jack

Aaand we're back in the room. Citizens Advice weren't much help on the question of whether I could refuse to deal with the insurer direct. I tried contacting some law firms that specialise in this sort of thing but clearly my case is too small because I either didn't hear back or was told they couldn't help me. I tried contacting the roofing company again, and they said they couldn't talk to me because it was with the insurer. In the end, I went back to the insurer with the emails showing that their client had repeatedly admitted fault and liability for the damage in writing. I said that in view of the response to my initial email (in which either the insurer or the roofer lied), I was withdrawing my initial offer of accepting restitution just for the cost of replacing insulation and plasterboard, and expanding my claim to cover other direct costs, such as that for removing the insulation, the loss of amenity for the two rooms while they dried out, the costs of cleaning the rooms, and for getting a surveyor in to check that no other hidden damage had occurred. I also said that I'd be seeking a partial refund of the installation costs I'd paid given that the leaks had happened at least twice after installation and that the repairs were clearly inadequate. At the end, I asked for their confirmation of any items in my list that weren't covered by their client's policy (I'm assuming that the partial refund isn't covered, since it isn't an issue of public liability). Their response was only a few days this time. Apparently, to "avoid protracted correspondence", they will offer me an amount equal to the lowest quote plus... [drumroll] Nothing. Yup, all of that extra stuff is apparently worth nothing. Unsurprisingly, they didn't answer my question asking about what factors in the list I gave are covered by their client's policy. Of course their first offer isn't acceptable, but what do I go back with? I see two possible approaches: 1. Put together costs for each of the things in the list, and say that this is what I'll be suing their client for as a next step if they don't seriously engage with me. 2. Demand that they actually answer the questions asked, and say that unless a proper answer is received within 7 days, I'll be initiating a formal complaint with Aviva and the Financial Ombudsman. I suppose I could combine both 1 and 2, but my preference is to keep my responses as brief as possible at this point. Thoughts? Thanks

Assuming a single zone (as many of us have, made up of multiple loops), I've long thought that measuring the average return temperature at the manifold might be a useful approach. With an ASHP delivery temp of 25 C, you'd just set it up so that the call for heat is terminated at a particular return temperature. Set a reasonable hysteresis and minimum run/stop times for the ASHP and the temperature should be controlled pretty well. I know a bit about control loops in theory, but not really enough to homebrew anything. However, my Loxone system has various controllers (including a self-learning PID controller, from memory) that should be plug and play. I plan to have a go at this approach this winter.

MVHR is designed to maintain whatever temperature difference exists between inside and outside. This is generally good, except when it's too hot inside and there's cooler air available outside (ie, overnight during warm periods, or possibly even during the day depending on how hot it gets inside). The problem with bypassing the heat exchanger permanently during summer is that when it's hot outside and cool inside (eg, mid-late morning on a warm day), you'll effectively be pumping out the cool air and replacing it with warm. That makes the place heat up even faster. I think the simplest solution to your problem is to open the windows as wide as you can tolerate in the evening, as soon as the temperature outside drops below the interior temperature. A large, high capacity pedestal fan set up high to blow hot air out an open window will make a massive difference to bedroom temperatures before you go to bed. I find that just leaving our windows open for two or three hours before we go to bed makes a reasonable difference, but a fan will definitely improve things if you don't have good cross-ventilation or it's a still night (quite common when the weather is hot). You can turn the fan off when you go to bed and leave the window open if you find you can sleep like that. Otherwise, close the window and turn the fan to point at or near your bed on a low setting. Fans are a lot quieter than air conditioners. I lived in Australia for a while and got through 30+ degree nights with just a pedestal fan at the foot of the bed and no air conditioning.

@vivienz, if you're going for frameless glass, please think carefully and early about how you're going to install it. I have this on some balconies and with timber frame it's been a bit of a nightmare due to it not having been designed and detailed properly in advance. It's literally held up getting the house completed for over a year while I figured out how to manage it. It's definitely doable, but start looking into the detail now (if it hasn't already been thought about), and certainly before the areas are fiberglassed for example.

Welcome Rob! I installed Loxone in our new build a couple of years ago to control external blinds, lighting and a few other bits and pieces. All working well, except for the 1-wire extension which seems to have died. Do have a think about whether Loxone is the best option for audio. Their gear is expensive for what you get (the multi-channel amp is a rebadged unit that you can get cheaper elsewhere). I know there are a few things you can do with integration, but if you don't plan to use those, there are probably better and cheaper options for audio.

Sorry, I misunderstood your earlier comment. MVHR does transfer moisture in the way you're talking about. It delivers fresh air to living areas, and pulls air from areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, including moisture in those rooms. I don't know what HRV is that's different to this: wikipedia thinks HRV and MVHR are synonyms.

Moisture is only transferred in a so-called enthalpy MVHR. When used alone, MVHR generally means just heat recovery. Enthalpy units are rarely used in the UK.

