scottishjohn

do you have moss on roof now ? if you don,t then it is obviously too hot or dry for it to grow --so --no i would not bother

all these ways of making us renewable in the talk does not address the cost issue ,which as we all know is what will drive every decision the fact that hydro and tidal barrages were very obvious by their omission shows both these require long term planning + build costs not many places on the planet with better tidal resources and that is dependable --not like wind

just checked -- it is a sottish requirement seems it is different in england,very suprised at that ALL air guns required licensing for last few years in scotland over 12 ftlbs was always fire arms cert so just make sure you don,t come over the border with one I your car www.scotland.police.uk/.../air-weapon-licensing

I would advise the same -and if using off the shelf system and tank i would agree with you . the correct size and shape of tank will be very important to get best from it so its not just useful in summer

think you need to check the gun laws -- sorry you are incorrect its not the act of shooting -but owning an air rifle that requires a cert it so silly now that if you have land to use it on you might as well go for a .17 or a .22 real rifle or a .410 with a sound moderator for around the house /farm vermin they are very quiet

If you using rads with low temp UFH type of water --then you need rads twice the size --or expensive ones heat excahanger look like a car radiator+ fan assisted -not just flat like std rad. If you want very quick response on ufh --then don,t use big thick slab. If you put a layer of insulation on top of main slab ,then ufh in a thin screed --that would alter reaction time If you want big temp diffs from one room to next then you will need doors that fit well and a more complicated MVHR--no 10mm gap as normally used under doors

bearing in mind the fact you now new a permit for an air rifle and they will want to know where it will be used not a problem if you already have shot gun cert I would shoot the "tree rats"--but if there is no safe background to shoot, where stray slugs will go, -- "keep on trapping " we only have the red ones here --but greys are getting closer and are top of hit list --there is even a tel no to ring if you see one . not really sure why they bother as they are re introducing pine martens --they are far worse at taking wee tweety birds nests and small mammals+ squirrels for lunch all vermin to me

Ok just to keep you happy --2 other ways which are used tracer wire around solar plumbing-or use the anti frost function on controller and circulate when temp drops below freezing the volume of water in the circuit is very low+ pipes would be lagged anyway -so for the times when it is -2c water temp and lower turn on circulation pump via temp sensor

yes i do know what it is made from but again it is scaremongering for it to get where it can touch dhw it would need to perforate a single piece s/s coil in the tank and then perforate the s/s coil that is used to heat the dhw from the thermal store that is never going to happen 2 x one piece s/s coils to have holes at same time !!!!

thats what i did and never regretted it,but i did insulate upperfloor so there was little heat transfer to anywhere but where i wanted it and as far as keeping upstairs cooler --they are called doors-you have them shut if you wish to keep upstairs a different zone than downstairs and SHE would not accept not having windows open at night anyway -and as every room has its own stat --not a problem

a std commercial process controller would do that and all your pv and heating system at same time ,all programmed with a lap top would have thought it would be right up your street @JSHarris as for temp control you could use a simple analog blender vlave same as you would use to set dhw temp,if you want to keep away from 21st century control systems --.its not rocket science ,just different than PV you could even use both pv +solar to obtain correct min temp ,but keeping as much pv energy as possible for other things

how can you list car problems when talking about solar thermal of that list only 2 things could be even considered as similar to a car I know that's what i have been doing for last 40 years anyway just state you don,t like solar thermal and leave it at that please don,t invent things that have no bearing on the subject ,its just scaremongering to people who do not know about these things,same as talking about electronics to those who are not conversant with them as for antifreeze --yes. I used car antifreeze in my system ,the red -sealed for life type -very economical and no need for changing ever and also a very good corrosion inhibitor

you can heat sunamp with solar thermal --does not have to be PV just a heat source- just lower pump speed on cooler days so you get high water temp but lower volume -so you only have water over your 56 c going to it It was orginally designed to be a user of waste heat from production processes. the argument of complicated systems is not that good ----solar thermal is very simple --panels +pump +sensors --thats it I never had a problem with power cuts causing problems in summer with a pressure accumulator in circuit the panels can stagnate at 140c, providing pressure in system is enough -no problem ,but again if running both and a wee battery back up --to run controller/pump on 12v --that is another belt and braces now if the accumulator was not big enough on some systems then pressure could rise so high it could blow water out of system --again specing the thing right- I was supplied with too small an accum in first instance--I fitted another 27litre accum along with the 18litre supplied and pumped them up to 3 bar charged system to 3 bar It could mean a manual pump up of system where your mains water pressure is below 4 bar -panels I had was fit for 10 bar --and had a pressure relief valve at 5 bar you can run on lower pressures if you wish and if you do make sure you have tank big enough that it cannot get to close boiling in one day .my thermal cut off was set at 92c-set lower if you like all the possible problems you state revolve around the accepted fact of how good it is at heating water !!!

