scottishjohn

and ideal to use impact driver with as well

your rubber floor in gym will be too good an insulator for UFH to work well there are special radiators made for use with ASHP -winter is no problem for ASHP in uk as temps never get that low for that long ,or you would have to use twice the area of std type radiators ,as the heat level is only half as much as normal boiler. if it was me and you have mains gas--then that will always be cheapest option .

I have no experience but looks like it could be worth talking to them certainly getting your insulation levels up is paramount

vcl --goes on inside --thats the one you NEED to tape do you you mean breathable membrane for outside?,that one most systems are happy just with big overlaps and stapled down not taped ,as it has to breath not seal you need both

is this directly onto the walls ,if so that won,t work a lot of stone houses in scotland have the walls --then a gap and then a stud wall type of set-up with lathe +plaster . the gap behind stud wall goes from below ground floor up to the loft space --basically a vertical draft space which kept inner wall dry and separated from outer stone wall,which would be lime mortar and would breathe outwards knowing this detail is critical to what you can do . If it is plastered direct onto slate walls -- I don,t see an answer other than the first one of a house built inside a house in effect or another wall with insulation around the outside I suppose it is technically possible to cut out listed plaster coving with part of the wall ,cut off the old wall and refit it to the new walls --or get new look a like coving to replace it there are companies that will take moulds off your covings and make replicas .but that would not be cheap example www.plastercoving.ltd.uk/acorn-and-leaf-plaster-coving-br60mm-x-100mm---20-off-3860-p.asp

I just wish i had a stream then it would be a no brainer --hydro I have no doubt i could do a very good solar thermal ,but I,m not discounting solar PV - I am listening and thinking ,no hard and fast decisions made yet on PV but not convinced yet either , I expect some new government scheme ,otherwise for most people the equation will not be attractive enough to invest Time will tell

the new plots are on side of big hill so only angle that would be impeded at all is to the east south+west have no restrictions to horizon all day and will get last of sun,as ground to the west drops off 100ft+ to sea level so maybe a simple fixed s/w array or split south +west will delve into more once I,m on the plot building and can take actual real world sightings for all parts of day

just remember if you want to do alli or s/s you need a/c not dc and argon gas if not stick welding

so conclusion from those numbers is basically NO only dec+jan fractionally better --rest well down

what you using invertor TIG and s/s ? like gas welding with much more control you can go as quick or slow as you like with TIG mig you gotta lay metal down all the time

does it show more in winter than optimal orientation

and foam backed plasterboard is very good for sound insulation -- or that is what i found when fitting it on top of original plaster board --and that was 32mm --not mega thick was to better insulate outside walls --but very noticeable the drop in sound from outside

has there been any proper survey on advantage of sun tracking panels -presuming ground is suitable with a ground array it could be quite easy i to have a swing from se through south to sw

I bought the expensive fancy pliers/crimpers www.belmoretools.co.uk/acatalog/Heavy_Duty_Crimping_Tool.html to fix the these metal studs together on a job i did --bends things to make them fixed together not impressed with them --would use pop rivets next time --or if in work would use spot welder . lol once drywall is on -it don,t matter anyway

how do PV paenls work hung vertically on side of house I know a man in denmark with solar thermal and he does that to limit summer outputand get max in winter would it worrk same with PV if so that may work for quite few folk

don,t know if its possible -- it sounds like lathe +plaster -- and lime mortared walls will breathe outwards could it be foam filled behind it which might also make it a VCL someone else will say if this works or not

If house is old +leaky do you have rooms big enough to make new insulated walls inside old ones and drop your heat requirements big time concentrate on getting fabric of building right and energy requirements will plummet making all your other choices much easier and cost to run a fraction of what it will be now fabric of building first --always and if trying to run off grid it is paramount to your goal can you afford to loose 6" of room space on out side walls , then mega insulation in loft space you could also wrap it on outside if that is easier . non of these would as good as building to new house spec --bu just chucking energy at old house is bonkers you will need twice as much,or more and will be doing it for ever -

a length of hose tied to some ladders

I would say the operative word in what i said regarding hydro was viable --long term -not some mickey mouse turbine that not going to last with sod all output ,but with all the complications -a real turbine will last 50 years or more pressure increases with more drop --if not big drop then you need bigger flow .its all about the weight of water and or force (pressure ) to turn it I have done the numbers and 3-5kw per hour is where it becomes viable to consider it as a power supply . how big a generator were you going to run ?-

why so many fuel types? --you could get an lpg conversion on generator . no problem with tank being lower for lpg ,as its pressure ,but oil will require a pump at tank ,so that also means electric supply to it ,which means generator has to be going . or use a 12v car fuel pump ,but battery will need charging or its own solar pv system . for hydro to be viable you need a water supply that can run a 6" pipe all the time , and have minimum of 40 ft drop from water supply to turbine --that should give 3-5kw depending on how big a drop --more is better

very hard to produce a good vacumn and thats alot of volume of pipe to evacuate +it might collapse? --lot easier to pressurise

a pub gas bottle if no compressor ? do you have a connector to rejoin 50mm if you cut it to inspect or push something up it from other end. any boy racers local that would have some samco turbo hoses+clips ,or a hose of an old car or something a lesson to be learnt here--inspection chamber where 50mm joins the 100m manifold for drainage field array ---(noted for my my system ) do I understand correctly that the drainage field array is uphill from septic tank ,so when no pump working the water will try to go back to the pump chamber not just seep out of perforated pipes into ground

would be good to get what evers blocking it out so you can see what the blockage is made from . how long did pump run before you got the first showing at the hole nearest the drainage field --if it was straight away and it is connected to 4 x100m legs then is it possible they are partially blocked if ,otherwise why would you have any flow from lower hole until all legs were filled up ? If its not been flowing for a couple of days then surely they would be empty ?. If it were me i would want to totally disconnect small pipe and flush it through and make sure its not grease . I know you say the septic should separate it --but it should n,t be blocked if only water flowing anyway-- so something else is in there to block it do you have IC where 4x100mm connect to 50mm ?

my understanding of the vat scenario ,and it may be wrong any service you get from anywhere if you are charged vat -you cannot claim it back any goods you buy --not services -you can claim vat back If you are paying to dump spoil --then its a service that you are paying for ,its not goods you are BUYING to put into the fabric of the building ,no different than architects fees as far as HMRC is concerned so if the supplier of this service will not do it zero rated --then tough, you have to suck it up -HMRC -not interested

I see exactly what you are getting at and do not disagree in principle but the term thermal mass is usually used in the same way as "insulation" is now just saying insulation does not give you a value --but we all know that a house needs to built with insulation and it generally needs to have a thermal mass to store the energy so when people say they want a good thermal mass its same as saying i want the house well insulated I ask this question what would you call your 300mm slab floor if not a thermal mass,as it stores energy ,using the commonly understood definition that that a thermal mass stores energy at what rate it gains or holds or looses it is another defining attribute all together