TheMitchells

Hope you dont mind me resurrecting this post. I am looking to insulate elderly parents bungalow. We had a discussion with Eco Consultant but their costs and cost of EWI was far more than we want to pay/would earn back over many years, so we are looking to do it ourselves, hopefully with advice from here. The front of the bungalow is likely to be twin brick cavity with no insulation. (bricks laid lengthways) with an overhang from the roof. I am thinking of adding cavity wall insulation to the wall but I am also concerned about the lack of insulation at the top f the wall, under the soffits and into the attic, where we cannot reach to improve the insulation. Any pointers where I may find the best way of insulating that area? I am thinking we will have to remove the lower line of tiles/felt as mentioned by Roger above but what should be do then?? Thanks. I will try to get some photographs of the front wall and soffit when there on Monday.

I find Kilrock descaler is very good. We use it with boiling hot water and you can see the limescale dissolving. https://www.robertdyas.co.uk/kilrock-multi-purpose-descaler400ml there are other suppliers!

Welcome to the Forum! Looking forward to hearing about your renovation.😀

Has anyone tried one of these or know anything about it? I have looked for some figures into how much power it uses but cant seem to find anything. It just says how good it is. Currently selling for £50ish, depending on how many you buy. I'm wondering if its any good. https://equiwarmpro.co/

I guess I thought all that too - I doubt it will sort the problem out but it may get them through the winter. Re sorting out the window - I doubt it will happen but I will try to help them find someone who could do that. Whether they want to spend the money on it is down to them. I doubt they have much to spend and they have lived all their lives being frugal (to the point of poverty) that getting them to spend is hard. (To be fair, they are both near 80 and unlikely to change now). 😊

A good friend of mine lives in a very old terraced house (one of the oldest in town) and has a big probelm with her kitchen windows. The kitchen extension was done many years ago. It does not have foundations, has single glazed metal frames (apparently it is a particular type) and the Conservation officers will only allow new suitable wooden double glazed windows which she cannot afford. To help get her through the winter, i am making thermal curtains but would like to add secondary glazing to the outside of the main window (155 x 127cm) to help stop the problem of condensation running down the insides everyday, which has rotted the frame, both inside and out. It is so bad that a slug recently crawled in through the frame from outside! What products could help? I hope to screw a wooden frame to the outside and glaze it, so it can be removed in warmer weather so she has ventilation. (Though she typically opens the back door). But when i tried to find a solid bit of wood to screw it to, it was all a bit squidgy. We are worried about removing the whole window as the concrete lintel above, looks like it only sits on a couple of inches of a brick pillar each side and we are worried if the window is removed, the lintel would collapse! It is a huge mess with some temporary fixes in the kitchen still there after about 30 years! 🫣 I was looking at Ronseal Wet Rot wood hardener first then Wood Filler. But are there any other products which could be better? Would they work? I shall try to get some photos, if I can.

received this today - a little too expensive for me but i can see it being very useful in busy environments - offices/libraries etc. https://lifi.co/lifi-product/lifimax-compact/ LiFiMAX Compact: Reshaping the Way You Connect Experience blazing-fast speeds and unmatched security while enjoying our special launch discount. Order now and step into the future of connectivity. Order with absolute confidence – it’s completely risk-free with our 100% money-back guarantee! $1650 $1399

Listened to the TED talk abouot Lifi - it sounds the future of data transmission. Here's the company details. They have working technology now. https://www.purelifi.com/about-lifi/

We arent in a rush. He used to be but has retired and no longer qualified. However, he is very 'handy' and can turn his hand to most things.

Currently on Octopus Green Fixed till December, thank goodness as their bills stayed at £120 all through the energy hikes! That was one of my better moves. Insulation is probably rubbish apart from the new shower room we added in 2019. It was built in 1970's, we think. Our plan is to 'move in' when they dont need it any more and do renovation to high standard (near EnerPhit?). So thinking long term. Also need the PV to be adaptable to any future heating system we use.

Thanks, just read your post re the vertical panels. I need to work out the angle on the bungalow roof - it is almost perfectly south with no shading. The garage could be fixed pretty much any angle. At least the Tesla cost sounds reasonable. Will do more reading and YouTube watching re DIY.