An even more simple over heat protect would be heat dump linked by a mechanical themostat that diverts when temp gets too hot -

I can,t speak for all evac tubes ,,but one model thermomax did have a bimettalic strip inside so when tube got too hot it disconnected from manifold me being greedy did not go for that tube,as i thought my tank size and usage for UFh would not be a problem --wrong TANK was TOO SMALL certainly considering a custom tank maybe 8ft -tall and min 5-600 litres and made like the SOLVIS tank which directs solar heat to the level it is closet to in the tank without stirring up the contents

none of these technologies have to be roof mounted if that is the reason for not having balanced mix . size of tank and where you put the solar heat in and where ufh coils are will make a tremendous difference as to how much of the year they can contribute. over heating is purely a function of tank size to panel size and stopping them boiling is not hard .I only had problem once and then it ran for years with no problems you could of curse do a very simple belt and braces approach and have a heat dump linked in --like an old house raidiator on a divert valve and max temp sensor . please do not under estimate how much lower temp water they will give even in the winter if enough panel size --to run UFH - and then if you had been doing that with pv --before the Pv ouput could then be sold back or used for something else. Istill believe a mix of both with,suitable tank size and DESIGN and control will be good economical system tank must be as tall as poss to get thermal stratification and dhw taken from top only _mixed with cold when it leaves tank UFH coil in middle

thats £842sqm for a bare shell then add plot + services + fitting out + delivery and erection costs ,certainly premium market you are aiming at

it looks like you are trying to compete with the static caravan/holiday park retirement house so what price will the come out at ? Is it not too large for a normal holiday rental? no need for master bed en-suite for that market which would make the whole thing much smaller +less expensive and could open up more market

the bathroom would be tiled or resprotect lined

you make bathroom a wet room with disabled handles etc --normal people can still use it--would not consider anything else

are there any with batteries that a wee solar panel can keep them charged

one reason is because its easy to erect where as scaffolding tubing and clamps etc requires you to have had a meccano set when you were a boy or girl .LOL

one simple question If you say thermal mass does not exsist -and that having more mass inside the insulated envelope does nothing why do you use a concrete slab"thermal mass " for your floor for UFH - -you use it cos it stores heat and lets it out slowly surely that is the definition of a thermal mass if such a thing exsists? same as a wine cellar is under ground or a cave cos the temp stays stable due to the "mass of rock around it

so this wall is to face the pavement then ?not the house and you are raising it at road level ,then an 1800mm hedge ,so it will be well over 2.2-m to road level ? I

how much have you spent on multiple sunamp units and how long you have you been trying to get them to work correctly, so PV is not trouble free as you imply my post earlier was trying giving a balanced approach on using both technologies , both have their place if used correctly and together you could even use solar thermal to heat your sunamps!! seems to me that a lot of energy usage in a house goes to heating water ,in space heating and DHW- one way and another -so why not use the best one when possible and save your PV for other things or sell it back - I think your comment on costings was also a bit skewed as you fitted all your PV yourself and hunted for cheapest I reasonably sure you did not do the same for the cursory glance at solar thermal . when i did my system years ago +prices have dropped since then, my 8kw system of solar(4sqmish) was £2k-- I would not argue that PV prices have dropped or that installation is simpler for retro fit . ,when i get round to new system I,m sure i will find prices have dropped if self fit with solar thermal as well and much better controllers are available now -- and if as you say it is very expensive ,then i will not be doing it I am not so in favour of solar thermal ,that i would use it if the numbers do not stack up,same as the numbers on PV -still really are not right yet . the LPG my solar thermal saved paid for system in 5 years was easy to see by how much gas bills dropped--did,nt need any complicated spread sheets and computer modelling