Big Jimbo

As @Mr Punter said

I hope they vented top and bottom? What a shame to have somebody, doing something for the first time, using your hard earned cash.

I totally agree. Its just people with limitless money, want things that nobody else have. Stupid Mansory Rolls Royce for £800k

I built a vanity unit for an en-suite that was £12k. I'd call that high end. It was made of Wenge, marble, included lights, and a shaver socket. Another had a feature glass panel between Two rooms, that cost £120k. Obviously my vanity unit looked fab, but the glass wall thing looked tacky. Russian Mafia money.

I did some work in a place that was 120Million. It had some sort of very fancy Airstream door, that prevented any smell from the swimming pool, entering the rest of the property.

always try and fit, unbranded items. That way you can say they are handmade. One off, and seriously expensive. I think it was that Northern monkey @nod who said that all the people who viewed his house only ever asked about the boiling water tap.

High end, quality, means that i have sprinkled my magic wand over it.

Best of luck @-rick-.You have a good heart, and a good heart these days is hard to find. (quote F S) I just can't see you winning this One. However, well done for trying. Most of the above has been tried before, by other well meaning people.

So the company selling it could get the grant money, and pocket a few bob.

I don't believe that anybody on here is trying to bully Zoot the hoot. However, it is easy to see the frustration. Zoot appears to be very good at avoidance. He had very fixed ideas as to why he is correct in his assumptions, and that nobody else can possible understand. He has a belief that no matter what he sets his ASHP controls to, it will not work. We all know that the phisics say it will work, but i bring you back to the following points. Who thinks that Zoot can get his "Special. One of a kind cottage" in the "Special. Micro climate" to be nice and comfortably warm during the depths of winter for £70 per month. I for One don't. Can all the tinkering being suggested on here make a huge difference ? It's possible, but i believe that to make any substantial difference, it is going to cost more money to run. Will Zoot spend more money. NO, he had said so himself. Then there is the fundamental point that Zoot is not going to run, his ASHP at 16, 0r 18 degrees during the night. I believe he said that, that would be madness. He has said over, and over, that the max he will consider is 10 degrees. I can honestly say that despite, what i believe is all the good intentions, nothing is going to change his mind about the three main points. Special house. Micro climate, and that running heating during the night is not madness. I don't think i am trying to bully Zoot when i suggest, a damn good ski suit might, be an easier way to stay warm. If you all manage to change his way of thinking, then hats off to you. The thread does make entertaining reading. The mods are free to delete this post, if they think i am being out of order.

I still think that we are still a nation of people who want to own property. So much of the rental market is expensive, and shite quality. I was on a newbuild site for about 1 hour last weekend. Two people selling, and i saw 4 appointments in that time. All 4 paid to reserve a property. These were not flats. They were small houses, and were not in London. However, in NW9 on the site of what used to be the Met Police training centre, Hendon. They have built a shed load of Tall Blocks of flats. I think the total is going to be about 5000 new homes. No sign of them not selling. The next door underground station. Colindale, has had a multi million pound refurb. I just think that the shine has gone from London. I grew up in London in the 1960's, and it was a shitehole. There was no Notting Hill, or Islington. Well there was, but not in the same way that we think of those areas today. Islington property all had outside toilets, and was poor as. Notting Hill was a bit of a no go area if you were White. London came up in the 80's. Areas where you could easily have previously got stabbed, or shot, became trendy. London had 30 BOOM years. During the last 10 people have just come to realise that, if you are single, London can be fun. If you want to start a family, and you are not rich. Time to get the Fudge out. The arse has fallen out of London. The young trendies who would have historically owned those flats, just don't have the money that used to slosh around London. So the younger trendies are not there to buy off the previous generation of young trendies. £7.20 for a coffee in Canary Wharf !

