Jump to content

jack

Members
  • Posts

    7444
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    41

Everything posted by jack

  1. Could be wrong, but I think the base model Ring doorbells are still wireless only, and can't be connected via ethernet. If I had the ability to route a wire from a socket to the rear of the doorbell, I'd use something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZAYMDO-Doorbell-Transformer-Accessories-Compatible-10m/dp/B0B3S1QNVT In my case, I had a CAT6 cable to the doorbell position from our plant room. I got tired of replacing the battery and ended up wiring something like the above to a pair within the CAT6 cable in the plant room. Been working fine for at least three years now.
  2. Hi @Daveywest, welcome to BuildHub. Not everyone reads the Introduce Yourself sub-forum, so I've moved your post to a forum that's more likely to get you an answer to your question. That's a nice-looking house, incidentally!
  3. Yes. The ASHP is expecting an on/off signal from a switch within a thermostat, which can be provided by the ASHP manufacturer or anyone else. In my system, the thermostat switch is replaced with a Loxone relay, and the temperature sensing part of the thermostat is replaced with temperature sensors connected to Loxone. If I had only a single temperature sensor and programmed Loxone to provide only simple on/off controls based on whether the sensed temperature was above or below a temperature set point, Loxone would act exactly like a simple mechanical thermostat (albeit with less hysteresis). Sort of. I always planned to use Loxone, so it was always my plan to control the ASHP via Loxone. My ASHP came with a controller (for adjusting settings), but not a thermostat. I wouldn't say I'm transferring data to the pump. All the pump sees is the switched signal telling it to heat or not heat the house. It doesn't know the house temperature or anything else about what's caused Loxone to change the relay state. I still use the controller in my setup, for things like settings and the timer function. Loxone only takes care of the decision about when to heat. I could in theory replace the controller with a modbus interface that would allow me to properly control the ASHP via Loxone. That would give me some useful extra flexibility, such as: Changing the heating curve depending on, e.g., electricity pricing and predicted exterior temperatures. Controlling hot water heating with more intelligence. For example, at the moment, I rely on the ASHP's controller to set periods for heating and hot water. The programming is extremely limited and it's a massive pain to change. With modbus, I could take complete control and do smart stuff like: Keep more hot water on standby when there are more people in the house Ensure that the ASHP doesn't start heating the hot water tank late in the evening, especially before the cheap rate kicks in, and instead waits until late in the cheap period to start, thereby ensuring maximum hot water is available first thing in the morning. The modbus extension is several hundred quid though, and I'm not convinced it's plug and play. There are ways around some of these limitations. For example, I've thought about having a relay switch between the tank temperature sensor and a fixed value resistor to fool the ASHP into thinking the tank is cooler or hotter than it actually is. I could then better control when the ASHP starts a hot water heating cycle. I might get around to it eventually, but it's some way down the to-do list. Despite the simplicity of the control system it keeps the ground floor of the house at a pretty constant temperature. This is the temperature of the slab under the kitchen island over the last three weeks: The highest temperature is 22.1 °C and the lowest is 20.3 °C. The temperature upstairs (where there's no heating except for short period each morning in the bathrooms) is lower and does vary more with the external temperature. It varied between 17.3 °C and 18.8 °C over the same period.
  4. Just popped in to read this blog post and found Joe90 posting replies in early January. He'll be missed. My name on eBuild was "Not Nick Clegg". I think there was a challenge when you signed up, asking a question to which the answer was "Nick Clegg". The next question asked what user name you wanted. Couldn't think of anything so I just wrote the opposite of the answer to the previous question!
  5. Welcome to BuildHub. I've moved your post to a sub-forum where it's likely to get more attention given the subject matter. Good luck.
  6. Welcome Vince. I've moved your post to a sub-forum where it's likely to get more attention given the topic. I don't know much about what you're planning to do, but a photo will help others who might be able to help. Failing that, a quick sketch showing rough dimensions and what the wall is made of will do. Good luck.
  7. Awesome stuff. He was really giving it the beans in the video. Hope they paid you for the rear tyre wear!
  8. Lotus Carlton. Now that's an interesting car. Is that at a hillclimb, rally, or something else?
  9. I've moved the post to this sub-forum since it doesn't fall squarely within one of the heating types. Re: batteries, while it helps to have solar, a lot of people install them without. The right tariff can make them a very viable option. Take a look over on the relevant sub-forum for some ideas about what people are doing with batteries. You can consider them completely separate to heating.
  10. The document I referred to shows your name and the site address. If you're happy with that, no worries.
  11. Welcome to BuildHub. What profile is the drip trim and what's it made of?
  12. Now we're talking. What sort of motor(s) you tinkering with?
  13. Yup. Knocked down at the end of 2014, moved in a few days before Christmas 2015. Feels like the blink of an eye.
  14. One of the Loxone relays is connected to the thermostat input of the ASHP. The logic that controls the relay is driven off two temperature sensors: one on the surface of the slab underneath the kitchen island and the other behind a light switch in the upstairs landing. There's some simple logic that allows minor overheating downstairs during the cheap overnight period if the upstairs temp is too low. Weather compensation is set on the ASHP. I had grand plans to use weather forecasts and external temperatures as inputs to allow more heating to take place during the cheap period, but the current system works so well that I haven't been motivated to change since it was installed nine years ago.
  15. If you don't get an answer you're happy with from the suppliers, we hire out an anemometer. I think you might need 10 posts or something like that to see the Tool Loan sub-forum, but you'll get up to that easily enough just replying to this thread.
  16. Your personal details are on that doc (and maybe some of the earlier ones you posted). If you can provide versions without the details I can re-upload them for you (you can only edit your posts for half an hour after posting).
  17. I've lived with MVHR in our new build for 9 years. I love the year-round air quality and wouldn't be without it if I ever built again. For comparison, I've lived in about 20 flats/houses over the years. The current one has far and away the most pleasant physical environment. Unsurprisingly, it's particularly noticeable during cold weather. When you come in from the cold, the house feels warm but the air is still fresh. It's a qualitatively different feeling from walking into, say, a Victorian house during the peak of its evening heating cycle. All that said, MVHR isn't the only contributor to how the house environment feels. It's well insulated and uses low temperature UFH under polished concrete flooring, so it's evenly warm with no hot spots. Triple glazing means no window-driven convective drafts. Personally I think you need the combination to maximise comfort.
  18. jack

