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TheMitchells last won the day on November 30 2017
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About Me
Keen to self build but not able to do it yet. initially planned to build at Graven Hill but glad we didnt. Always interested in learning. Enjoy asking questions on BuildHub.
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Bicester, OXfordshire
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The ASHP install. Lots of heating on/heating off then fingers crossed.
TheMitchells commented on TheMitchells's blog entry in Renovation of Ellesmere Bungalow.
No, I dont think i am confusing them. the last heating system was very drying, being warm air blown round. now they just have radiators and it has certainly made a difference. After 7 years of no mould at all, the only thing that has changed is the heating system. and yes, a purge would help but these are 85 yr olds and i have suggested it but they hate being cold and will not consider opening doors or windows until it is noticeably warmer than now. yes, CO2 levels are not going to be ideal but again, they will not change.π The dehumidifier had already collected some water overnight so will definately help. -
The ASHP install. Lots of heating on/heating off then fingers crossed.
TheMitchells commented on TheMitchells's blog entry in Renovation of Ellesmere Bungalow.
Hopefully the last update regrding the heat pump. It is all working fine now. the place is warm and water is hot. the elderly parents are happy -ish though I doubt dad will ever like a system that he cannot tweak. The intstaller chap came back last week to level the HP unit, and there are no drops of water falling underneath now. (it was always wet beneath before, caused by a small amount of water escaping down the inside of the unit, rather than down the drain). However, i have two complaints/irritations about the system as a whole. 1. The Servicing costs are way too high and completely negates any savings we may have had from using a more efficient system. I can ony find the installer prepared to service the system, at a cost of Β£300 so Β£25 every month. That feels like way too much for what is basically a clean and look over every year. 2. It has caused the rooms to be far more damp with mould now forming on the surrounds to the windows and lots of condensation on the windows in the morning. There is no ventilation in their house and, i assume, before the blown warm air, helped keep the moisture levels down. But now, all their cooking/drying clothes and normal living, is proucing moisture which has no way to escape. And being winter, and both elderly, they are not going to be opening windows to let moisture escape. I have put a small dehumidifier in the lounge and will see if that helps. -
I'm sure you'll have loads of interested parties. I'm in the middle of trying to move otherwise I'd have jumped at the chance. I plant to do a major retrofit at the new place, once/if I get there. Good luck and its great to hear the BBC is looking at these areas. We sometimes see programmes on renovating and retrofitting, but I find them a bit lacking in real in-depth knowledge. I guess Producers are looking at the 'general public' but i am sure there are many like me that are happy to be stretched with new information. we can take it!
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The soil level is probably about the same on both sides and I doubt the foundations are that good. Its on clay with the shrubs affecting one side so i doubt that helps. The chap who came to take a look has quoted nearly Β£3k to build two buttresses, digging out the foundations and tying it into the wall. Eek! π¬ Not something we plan to pay. not for something we intend to knock down in a few years time. So i am now thinking of getting someone in to dig out a couple of holes (where I planned to put the buttresses) and I shall build myself a diy buttress with some heavy concrete blocks just to help stop any more leaning. I can do basic bricklaying (block laying) and it may be enough for the time we need. I'm too old and knackered to dig the holes myself, especially in clayπ Hubby was thinking of digging a hole and bracing the wall with a sleeper we have but i dont think we could attach anything to it without the wall cracking further - so what would stop the sleeper sliding up and off the top? Unless it went in quite a way into the soil? We shall think of something.
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Is it a regular occurance - moths caused by sheeps wool?? I had not heard of it before.
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Which product do you recommend for getting rust off tiles
TheMitchells replied to Adsibob's topic in Floor Tiles & Tiling
thank you. will give these suggestions a try. we are selling up hopefully so would like it to look nicer. But yes, definately need slippers! -
I have a longish (20m?) wall alongside our garden. Its 50 years old, and we have noticed it is starting to lean - actually, it started a few years ago but it is noticably worse now. The soil is clay and there are some largish shrubs on the outside, mainly small stuff on the inside. so movement is likely and i am thinking of removing a couple of the larger trees/shrubs (self sown buddleja) As you can see from the photos the bottom half is full brick and the top is half brick (garage end) and cement holey blocks (gate end). The holey blocks end are not too bad, though there are cracks in alot of the mortar. But the brick top half is really bad and also full of cracks. This last photo above is on the outside fo the wall, where it has come away from the garage. its almost 2 inches at the top. It only needs to last another few years as i have planted a hornbeam hedge on the outer perimeter of the garden so once that has grown enough to forma screen, we can take the wall out. Also the blocky end is likely to go once we do the kitchen extension, again in a few years time. up to the yellow arrow. The photo below shows the outside of the garden before i replaced the box hedge with a hornbeam one. But it is only 2-3 ft high at the moment so will take a few more eyars to enclose the whole side garden. hope the photo's help give the idea. The shrubs have been kept a similar size but on clay, maybe we need remove them? I have asked for a quote from a local brickie to build 2 supports, in the worst parts, a third in from each end of the brick top. He suggsted 2 brick pillar, similar to this, i think. Would this be enough to support it? He said it would need at least 2 foot hole for foundation to avaoid any movement, which sounds reasonable.
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Which product do you recommend for getting rust off tiles
TheMitchells replied to Adsibob's topic in Floor Tiles & Tiling
wondering if this works or if you know anything else to use? I really need to put somehthing under the feet - any suggestions? In the front garden. -
Udate - we called the installer out on Monday as we found there was a drip from one of the taps/joints at theback of the cupboard, as well as the pressure dropping. it must have been going on for a while as there was limescale on the insulation below. Seems the join between the filter and pipework was dripping slightly so he replaced the seal and it has now stopped dripping. Hoepfully the pressure will stay constant too. in regard to the water under the heat pump outside, after examining it for quite a while (in the cold) he spotted that when it goes into defrost mode, there is a drop of water coming from one point, along and around the unit, dropping down the front to where we can see it. he reckons by lifting one side of the unit fractionally, that drop will go where it is supposed to go, into the drain. So he will be coming back out with something appropriate on Wednesday (today) and fitting that.
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I have two questions. 1. Since having the ashp installed at my parents, and once it was up and running okay, we have noticed the ground beneath the unit is usually wet with drops coming from the unit. should i be concerned and is this condensation, forming on the metal unit itself and dripping down? 2. The pressure guage was showing low yesterday, and for the last couple of weeks i noticed the top of the tall vertical radiator was cold. yesterday i bleed the air out of the radiator and it soon warmed up again. I hoped that would fix the low pressure but it did not, so today i opened the two black valves seen on the photo and the pressure went up to 1.5 which i gather is what it should be. Is it the air in the sysytem causing the pressure to drop? and is it normal for the pressure to drop occasionally? Ok - 3 questions! thanks in advance.
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Tomato Energy - Anbody using?
TheMitchells replied to mk1_man's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
those prices look very good. it may be something i look at, if they stay good. Just watched the Youtube below. And certainly had not thought of the idea of just installing batteries. I always thought of them as purely as support to solar. But with the low cost of night time energy, i can see the benefit of installing batteries and using them to run the house while prices are high. And cheaper than solar currently. -
ours only comes in 2 fanspeeds so not much to choose from. we keep then on low and only put one of the two fitted turned on, as they keep the room warm enough.
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These have been added to parents kitchen as there was no room for a radiator. They certainly pump out the heat but they are quite noisy. however, as it works, i dont mind. And Dad's deaf anyway! π