joth

Great point! I'd completely forgotten about the sound/vibration benefit of this approach too. Given the hole in the wall is immediately below master bedroom, making the junction as vibration proof as possible is another benefit of lots of armaflex and squirty foam. Fab. Thanks all, and this is a great "work instruction" to give my contractor. You specifically call for copper pipe. Is this intentional? i.e. plastic is contraindicated for this task? Main contractor prefers copper too, but my ASHP installer wants to use plastic through the wall, and I'm left trying to arbitrate this one. (And our first air-test is happening as I speak, and this penetration is one major omission from that which is now a risk I'm carrying into the final project phases too. I removed the ASHP from main contract to save on VAT and get GHG, but now see the drawbacks of that -- I tool my eye off the ball to let the trades figure this stuff out between themselves which left it undone)

Thanks! Any thoughts on air tightening the junction where it passes through the wall? Current thinking it so cut the armaflex back, grommet the pipe, and then push the armaflex up tight against the grommet on both sides. This means making an oversized hole though the external wall to slide the armaflex up into (or using say 13mm instead of 19mm though the wall).

We're installing ashp we plan to use for coming someday too. I've asked the pipes from monobloc outdoor unit to ufh manifold to be 100% sealed armaflex insulated so no risk of condensation forming on it and ruining ceilings etc I assume this continuous sealed right through the external wall? This is creating two challenges: how to airtight the junction of the armaflex with the internal OSB skin, and how to cut 2x 70mm 500mm+ deep holes. Alternatively we could rely on the OSB as vapour barrier and accept that any condensation that forms inside the wall will evaporate off quickly, given by definition cooling is only used on a very hot day. The build up is OSB propassive, traditional B&b cavity wall, retrofit 200mm pavatherm (breathable ewi) Related question: does plastic vs copper pipe make any difference to the risk of condensation when carrying cold water, and which would be better used for the stab through the wall, given it's entirely plastic internal to the house? Thanks

We had negative pricing overnight! Strong winds and clear today. Typically, we had screed pour Friday but the dehumidifier only arrives Tuesday. We could have left it going overnight and it would have helped pay for its own hire! Still maybe a few more surges this week.

Thanks :o) Afraid the schematic is all in my head. I have at least tried to document which dimmer module is on what channel. Once I map them to rooms / lights (got the finial lighting schedule agreed this week, so that's coming soon! *) I'll try and get a bit of whole-house high level schematic. In my head it's still very simple: Loxone miniserver drives DMX extension which drives 16x 2ch mains dimmers and 2x 24ch 24V dimmers. Plus a bit of fluff for sensor inputs, alarm system interfacing. I followed their blog article for the overall schema. * - Amazingly I was sure 32 channels of mains dimming would be enough, but turns out I currently need 40! I'm going to shift some stuff onto a low-voltage constant current drivers in the cabinet, rather than do them ALL via mains dimmers and drivers next to the fittings.

Must be the new hotness. Oriel windows seem to be taking over where crittall left off last year. Like them, they look a nightmare for heat retention! I don't have anything useful to add, except "ask your architect" (I'm assuming you've already tried that), and good luck

Yes we did, from Lathams. There was a bit of a last minute flub up with it. I thought it comes in inward opening only, but when ordering our contractor saw it has outward opening too which is more convenient to use so we swapped to that (with out PH designer's blessing). But ... this means the airtightness boundary has to pass under and through the threshold to the seal on the outside face rather than being on the inside, which our joiner was really unimpressed by and called the whole door a piece of overpriced rubbish which obviously smarts a bit after putting that much down on it. (Same feelings with the cost:quality of the petwalk door, for slightly different design shortcoming reasons). So anyway if doing this again I'd keep with the inward opening door. I now really understand why passive houses prefer inward doors. It's all about the thresholds, stupid. (Well, I guess houses with airtightness boundary on the outside of the walls would prefer outward doors?) Getting an insulated fire proof door is easy: just glue a shedload of cellotex to a cheap FD60 door and have your thermal consultant knock up an installed U-value for the result. Seen a couple houses do that. The key thing about the Moralt passive rated door is the airtightness rating. Does Ferro Firesafe have that? But also, see my comments above..... :-/ Yeah.... it is a full doorset. It doesn't have a the eurolock cylinder nor door handle, again to my joiner's disgust, and the lock mechanism that came with it is currently removed as he was struggling to get the spring to fire reliably. I'm like sure, "add it to the snagging list". Attached is the only photo I have of it.