I don't know, the default settings have always worked fine for me (virtually all non-photographic images I post are captured this way). Have you zoomed in as much as you can in AutoCAD before snipping? It seems to capture at the screen resolution, so capturing something small will result in fuzzy edges once expanded, for sure.

Piece of the proverbial!

I use something called "Snipping Tool", which is part of Windows from Windows 7 onwards. I have it in my task bar. When you open it, you just click "New", and the Snipping Tool window disappears. Once you've selected the area you want, you can either save it as a file (for import to BH), or copy it to the clipboard (for pasting into, eg, PowerPoint, which is what I use for annotation). It does have some basic drawing tools, but I find PowerPoint better for things like arrows and text.

Welcome to the forum - looking good!

Have you had a trawl through the planning portal? Try and find some local applications that have been successful and see what sort of covering letter they've used. To be honest, I think a properly done design and access statement has far more impact. I'm not saying you can't benefit from a well written cover letter, but I think it's marginal, and possible requires your story to resonate with the planner (they're human!), which I think may be a struggle if you're developing for profit. Another thing to spend time on now is getting neighbours and other potential objectors onside. They're the ones that could, if enough of them act, get the matter called into committee.

Welcome to BuildHub, great to have you aboard.

Snap - MBC's handiwork: Got slightly wobbly after several months, but added a couple of battens and some screws and it did us until the build was finished.

The main issue is that the wall it would go on is a very dark grey/green colour, so I'd need to paint anything like this to conceal it. There's also the issue of noise from the TV room escaping into the hall, although admittedly we don't have a home cinema or anything like that.

Not a bad idea, thanks, as long as it can be concealed.

I had considered hiding heat-producing equipment like the games console in a cupboard that had an MVHR extract, but that didn't really work out for the space we had. In any event, it's only the TV and console (which we use a DVD player and streamer) that're on most of the time we're in there, so I'm not sure how much better this would have been. Additional ventilation into that room would likely have helped alittle, as would comfort cooling via the MVHR (something I may well add in future). Even something as simply as a ceiling mounted fan might have been useful - I've considered retrofitting those in the bedrooms, although I'm not sure there's enough head-height for safety upstairs. For us, most likely we'll just get a nice fan to put in a corner for the worst days. I'm constantly telling my kids to keep the door open if they're using this room, but it always ends up closed. Not sure why - they're the ones making all the noise!

There's your problem right there. You should have attached them with a suitable adhesive!

The overheating effect isn't so noticeable in our house, as it's very open plan and has a decent volume with concrete floors. The one place we really feel it is the TV room, which is small and carpeted. We can't sit in there as a family with the door closed for very long in summer.

Jeremy, I don't follow why you're willing to prepare an EICR and/or pay money to upgrade a CU on a house you're selling. If I were a potential buyer who didn't know you, I'd consider this behaviour concerning, as it definitely isn't what civvies do in this scenario. At best it looks like you're desperate to sell, which might encourage a late, lower offer. Offering to prepare your own EICR, in particular, is something I'd counsel against. Again, to someone who doesn't know you, I think this would look highly suspicious, plus I don't think you want to be the one in court arguing about your competent person status in the (admittedly highly unlikely) event something goes wrong. If they want an EICR, why not just tell them that you're happy to give someone access to prepare one? That's what people without your background (ie, most of us) would do. If they're committed to buying and this is just a formality, offer to allow them to upgrade the CU at the same time to reduce costs. To me, that sounds like the behaviour of someone confident that there're no problems with the wiring (and perhaps you can then give them your background and explain to them why you know it'll all pass except for the CU). Just my thoughts - I appreciate that others will have a different view.

[Deleted my reply, as this is just getting silly now.]

You sure?

Repeating (and adding emphasis to) the quote from my edit made before you replied: "Always start the drum rotating before loading. Do not load a concrete mix into a stationary drum. Starting the mixer with a full load would be difficult and would strain the drum shaft." So can you do it? Sure, it's your mixer, do what you like. But the manufacturer says you're not supposed to do it, there are clear risks associated with doing it, and (as explained by @Russell griffiths) you don't have to do it, so... why do it? And will you pay for the repair of another member's mixer when they follow your guidance and something breaks, bends or melts?

To you, perhaps, but this thread will be seen by others in the future who may find that and the remaining 72% of his contribution useful when read in conjunction with your own contributions. Non sequitur. His point isn't that a small generator can't drive a mixer, it's that there shouldn't ever be a need to start a full mixer. That fact has clearly eluded you, since you acknowledge that you do restart a full mixer. The instructions that came with the bell mixer I hired said that you should only ever add materials to a moving mixer, and should avoid restarting the mixer when full. [Edited to add:] Found belle mixer instructions: "Always start the drum rotating before loading. Do not load a concrete mix into a stationary drum. Starting the mixer with a full load would be difficult and would strain the drum shaft."