It won't be a can till the metal roof goes on @Nickfromwales

Zoot the Hoot. i love ya fella. Except for the setback bit (I think you are talking Balls, about now understanding that ). Every other thing you wrote......I could have guessed. Fair play, you are you're own man, and you play it you're way. Hats off to you my friend. Personally, due to being a lifelong smoker, i suffer a bit with cold feet. A hottie on those tootsies, and i'm happy as a pig in poo. Long live Zoot the Hoot. (ain't nobody gonna tell him how to play the game) My sincere best wishes to you pal. If i didn't have a long standing wife, i could see myself being very similar. The only difference is i would have Six rescue dogs, and perhaps the treat, of a lady of the night when funds allowed. (Just as a workout for the old ticker)

Because i had an O2 business account, they gave me a booster. They gave up supporting it a few months ago. Wi-fi calling only now, and that's shite.

I am old ? I still aspire to a massive boom box with at least 10 big batteries, that last 1/2 an hour. Bring back the early 80's

Sorry @-rick- Nobody here can say with any certainty, that the heat that Zoot is currently imputting is wasted. It may simply be that he is not imputting enough ? Zoot is never going to turn on the heating 24 hours a day. He considers that any heating system should be turn on, when you want heat, turn off when you don't. Any heat pump that is run on the basis of, couple of hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening, is simply, not going to work. Unless the mindset is changed, and Zoot himself says it won't. Nothing much is unfortunately going to change. To make any meaningful difference, either more money is going to have to be spent, or nothing much is going to change. As Zoot lives on his own, he may be better to turn the ASHP off completly. Simply turn the immersion on if he wants to have a bath, and concentrate of keeping himself warm, as he does now, with a sleeping bag over his lower half, and a scarf and hat. He might actually save some of his £70 per month. If all the well meaning people on here, actually persuade Zoot, to turn his ASHP on 24 hours a day, we might end up causing the poor fella to be in a very difficult position when the Electric bill lands on his mat. I have stated before that i expect that to be able to put enough energy into a leaky old stone cottage, that is prob about 1200 square foot, would be in the region of £250 per month, over the year. The guy believes that it is not possible to heat his cottage, and for £70 per month he is prob right. £200 spent on a ski suit might be a better bet.

Poor old Zoot. He has not managed to get himself any further forward. I think he is destined to stay cold and damp forever more. He currently spends £60 per month on his energy bills. Regardless of the well meaning posts on here, we all have to agree that tweeking his system might bring him some small benifits, but ultimately not change a great deal in the way of comfort. The only way that the current situation is going to get better, is by either spending a considerable amount of money on upgrading the house, or considerably more money on energy costs. I don't believe he will want to spend more money on energy costs. he, like me, is obviously a bit of a dinosaur. (I ain't paying £4 for a coffee, when i used to spend 20pence on One 40 odd years ago) I personally don't think that a bit of tweeking of the system, is going to make the Zoot toasty warm. I think that perhaps tweeking the system, and accepting considerably higher bills, is something that the Zoot is either going to have to accept, or remain cold.

Best of luck with your heating bloke this morning Zoot the hoot.

I think Modern UPVC which has been used by a few bods on here, state. Effective Air leakage = 0 Is that what you mean ?

I can't go back and test it, cause i sold the gaff.

Well i ain't gonna know that @Nickfromwales cause i didnt do that.

I will add that before i added a batten for services, and plasterboard, it was like being inside a space module, being blasted to the moon. Beam me up Scottie.

Jeez, about 15 years ago i used the 30 layer stuff in a loft conversion. At the time nobody had said that it was snake oil. It was a bit of a faff to fit, and tape etc. Now, to be honest, the room created, never got cold, never over heated, and the radiator was never turned on. I dunno, is it really that bad ?

I see where @SBMS is coming from here, and it makes sense. Lots of people move in before a completion cert is issued. The good old council, are banging on the front door for council tax, even before the door has been fitted.

Zoot, we do all love you fella, and sooooooo many people on here want to help. If you pick One of the options above. Then we will all know where we stand. Once you have chosen one, we can all chip in and help you buddy. There are a lot of people who are offering you help. Great guys and girls on this site. The best there is There are no other options, so you can't come back with.....How can i leave my house as it is. Spend £70 a month on energy, and be warm and toasty. Even the fella on here from Wales, who calls himself the Wizard, ain't got a magic wand that can do that.