Big Jimbo

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.

Zoot, you are very good at avoidence. You either spend a considerable sum of money to improve the "U" values of all the elements of your house. Walls, floors, roof, windows, doors. Everything. You commit to spend a considerable amount of money to provide your crappy house with enough energy to keep it, and you happy. You put with it being damp, and cold. You sell it to some mug, and buy somewhere better. Which of those do you want to do fella ? There are no other options i'm afraid. Now, stop waffling, and avoiding. Which of those do you want to do ?

The Answer Zoot, is that you live in a house where it is not possible, to expect to spend £70 per month, and live comfortably. That's the answer.

Gents, i hate to say this, but, There is no way on earth, that Zoot is going to get the above for much less than i quoted above. We have to understand that a large proportion of Old people, only on a state pension, have to chose, between heat and eat. Expecting to cover the cost of the above for £70 per month is living in cloud cookoo land. I now live in my posh shed, as my bungalow will be pulled down in the near future. It's about 250 square foot. I have a kettle, a microwave, and air fryer, and a two ring electric hob. I have a 10k/w instant water heater which is a bit crap, but that provides water for a shower, and the sink. The walls, floor, and roof, all have 100mm of pir. Well fitted. Double glazing, and although not tested would be quite good for airtightness. (i built it) I have One, in wall heat recovery ventaxia fan, and an extraction fan in the shower room which comes on with the light. The heating is taken care of by a very small panel heater in the bathroom set to 18, and a larger one in the main room set to 18 at night, and 21 during the day. The heaters are on 24/7 switching themselves, on an off as required. I spend On average £68 per month on electricity to run the gaff. Frankly, it's a lot nicer that my crappy bungalow. Unless the Zoot, is in the position, and if he is, wants to.............. Unless he he willing to spend considerably more money on a monthly basis, he is not going to be able to move forward. I said to all my 3 girls. It's great having the big house, with the great kitchen, and the almost new car on the drive. All your friends will be jealous..... However, it will be shit, to have that, but have to shop in the dented tins isle, and not to be able to afford the petrol for the car. Zoot is going to either have to spend a lot of extra money to live comfortably Put up with very cheap bills, but being bloody freezing most of the time. consider moving, to perhaps a smaller, cheaper, better built property. Where he can be warm at a reasonable cost. Zoots house might be utter shite. We don't know because we have not been there. There is a possibility that the engineer did some heat loss calcs, and basically thought, It's effing pointless trying to heat this place. I will set this up, so he can at least get some hot water. Now, we all know that it can be heated. However if it really is as shite as Zoot says, that might cost £1000 a month. We can all offer advice, but i think there needs to be a commitment to spend more than £70 per month on energy when you live in a shite, old, welsh cottage, that is surrounded by it's own doom and gloom micro climate system .

Zoot. Serious question if you don't mind. Could you afford to pay £250 a month for your electricty ? That would be a total of £3000 over a year. It's a real question, not just us trying to have a nose at your financial status. If i came down to you, and provided you with a system where, you could boil a kettle, cook food, be cool in bed, and toasty warm during the day, regardless of how cold it would be outside. Is that a cost that you would be ok with ?

My understanding is that PD rights do not come into play untill a completion cert has been issued.

Hate to say you are right @SteamyTea, but you are right.

That made me chuckle @Onoff I used to have a good mate that was in the 80's band Wham. Did top of the pops with them a few times. He wanted stardom, so set off as a solo artist. Did a couple of TV shows. One was Cheggers plays pop or something. He failed to strike gold. His first single was called Turn to Gold. When i used to bump into his mum, i would always say, "Haven't heard anything of Dave for a while, and she would always reply "Oh, he's big in Japan.

I want that car.

@Onoff My black, slotted, pan heads, would looks posher than yours. especially if the slots were lined up horizontally.

what about some nice pan head slotted screws in black. That would look super posh

At my daughters. 1930's butched floorboards, i glued, and screwed down 9mm ply. Just blocking all the gaps made a huge difference. After LVT floor obviously not warm, but much better that leaky old floorboards. Listen, i am not against insulation. Quite the opposite. But stop the airflow. It will make a big difference.

Or a black marker pen.

I would do anything other that a pumping station. That would be last resort IMO

I think i did a bit of hunting around, and found 6 meters somewhere. Doubtful you will own a car longer than that. The council did pop round about the height of the gate. I told them it was 6 meters from the highway, and to f.off. They did. I wouldn't bother with PP. loads of case law out there about how far back from a highway, is far enough.

Hold up the Zoot. When im squatting in there, you will only be allowed to visit by appointment. Don't get cheeky now.