bikerchris

Hi @joth , I think it's really kind of you to mention your experience, thank you very much. 👍 Fingers crossed for you that Appliance Direct turn up...with the right gear. I just checked and my unit uses R32, I wonder if I'll suffer the same fate.

Nice, and quicker than the original December stock date! Pity I've already got hold of one, same price though, so not too bad.

Yep, that's what I'm going to do.

Cheers @Jenki , very much appreciated. I had a look on the Vevor website and can't see any vacuum pumps at all 🙃 I'll look at the youtube video for hoses...I did see that, but partly guessed as he's american, they might use different sizes.

Oh dear, I never kept this thread updated, if anyone's interested I'm happy to post my disappointingly slow progress 🙄

Hi all, Wow, it's been a long time! I thought I'd close this thread off, I've recently bought a heating/cooling unit. It's a pity that heat pipes weren't feasible but I very much welcomed the reality check, as well as the possible options I had! 👍

Hello @Jenki , thank you for doing this write up, great job! Just wondered if you could advise on the vac pump / fittings, as there's so many google results with a wide range of price. Thanks in advance! 👍

Thank you @SteamyTea 👍

Very interesting thread all, thanks to @joth for pointing it out 👍 I might take pics of my new one, may be I should put it in a different thread to avoid a hijack!

@joth You are a saint, thank you very much. 👍 I'll mosey on over to that thread now 🙂

Thank you Steamy, for letting me know. 👍 I have done a google search but can only find cheap units that don't look like they'll do the job, or expensive units that are simply too expensive. I have since found a place that rents them for £36 per day, so I'll probably be opting for that. There is one review commenter that says he did not vacuum the lines, but it's an expensive unit so I don't want to break it. If anyone is interested, I've bought an electriQ iQool 9000.

Hi @Jeremy Harris, thank you for all your posts a few years ago on this subject. If you're around, can you advise where you got the vacuum pump + fittings? I've decided to DIY a pre-gassed unit, but despite seeing comments suggesting no vacuuming is needed, I'd still like to do it. Thanks in advance! 👍

I have to confess, I'm temporarily using this to light the room https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-ae0544-uk-work-light-20w-220-240v/124gy?_requestid=92042

Very true. Technically I also have an LED light that probably produces around 20W as well.

Just a small update. So far with temps down to -2C outside, I'm able to keep an internal temp of 19-20C (during 8am-6pm) and it takes approx. 4.5-6 KWh using an oiled filled radiator set to a 900W output. I do also have a computer and monitors that use 150W, but that's pretty much it. I'm looking forward to install the last strips of external wall insulation as well as sorting out the attached store room.

Thank you @Onoff, that's all incredibly interesting stuff, thank you for posting. You're not the only one that does unfinished projects though...well, they get finished when time permits, eventually! That is a shame about your roof, pesky houses are never orientated right, I've got a similar issue. That's the trouble with houses built 50+ years ago, they never considered solar panels! I'm going to keep solar thermal in the back of my mind. I did have a (probably stupid) idea that I could have a run of cans around 3.5m (roughly half the length of the outbuilding), then I might be able to use a white gutter that is some how pulley controlled that covers it during the summer months. It is intriguing though, that's for sure, and I like the simplicity even if it's not as effective as solar. During cold and heavily cloudy days, both would need electric support. I guess that's where solar would win, because I could have battery storage that's used during those days...at more expensive...yeeeeey. ? I haven't completely finished the insulation on my build quite yet, just a small bit that's un-insulated, but it's a chore to do. Heating seems to be working well so far (electric oiled filled rad) and on the 1 KW setting, it tends to switch on and off to keep it at 18-19C with about 4C outside.

Wow, that's pretty impressive. Do...it! I'd be interested to see how it goes. So do you think the water circulated from the top right, up to the tank, then fell down, or did you need a pump? Fair play to you though ??

Ah mate, I'm so tempted, do you do them by the pallet? ???

That's encouraging to read, thank you for saying ?

No I'm not sleeping in it, as it's well insulated, if it worked well I would like to have night time heating at a lower temp and then raise it up when I'm about to occupy it. I did have a plumber friend review the heating requirements and he suggested around 2.2KW, though at the moment at worst case temps, it seems to cope with 2KW (non-continuous) even without having completed the floor insulation...so we'll see! Ah, that's interesting about the ASHP, I don't plan on being here for more than 4 years though. There's an outlet a short walk from me, I keep meaning to pop in there and check them out first hand. The current electrical supply is comfortable with the current usage, but it does need improvement. Hmm, not keen on noise inside, I have to put up with a lot of noise on building sites, be nice to have some quiet when in office! Those sound levels of that unit are pretty good, and in theory it would be at the lower range if it wasn't having to boost too often.

Nah, not me any more, not for a few decades now. I'm as quiet as I can be, but not so quiet that someone listening to music or driving on their phone won't notice me.

Wow, I never knew you lived near me, Kent right? Let's meet up, perhaps your neighbours could join us as we find the loud bike owner. There is a guy a few hundred yards away that goes out every few weeks during the sunny season, may be it's him? It can't be mine, I'm old, so I have a sensible bike that's not much louder than your average Skoda.

That is quite an interesting topic, thanks again ?

It's south facing during the Summer...house blocks it during the colder part of the year, I had wondered about it though. I'm going to read that article, as I drink plenty of cans (fizzy!). Cheers! Here's a very basic shadow calc - there's one tree in the way that's a neighbours (around 6m tall), but I'm cutting that down for them soon. The building isn't quite that shape, but it's correct enough.

That was the original plan, I know someone that'll do supply and install for £1k all inclusive. But I'm just concerned about noise levels as I live in a high density area (buildings within 10m of my building) and don't want to be yet another selfish resident. ? A friend in construction did say that because of my insulation and build up, it might require very little energy to heat/cool, so that could work in my favour (quieter). He showed me his, but it was a top of his container cabin/office, surrounded by trees and nothing else and it was quiet. But it doesn't compare to my situation where it'll be around 4 ft from the nearest close boarded fence, then it could reflect back against the building. Tricky.