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Oops realised I didn't include the link: https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/50242-dtech-cxg-ftp-zhie-nbk/ This seems like a good deal for good quality cat6. Their similar spec cat6a is 3x the price. If I was choosing between the two I'd def do cat6. But it's much closer between this cat6 and the cat6a above. That said, Cat6 is supposed to be 250Mhz, Cat6A 500Mhz, so if the Cat6 above is tested to 500Mhz then a lot of my reason for going to Cat6a goes away.

If you want to run fibre you can buy preterminated lengths for not crazy money. https://www.fs.com/uk/c/fiber-patch-cables-261 But it's still expensive and only really worth it unless you want to go over 10gbit or run 4k hdmi long distances (and there the box either end will cost many hundreds at the low end). So maybe better to plan a gentle big conduit path for the hopefully few areas you may want to run the cable in future.

https://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/tube-clamp-uk-suppliers used to be better than metals4u for this sort of stuff. Might have changed recently have not checked. * Not a recommendation never used either, just spent way too long browsing these sorts of companies working out how much it would cost to build ideas.

Sometimes, though I doubt this counts. There are plenty of places that do things like this and have done for decades. See stories about them from time to time. Not necessarily in this country though. An installer wanting a simple life can think of a myriad of reasons not to do something I'm sure. Takes a client/specifier who wants an holistic approach and is will to push for it/pay a premium for it to get there. In a situation where there was scope to experiment with low risk/cost, maybe this farm example is a good one, you could do the following. Get a couple of scrapped but good car radiators. Connect them via pipe + circulating pump. Put one in front of the warm exhaust and the other in front of the cold intake and measure the energy of both systems. Assuming the exhaust is 20+C warmer than ambient expect that would lead to a decent efficiency gain. Likely cost of a couple of hundred quid and some time. If it works, wire the pump to only run when there is heat demand.

This seems like such an easy win, at least if the things are relatively close in the first place.

Could be an interesting project to use that. Though guess regulations make doing anything there quite difficult.

Agree with this. Jim mentioned his interest in 10gb ethernet and I took that as tech interested. That in itself will probably be ok with cat 6 in most cases but for the little uplift 6a buys you more room for suboptimal install/placement. There is already a 25GBase-T standard. Not very available yet but will be in the life of the building. 10 gigabit is already quite slow compared to modern storage* so if you do tech stuff in general or specifically do stuff related to video (wannabe youtuber, etc) then I can see you wanting to upgrade to 25g when it's available to consumers. *1GB/sec. SSDs can usually do 5GB/s now, latest Macbook they are claiming upto 14GB/s Cat 6 is fine for in a home for what is available now. But again, what you put in your walls you hope will last for decades so spending a little more now makes sense to me. TBC Cat7 is a complete waste of money and bigger number is not better here.

When this is only a bit more expensive than Cat6 and comes with LSZH and outdoor rating I'd go for this. It's about 15p per metre more than standard Cat6 (from the same shop).

£43 seems extremely cheap. Here's some options for comparison: https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/store/cat6a-network-cable/cat6a-cable-reel-box/ I'd recommend using Cat6a rather than Cat6. Difference won't matter in most cases but if you want to run 10g or HDBase-T (HDMI over ethernet) then it might make the difference on longer/noisier runs and the price isn't hugely different. I think cat6 will work fine for rs485 over the distances involved in a house.

Quick response heating was what I took as the brief. If you have a 20kw heatloss then keeping the whole place warm for long periods of time is going to burn thousands of euros a year no matter how you heat the place. If you are willing to spend that sort of money, better to spend some of it reducing the heat loss. With a property with 20kw heat loss your only real economical heat option is to heat the rooms you are in and not the rest. Not the most comfortable way to do it but plenty do. That needs fast response. Either high temp radiators or some form of air driven heating. I took this as a do minimum to the property so we can exist for 5 years, 10 pushing it. Saving money for the knockdown/rebuild. On an horizon over 5 years again IMO the balance lies in reducing the heat loss. 20kw really is an awful lot unless this place is a mansion and if it's not a mansion then there must be a number of quite quick/easy fixes to bring the loss down.

If the rest of the house is generally cold then a heatpump cylinder outputting cold air won't be a great help. Much better option if you have a well insulated house that has more issues with cooling than heating.

Heatpumps can meet any demand you choose as long as you buy big enough. https://www.aircondirect.co.uk/p/2059835/lg-dualcool-pro-a-12000-btu-smart-wall-mounted-split-air-conditioner-with-heat-pump Picked the above at random, it outputs >3.5KW much more than a fan heater while consuming >3x less for equivalent output. They have one double the size for less then double the price. Is this a really big property? Really leaky? What's the cause of such high heat loss? If it doesn't have loft insulation do that before anything else. AC is very quick and easy to install as long as you don't might the outdoor units spread about (or have planning issues related to that). Mutlisplit a bit more so but still quicker and less disruptive than redoing central heating (pipes tend to run externally) Never really investigated the cost of an oil system from scratch. I thought getting a tank installed generally involved planning amoung other things so assumed it's not a particularly cheap option. If it works out the cheapest option and the environmental cost is not a concern then go for it. AC heatpumps I would guess will be fairly competitive on price once you consider redoing all the plumbing, cost of new radiators, etc.

Thinking further and depending on their financial situation and attitude, if this does come in significantly cheaper than the other options (over 5+ years) then have the possibility of taking the difference and using that to build a ground mount solar array (assume farmhouse comes with some land). Position it such that it can stay after they build the new house. Summer generation will help offset some bills and it's a longer term investment that putting it directly into the property. Government support might also be available.

To clarify, install AC/multisplit in the main rooms. Use electric radiators/fan heaters in smaller or occasionally used rooms. Likely get this installed cheaper than the alternatives unless you can get a grant for wet heatpump setup. Scrap exisiting CH plumbing. DHW just use direct tank with immersion, or as they have 3 phase, maybe 3 phase high power electric boiler/shower (less standing losses but if using time of use billing maybe higher bills).

Such a high heatloss because it's a leaky place? Left field option, air to air heatpumps (ie AC). Not intending to warm the structure but the air? May be the cheapest option considering no gas, cost of oil, etc.