wanted to do the 'right thing'. 😒

Wow! Looking forward to hearing about the rest. Are you going to tell us what it cost??? 😄

It all looks lovely and cozy. well done! And thanks for all the details - very useful for our own renovation. 🙂

The people who commission the system and sign off everything for the Government grant are coming next week. We have instructions for everything except the Digistat! And the rest of the stuff, we are advised to leave well alone. Apart from adjusting the radiators. I agree with the wireless stuff - far better to have a wired system that we can control - with instructions! I hate Apps and it didnt work from my house so that was a waste of time. I guess there is some way of connecting it to Mums internet so I can control it remotely and I shall have to find out. Today Mum rang and told me that while the house was lovely when they got up, it had turned itself down to 16oC - ie, back to the origonal schedule at 8.30am. Luckily I was able to tell them how to boost the temperature, till I can get there and amend the schedule again. What a nightmare for them 🙁they can do without these programming issues. It is difficult to assess the energy use as it has been on and off since it was installed. We took the old heating system out on the 7th, leaving them with plug in radiators over the weekend. The system was finished on Friday 15th but we need a few weeks to really see if its helping. 16th may have been the day it heated the whole water tank as that is the biggest use.

After removing the old heating system a couple of weeks ago, the engineers arrived at 10am Monday morning last week - waiting for the delivery of all the 'bits'! We'd installed a couple of electric oil filled radiators for mum and dad and luckily the weekend was mild. The lorry arrived around 11am, things were unloaded and taken into the back garden, then the guys all disappeared to go and get the pipework..... So after lunch, back the 2 chaps came and installed the ASHP into the back garden, with pipes into the roofspace. (one lives in Stamford, 2.5 hrs drive from here! - no wonder it took a while for them to arrive.) Tuesday, we had 3 guys, ftting the radiators into the place. I was told the electricians would be there thursday and friday to connect everything up. Wednesday 3 guys again, all sorted of things were now fitted into the cupboard and the radiator installations continued. There were 2 under bench blowers in the kitchen as there are no walls for a radiator. They were fitted but not connected - needed an electrician. Two radiators had to be removed and replaced as they had faulty paintwork (nice to know they arranged that themselves, we didnt have to complain). Not sure what happened thursday but no electricians turned up. 🙁 Friday, 2 electricians arrived and started to connect the system. But then one said they had to leave at lunchtime! I was not impressed but to be fair, they carried on, until the system was up and running. I had a quick explanation and off they went, around 2pm. The house was lovely and warm with hot radiators! Yippee. 😁 Saturday as I drove to a friends many miles away, we had a call from the parents - they had no heating! Grrr. But after emailing the 'boss' - within an hour, he arrived at the house and sorted out the problem - air in the system. Heating resumed. 😄 Sunday - Mums 85th birthday. House toasty and all happy. 😁 Dad mentioned a problem with his bathroom radiator which was so cose to the door that it could only be opened half way. email sent to 'boss' who arranged for an engineer to come MOnday. Which he did (from Stamford), he moved the radiator (cursing the idiot who placed it there) and fixed the fronts onto the under bench heaters. All looking good. Tuesday - unknown to me (they didnt tell me), there was no heating again and the 'boss' was called by Dad. He arrived after an hour and got it working again, telling them it was all sorted. But today, wednesday, when I arrived at 9am, the house was cold. Arghhhh!!! After emailing the 'boss' who arranged for his business partner (the elctrician from last week) to ring and come out. In the cupboard, the box which seemed to talk to the thermostat was flashing amber - and not sure that was right, i pressed a button and it turned flashing green. But still no heat after half an hour. I then found a manual online for the thermostat - Drayton Digistat - from which i discovered it had been set to a particular schedule for those out at work all day - ie on for a couple of house in the morning, low during the day, warmer for the evening and off at night! Not ideal for two 85yr olds, at home all day. After installing the app on the tablet - didnt work - and then on my phone, i was albe to amend the temperatures up to 21oC from 6.30am to 22.00pm with 16oC at night. I could see the Digistat registering that change and start the heating symbol. but the radiators stayed cold and the temperature did not change from 17oC. The electrician rang and I told him about the flashing light. I was told to press it till it was constant green which we did. And then i heard the pump start and water could be heard moving. But still no heat. After a couple of hours, he arrived and confirmed that while the App was controling the Digistat, they were not talking to the bix in the cupboard. After some work and a call to the Manufacturers, he re-set the system and everything seemed to be talking to each other. I was able to boost the temperature with the App and the house started to warm up. So thats the current situation - its taken several visits and several days without heating but fingers crossed, it continues to work. When it does work, the place is toasty, and I have to admit that all the guys have been great with mum and dad, moving out the way when needed, and being polite/helpful. And the 'boss' and Electrician have been quick to come out and try to fix the problem. I just hope there are no more calls. Will update in a few days.

I am looking at the Hikmicro E01 for £150 on amazon, to help with pinpointing draughts and areas to insulate. Seems like a good price. Has anyone else used this model and have any comments on its usefulness? thanks. https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIKMICRO-Resolution-Portable-Handheld-4°F-752°F/dp/B0CF28BNNX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=ZPGQA3WQ5MEG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YfdGjI2352XpUVfZnQQHiFnUM529sTpUtPF3RYROj6jprm_fR3Snu7U4nFUfGiZ-Uz8LpW--dDw6lwP9ZaQKb8W6PdvDolxyc9td14GvgxXt5wMgfjURPB_atmHUUlpejRu_PZqf45VYg-DjBCbKIQb2JpZ-X87nmQFxIyNT637_VZwwGEzExisKlHPat_hMIlJd8KqGFLoEaiHdTZZoFYxHbq0UvdMRWZEH_Fq14rl2w9AH4_u4FFChdFOx4Up59v2MjRMQTZlCOKtSwyqfW8VWU1PwJJeapBGNxwGV_r4.7QJtPucxVTMXkNrgiTDqorIsygWrznAFZPgCcTcGT1o&dib_tag=se&keywords=hikmicro+e01&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732030174&sprefix=%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1