Is there an advantage to putting solar on a flat garage roof? Would it be cheaper? We are thinking of adding solar to the south facing roof of my parents bungalow, with a battery in the garage (about 30m away). They currently have night storage heaters and do use quite a lot of electric. I was given a quote from Egg Solar - The design we propose for your property is a 12 No. 390W Trina Solar all-black panels. This will make sure you maximise your output and give you access to an app to monitor everything. Our budget estimate for the supply and installation of the solar PV system is £8,900 and £9,250 for the supply and installation of the Tesla Powerwall. Should you wish to install a battery at an alternate time then VAT rate is 20%. This was a year ago and we did not go any further with it. But i am looking at it again and asking a couple of other firms for quotes. the bungalow has a largish flat roof on the garage and workshop at the bottom of the garden. It could be far easier to put them on there. Also, we could look at a DIY system as hubby is good with electrics though not qualified any more. We could find a helpful electrician nearby possibly. Any advice would be appreciated.

It is all very exciting! Good luck - I'll look forward to following the build.😃

Found this in a guide, "Sustainable Renovation. A guide to improving homes for energy, health and environment." ... airtightness is important is because it is usually the most cost effective way we have to reduce energy consumption. The difference between the construction costs of creating a leaky and an airtight one is perhaps no more than 1%, yet it could mean a 40% improvement in performance. For those looking for “quick wins” there simply isn’t a more cost-effective solution. Taken as an isolated item, the proportion of heat loss in a typical building due to draughts is very roughly 40%. This means that for every £100 spent on heating bills, £40 is due to air leakage. Also, as buildings are responsible for around half of all UK carbon emissions, and that draughts are responsible for nearly half of that amount, then draughts are responsible for nearly a quarter of all UK carbon emissions, comparable to all carbon emissions associated with transport, that is, all car, bus, and train journeys, every year. So while airtightness can feel like a rather mundane subject, it is also extremely important. While I am sure everyone on this site already knows this; to see it so clearly laid out how important it is, I thought it worth mentioning. https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3.spanglefish.com/s/31974/documents/[digitalv3]-guide-to-domestic-retrofit-compressed.pdf 150 page of good stuff which I am slowly workingmy way through. What I particularly like about the report is the important of the health of occupiers and how that goes hand in hand with a reduction in energy use while considering the environment too.

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/hempcrete-construction-us-building-code-sustainable/?utm_source=Reasons+to+be+Cheerful&utm_campaign=35cae6aa4a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_11_22_04_40_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_89fb038efe-35cae6aa4a-389709485 Another cheerful article on how we can improve buildings while contribution to saving the planet. I still hope to build a house one day and my plan is definately to use hempcrete. Hope you enjoy the story.

https://reasonstobecheerful.world/bamboo-building-construction-hong-kong/?utm_source=Reasons+to+be+Cheerful&utm_campaign=35cae6aa4a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_11_22_04_40_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_89fb038efe-35cae6aa4a-389709485 Found this and thought some of you may like to read it.

Tried that and it was very hard work. After an hour of hard work, we had taken out 3 (1 metre) and there is another 15 m to go. I have better things to spend my time on - like a mini digger!

thats what i am hoping. should be fun - if i can get the hubby off the mini digger so i can have a go!

At my bungalow, we are looking to remove a box hedge as it is not looking nice and box blight is in the area. I intend to replace it with a 3 ft fence and then in auturn, add a new hedge, using bare rooted, probably hornbeam. the fence will give some privacy while the hedge gets established. It should be much better in the long term than the box. however, when i tried to get the box plants out, it was harder than I'd hoped. I managed the end three plants but it took 2 of us an hour and was very hard work. they have been there for about 15 years so, while not very tall, they have rooted quite well. so we are looking for quotes from local landscapers to remove it for me. The chap who came today suggested £90 a metre!! when we declined, he dropped it to £65 but as there is 15m, thats nearly a thousand pounds to take it out and get rid of the hedge. Amazing! 😆 I now plan to hire a mini digger and do it myself.😁

usual cavity wall insulation and lots in the attic. windows are fairly recent but before us so no idea of how well they are sealed.

who was that with, please?

