Originaltwist

Anyone following all this should take careful note of the suggestion of micro inverters from @SteamyTea They are best for multiple orientations The setup is simple But, most importantly, they last for about 20 years whereas a whole bunch of various boxes, all with a 10 year life expectancy, is asking for a series of catastrophic failures down the line.

Thanks all. And noted. Actually it was flagged by our solicitors when we bought 5 years ago so we asked the vendors to knock off a chunk of dosh ... so perhaps it makes sense to bite the bullet now. However the guy that empties, it every year at least, says simple is best and don't change it. One might argue that simple doesn't seem to be best right now. I'm doing a percolation test next week to start off with real facts and then go from there.

Our cess pit is brimming from time to time and the suggested fix is a new drainage field (£7,000) or a new 'system' (£12,000) Has anyone here had any luck with a bacterial fix such as muckmunchers?

I've seen an ASHP parked in the woods well away from the house, to avoid noise and unsightliness, and that worked OK. I expect a secondary pump was needed.

completed

This could all be MUCH simpler: Thermal store with F&E tank above Stove below - gravity feed to store (no coil and 22mm will be enough). No controls needed. Gas boiler direct to TS - no coil immersion in TS So, to get the idea straight, the TS has black water in it and EVERYTHING is directly connected. DHW is extracted via PHX. - lots of power and gas boiler can remake like a powerful combi.

A wood burner with a large heat bank looks like the way to go for you. I see you are keen on the Ecco stove but I can't see on their web site how it heats water. Can you explain please? I ask because many stoves have an integrated heat exchanger which can crack eventually and that will write off the entire stove.

It's not just about quantity of storage. Water is very portable energy ... much harder to pump sand.

Nice one Joe. Sorry @richo106 for the brief hi-jack. I know nothing about driveway lights so that makes me qualified to comment. In-drive spots shine upwards so are only effective if there is stuff nearby to be illuminated. Pillars shine to side and down and must be more effective, also the cable terminations can be safely elevated.

aha @joe90 Gentry spotted .... B engine?

The Woodfire EX15 looks nice although I have no experience with them. I go for the Clearview because: Stainless steel back boiler - quick to replace if it fails - which they don't I never go more than 50% heat to water - condensation on the back boiler and not enough to the room otherwise. Clearview stoves don't break. Chuck a big log in and they will stay in all night - saves a fortune in matches. I guess it's just down to what you fancy in the end.

How about a wood burning stove and a heat bank? A 14kW Clearview 750 with a 7kW back boiler works well for your size of house. You get almost permanent hot water and heating too. Twin tanks are best. A gas boiler is a good addition and will get little use to trouble your wallet. I had this arrangement and used to run the boiler for 10 minutes every morning just to make sure the showers were in the bank. Gas use was so low that caravan type bottles were sufficient. Then bigger PV and battery along with a Victron Quattro to pull in a generator occasionally. Then Robert's your father's brother.

My old shed big six roof has a few cracks so I've made a couple of foam backed crawler boards so that I can get up there to start stabilising it. I imagine I'll paint on some sort of gunge along with reinforcing mesh where required. There seem to be a lot of options - rubber - bitumin. Any favoured stuff please? It's about 40ms. Quotes to remove have been around £1,800 and replace about £6,000 and as it's just an old cow shed I'd rather spend a lot less than that. TIA

No sorry - it's solid chestnut with an inlaid stainless sink. I prefer wood for worktops as you don't have to look after it much and it is kinder to wine glasses at the end of the evening.

@Thorfun I love your kitchen picture - the close coupled triangle of hob,sink,fridge is perfect. I'd advocate having the dishwasher next to the sink in the island so you get lots of landing space for the dirties and can rinse quickly before stacking. Mine is similar but looks rather cluttered by comparison. The pan hooks above the sink were good in practice as they could be hung up to drip and not take up the drying rack. I love the lights too, is that easy to do?