G and J

That’s true. When I laid the 120mm layer of polystyrene for our floor it snuck together beautifully tight and flat. The polystyrene has some spring in it so it could be cut to an interference fit and shoe horned in, lovely. The PIR in the other hand, was a bitch. Really nasty dust in the cutting, and however hard I tried still tiny gaps between the boards and to add insult to injury it sat there showing off how different thickness each board was. PIR. Just say NO! lol

Ummm, the title confused me. At first I thought you were talking about insulation outboard of the frame/OSB. But I think you are looking at insulation between the studs of the frame and inboard of that. I think the 120mm PIR in a 140mm stud is about an air gap next to a reflective coating. So better insulation overall than full fill PIR. I am biased. I hate PIR with a passion. Used it under our floor a bit and regretted it. Should’ve made sure I had enough space for polystyrene only. We used mineral wool in our frame and another layer inside. I may be kidding myself but I now believe it’s a nicer job to do and nicer to live in. The only place PIR looks good is on a spreadsheet.

I don’t hold with the ‘do everything yourself or it’s not a self build’ concept. That house wouldn’t be there without you and yours. You’ve shaped it and made it happen. Feel good inside and try and remember not to bore your friends and family too much lol (I, G, fail royally on the last part!)

Moved out of rental, moved into new pad. Lots done but fair bit still to do. Even had a week away in our neglected campervan. Back to work next week, worktops being fitted and we will actually move into our bedroom with any luck. No fancoils yet though, so I’m running even more dark pink than normal.

Thank you Redbeard. My thinking is that if there isn’t a downside to simply adding another layer them why not do that. Reduces probability of leaks perhaps. But logic doesn’t always work with building…

If you can afford it (time, not just £) is it worth talking to him? He maybe bored already and prepared to take on a job that offers flexibility. Our carpenter (recommended by previous trade) is retired and has worked an average of 3 days a week (5 when deadline has required) 1 day a week, when suited etc.

Well, we are back from our week away so it’s back to life, back to reality … And the first question I ponder is what to do about the breather membrane on the front of our house. For various reasons the front upstairs gable of our house has not had its timber outer skin put on. Scaffolding has now gone up so that will be remedied soonish. But what to do about the breather membrane? It’s the expensive Tyvek reflective stuff supplied by ETE, the timber frame company. It’s specc’d for four months exposed. We’ve been a lot more than that. It was put up in September. It now looks a bit like my skin, rather more wrinkly than I’d like. The timber skin is 24mm larch which overlaps nicely so should keep the vast majority of the rain, etc. out. I think the main functions of the membrane are to keep wet out of the frame, and to allow water vapour out so that any atmospheric moisture in the timber of the frame can escape. So do I leave the existing membrane in place and add another layer or is that likely to reduce the passage of moisture too much? Or do I cut the existing stuff away and put new straight onto the OSB of the panels? Guidance gratefully received, as always.

This might not work, but my recollection is that you found a groundworker in the end that you were happy with and who could work with you......could they recommend someone to you.....I ask this because being on "on site self builder" who has a strong vested interest in outcomes is not a situation that everyone is comfortable with (maybe they should be but that's another debate) so having another trade saying "look they're ok, pay on time etc etc" may help your case? This is how we have had good referrals

I think that is exactly right. The restart limit was set to 8°C to start with, so cooling to flow temp of 15°C meant that it had to get to 23°C to restart. That was identified in the call with the energy lab tech dude. So I can now play with the restart min temp difference from target but there is clearly another register i need to tweak. Just got to find it. Im sure it’s here somewhere…..

Goodness, thats a lot of dosh. Fab info though. I know what I’m like, I’ll muddle through and waste £602.57 on lecky I could have saved if only I hadn’t been too tight to spend £400 on a monitor.

Octopus happily signed us up despite me telling them not to when I phoned for info and omitted to tell me that they weren’t offering sensible export tariffs at the moment. Bless ‘em.

Sounds fab unless I get carried away and do daft stuff (which in fairness is likely lol). Is it a Maxa product? I've got the My Maxa app which is very limited but I see that there is a Maxa Connect app too. I’d be very pleased to understand your setup and whether we could replicate it.

OK officially it’s SEG, SMart Export Guarantee. But me being a red dwarf fan…

I think the model number is i290 0106. 6kW R290 refrigerant. Your image is not one I know how to get from my system, though it would be incredibly useful. I wonder if we have different controllers. Re the installer, when I identified the problem with cooling (it wouldn’t unless I turned the target temp down lots) the distributor insisted the installer attended. So we had a phone call between the distributor’s tech guy on one end and me and the installer at the other. It just wasted the installer’s time altogether. But process is process. Sigh.

I had a good look at going to Octopus but they’ve pulled their smeg tariff. I assumed that was for new clients but maybe not. I went with BG first both import and export. BG did warn me that the export rate was going down to 12pence a lump.