I have just had an estimate from Egg for a solar array and, they suggest 12 No. 390W Trina Solar all-black panel with Tesla Powerwall. this whole area is completely bamboozling to me so advice would be great. Their estimate for the supply and installation of the solar PV system is £8,900 and £9,250 for the supply and installation of the Tesla Powerwall. Should we wish to install a battery at an alternate time then VAT rate is 20%. Basically, it is a small bungalow with a south facing (no shade) roof in which my elderly parents live. They have an old large 'box' in a cupboard which heats up at night and then blows warm air around during the day. there are also 2 electic night storage heaters, one in the lounge and one in the lobby. Plus an electric fire for extra heat - mainly in winter when the storage usits have ran out. They do like to keep the place warm and average electricity costs are currently £120 a month as they are on a fixed deal till Dec 23 - phew. they use 2400kW on the day rate (24.1p per kW) and 9000kW at night (9.19p). it is 35.6p per day standing charge. So based on last years use, their bills this year should be about £1,425.16. daytime costs are the usual white goods and little else. They have an electric shower but that is only once a week. it is a strange system in that the storage heaters are all on a separate ring and only come on at night. Everything else is on the day ring and even if put on at night, add to the daytime bill. I am worried that their bills will shoot up when they finish their fixed rate and also it seems an ideal roof for photovoltaics as there is no shade and it faces almost directly south. When my parents no longer need the place, we shall re-vamp the whole place, extending the kitchen and probaby install a new heating system, as this one is so old (probably the origional from the 70's). so - does the proposed system sound good? And would a Powerwall be a good investment? or should we wait and do it all when the re-vamp is done. But that could be severals years away and electricity prices are not likely to come down. There is no gas to the property although it is in the road outside. Hoping for some help/advice/thoughts as I don't know what to do for the best. 🤪 thanks. From their email - We have been installing solar panels for over 10 years, we are an award-winning company our latest aware was for Solar and Battery installer of the Year 2021, so you know you are getting reputable company when you choose us. The panels we install are Trina Solar they are a Tier-1 panel manufacturer; the 390W panels which we most commonly use. They are all black, high efficiency, low profile panels and come with a 15-year product warranty and a 25-year performance warranty. The way we size a solar PV system is to look at available roof space to start with but more importantly, we look at the existing and potential future energy consumption. SolarEdge is the only inverter solution we recommend and install because every roof will benefit from an improved annual performance compared to a standard ‘string’ inverter. This system also gives you per-panel visibility of generation, enabling you (or us) to see how the system is performing and highlight any potential issues if any arise in the future. Although there may be potential no shading on the roof, you will still benefit from a SolarEdge optimised inverter solution. At different times of the day, there will be different light levels (irradiation) on each part of your roof, depending on the position of the sun in the sky (even if the sun is not visible). The Powerwall represents the best value for money per kWh when you consider the storage capacity of 13.5kWh and a built-in inverter which can do a continuous 5kW charge/discharge, along with grid backup and off-peak charging capabilities. The off-peak grid charging is particularly useful for the winter months when it’s likely that your solar generation would not meet your daily household consumption. With the addition of a Tesla Powerwall to the system, we would expect solar self-consumption to increase from 50% to around 80%/90%, thus increasing your overall energy savings.

Personally, I'd wait till September so you have a good chance of autumn and winter rains to get the lawn established. You'd need to water pretty much every day over summer if you did it now.

Please do not use a membrane - it does not do any good as weeds will come in from wind and birds, neither of which will be stopped by the membrane but it isnt good for worms and they are the lifeline of good soil and that includes the soil under lawns. Just make sure the weeds are killed off before you start the lawn. Good luck!

This arrived today. If you've completed a self build in the last 5 years, then NACSBA needs your help. Government is keen to help more people to self build, BUT they have raised concerns about the lack of data on self build in the UK. By taking 10 minutes to fill in our Self Build Survey you can make a big difference to anyone wanting to build. And as a thank you, five respondents, chosen at random, will be sent a £100 John Lewis voucher! https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NaCSBA2022