    Hello

    Welcome to BuildHub. For many, this is one of the biggest challenges of self-build, especially if you live in more built up areas with not much space and a lot of competition for houses. We got lucky by buying a small, tired old bungalow on a plot that needed some imagination to get the most of, back in 2012 when the housing market was still in the doldrums after the 2008 financial crisis. I'm not sure whether the economics of that make sense any more, but it's worth considering. Buying to knock down and rebuild costs more but is arguably lower risk than a lot of other options. You have utilities in place (don't underestimate how much that it can cost to get them connected in some places) and can at least be sure that you'll almost certainly get planning for something, especially if there are a lot of larger houses around it (as was the case for us). You also aren't competing for the rare building plot that comes up. Around my way (Hampshire/Surrey borders), actual building plots tend to be expensive, because you're competing with people like us but also developers. Good luck.
  19. If there are concerns about longevity of this wall, your neighbour ought to be even more concerned than you are. I'd start by talking to them and offer access to your side for the builder to improve it.
  20. How common is imperfect fitting of windows and doors? Judging by my own experience, what you see on shows like Grand Designs, and the number of posts in this sub-forum, I'd say it might be more common than correct fitting As frustrating as it might be, I doubt you have a cause of action against the installer. You're well outside the standard six years for starting an action. Even if you try to rely on the "three years from discovery of the problem" deadline for action, the problem is that the absence of a cill was apparent from the day it was installed. I can see a good argument that since the cill's absence was apparent from day one, you can't claim that the problem has only just become apparent. You also need to show negligence. Some damp after well over two decades isn't necessarily evidence (by itself) of negligent installation. If you were talking about ten or more times the amount it might be worth looking into. But for £1000, you're far better of cutting your losses and getting it fixed yourself.
  21. Very kind offer thanks. Unfortunately, I can't think of any brick-related questions at the moment! 😅
  22. Welcome! Sounds like quite a project. Did you cost knocking down and replacement? Much more predictable costs, you get the VAT back. and obviously a lot more flexibility with layout. The downside from here would be more delay and fun with planners, but the principle of significant redevelopment has been established, so the council can't insist on a bungalow (not that it should have been anyway).
  23. Just FYI, edits are only allowed for half an hour after the original post, so you won't be able to come back and add to the placeholder posts.
  24. I'm not sure which seems less likely to me: that you wanted to be Father Christmas or that someone hired you for the job.
  25. This has been my life for the last ten years. Can't see it changing until the sweet release of death. Who was it who said that getting older was just saying "I have a few busy weeks coming up but then things ease off" for several decades until you die?
×
×
  • Create New...