scottishjohn

anyone got a simple calcultor for working out a retaining wall

netherlands is very low and most reclaimed land --so lots of wet ground at not to deep a depth and use brine loops for the bore holes

you only need to look at ground temps for uk at 1.5m and you will see that it will work bore holes are used mainly in areas where you have ground water leaking from the sea as wet ground transmission is at least twice as good as dry ground condtions , or no space for slinkies but most do not fit a large enough area of slinies due to space and cost maybe the SE has a problem due to the amount of wtaer that is extracted and lowering the water table?-so ground is dry I looked at that before I fitted ASHP to current house and the costs were prohibitive ,especially as they could not warranty how much heat they could get till they drilled the hole ,and then said we might need to drill another one -- solid rock is not good as the specicfic heat or any sort of rock is way below normal damp soil- unles your going dowmn to voer 100m . my brother in law was involved in a proposed project in cornwall to use a bore hole for geothermal heat to run a power station using old mining shafts as a a starting point It never happedned as they needed to get down 1km+ and then they would get superheated steam at over 300c+ back up the hole EST website --you got a link . If you had very boggy marshy ground around you or a lake or a river you can dump the GSP slinky into they work very very well in this country and willl outperform ASHP ,but cost is always going to alot more than ASHP and for the few days that the COP goes to 1-1 the ASHP will always be cheaper overall in uk

they do work very well if installation is correct Its just the cost to do it compated to air source makes them not as good an option in most situations but in cold climates they will out perfrom air source eveyr time

you could go halfway and insulate the strip founds same way and use B+B+screed so cold bridge gone anyway and anayway the sub soil temp in uk is about 12c all year round at about 1m deep or ground source heat pumps would not work --would they

I would like to see you quantify the real difference remeber that fully insulated foundation rafts to pour your floor and wall footing into come from countries with much harsher climates or even permo frost my average winter temp in s/w scpt;and is +3c not -15c or worse for months at a time likein northern european countries where these came from I doubt the extra 10K for the insualted raft will ever pay itself back just my view and full concrete raft floor will be more expensive than B+B hence why B+B they are used so much in uk they are cheaper to and if DIY it don,t get any easier and you have to option to correct any mistakes on drainge penetrations until you screed it I have no issues with the insulated raft system other than it seems OTT for this country

block and beam can be every bit as effective with UFH as you will put your insulation on top of the block+beam ,then add UFH,then screed it . It is something I am looking at seriously as i beleive block and beam will be cheaper to do and if self build a job you can do yourself you would sit your beams on the strip footings making them a bit wider to accomodate the beamsand add insulation at perimeter to isolate from walls

so as suspected the boiler is not running at 35c ,but 54+ where it will be happy and not cause ezxcessive corrosion to flue +heat exchanger

I presume you are heating a buffer tank and then only heating it when you go below target temp ? or are you directly conecting the boiler to the underfloor system those are floor target temps --not temp of water coming from bioler?

look at this lifted from an article onundefloor heating and gas boilers Condensing boilers A condensing boiler is another excellent option for underfloor heating as they recover as much waste heat as they can. | They then reuse waste heat in the system, which would otherwise be put out into the atmosphere from the flue. Unfortunately, most standard radiators do not work as well with condensing boilers as they cannot make the most of the available energy. Traditional radiators have a flow temperature of 70°C and output of 60°C, which is above the range of a condensing boiler which operates at around 53°C. not 35c which was what someone was saying they were running thier boiler at

If you say so but my experience of very low exhaust temps on motor vehicles ,even when fitted with s/s exhaust parts would not agree with that hydro carbons and water make acid . I have never seen a boiler stat that goes down to anywhere close to 35c

he was talking about a condensing boiler to my remberance of the conversation

that is obtained by mixing output waterof boiler with return water if lower than 55c to get it up to the 55c or more so running at boiler output temp of 35c -- its always going to be a very strong acid solution in the flue system and even stainless steel will corode with that

I am not sure if things have changed but last time I spoke to a boiler man he told min temp for boiler return water was 55 as lower than that and excessive water vapour in flue would rot the boiler+ flue very quickly due to aicds from combustion would be liquid

this post got me thinking I have always thought to just have a slab foundation /floor inside my old house for the UF as it would be cheaper BUT if would it be cheaper to block and beam it then maybe a good idea labour to fit the blocks and beams is a nearly a free bie to me and cost is paramount at this time I am working on a 300mm dig out below original floor level with some strip foundations for internal load bearing walls to support the upper floor joist Idon,t see any problem with ground loads as its very very solid all thoughts welcome i am just starting to clear out the inside and grading the stones into piles for small builders/arge builders and small rubble and the tons of old lime mortar

I spoke to the iriash importer today abd after a long conversation it still seems thatTF is going to be cheaper basically the clay blocks with pearlite insulation is like and ICF build with out the wet concrete so yes for an old boy DIY then could be good but not for my job and the insulated blocks are not imported to UK at this time .although they were willing to get a price for them If I were keen but after the conversation seems not the right thing for me come in all sizes fro 100 -300mm and very long

"Iknow nothing -I.m from barcelona Mr faulty"

mineral wool --why not PIR foam surely

ao how do yhey bond to next layer and is it a viable cost comparison to going timber frame, as with my build I am building another house inside an old granitr building anbody got a link to them in uk

yes but this is up front -not sure I could get that with a house not habitable at this time maybe worth a a try if things get sticky

just a silly thought If someone would like to pay to build my house and they can have it 25 years or on myself and wifes death by that time i will be96 she will be more than that anyone heard of this sort of funding I have already had estimates of plot value this is all assuming the quotes I get to build it are beyond me estimate for plot 400k now so if it costs 800k to build you get a free plot as well at the end

my guess is they are wanting a claw back if you build more than one house on the plot EG if inten years time you decide to divide the plot and build more houses they are wanting a cut of the . Ilooked at one plot where they wetre wanting an uplift of 30% ofr every other house buiilt on the the land within 10years my answer has simple "no way jose"

its not just panels ,but alot of battery storage needed and maybe a gen for winter as well more work needed to see which is best beatring mind I do not have 30 years to get installation costs back +beneift from savings

Ihave been told ,but not confiremd that they may even let you dig and give you conduit to lay and just pull the cable through and connect . that would suit me fine --but need to revisit the quote stage soon

could well be different now --