I eventually got the same "please check your spam folder" email that you posted up thread, but October 18th came and went and still no sign of any portal...

First question - why do you want to run everything from PV? Financially there's no benefit - if you export 2 kW on one phase but import 3kW on another, you should only be billed for the net usage (i.e. 1kW of import, 0kW of export). no need to balance the phases. There's already numerous threads that cover this if you'd like to pop over to one of those instead :-) e.g. EDIT to partially answer my own question: if you care about off-grid backup with self-sufficiency from PV, then of course phase balancing gets far more important. (But frankly I have put not thought into that, and have no idea if off-grid 3 phase house is even viable or worthwhile)

Not only is it perfectly allowed, but some progressive DNOs are considering making it the default for new connections: https://yourpowerfuture.westernpower.co.uk/have-your-say/superfast-electricity-consultation (Germany made this decision decades ago)

Tesla PW2 supports battery backup failover during grid outage, and I understand it will adjust the frequency dynamically to lure the PV inverter into increasing/decreasing production according to needs. So it depends how this one was connected up.

We maybe talking at cross purposes here, as R32 is not propane (that's R290), and so AFAIK does not need any vent hole, but then I only know about (and my previous comment was about) the monoblock models, which wouldn't need any vent hole anyway. Anyway this is going OT so I'll step back there!

AIUI They're starting to ship the new R32 Ecodan heat pump this month so possible that distributors have been running down their stocks of the previous model too.

While power cycling is an "easy" fix, it makes me nauseous to think of designing a new installation to depend on it. What if SA change the controller (again) betweeen system spec and delivery? What if the controller fails and the replacement unit works in some other way? What if it turns out that this hack causes the life expectancy to be halved? etc. With a barge pole I would not touch it.

You could also try contacting SystemAir and see if they can sell the Panasonic rebranded units direct in UK https://shop.systemair.com/en/scc202plg2/p402066 Systemair Ltd Unit 28, Gravelly Industrial Park, Birmingham, B24 8HZ, England Tel: +44 (0) 121 322 0200 Fax: +44 (0) 121 322 0201 info@systemair.co.uk

Maybe you can clarify which problem you are asking about? There's been several, from reliability of parts to compatibility with certain ASHPs to the need for high temperature heat pump (depending what pcm is used) to errors in system design to certain controllers not allowing recharge from solar until it's basically depleted to ... probably several other problems I've forgotten ? After a shed load of research I went for a r good low temp ashp and really well insulated UVC and my life is much happier (largely as I can find local trades to install and maintain these much easier)

@tanneja Do you need A/C everywhere or just in a few key rooms? (e.g. living room + master bed). If the latter, then you'll probably find it far far cheaper and more reliable to put a dedicated air-to-air A/C unit into those room(s) than use an ASHP. This can aslo provide emergency backup or boost heating too, is no less efficient than an ASHP, and shares no common components so avoids critical component failure mode. (compared to trying to plumb a boiler and an ASHP into a single UFH system, sods law says it's the circulation pump or control system that packs up first) Just a thought.

Has to be a supply+install by a TrustMark registered installer that is willing to do the paperwork to take the GHG voucher. The scheme is overwhelmed and finishes in March, so requires action not really working to typical Onoff timelines ?

Getting RHI requires the install to be MCS certified. MCS includes an industry warranty, that the system has been designed to be suitable for the home. Thus it's on the installer to design a system that they can stand behind as suitable, and they may determine that more emitters are needed e.g. upstairs, before they'd sign it off as meeting MCS requirements. This of course also gives a lot of room for them to force items that aren't needed, but shopping around for 3-4 quotes should address that.

The green home grant opened for applications on 30 Sept and I applied that very same morning (for my ASHP install), but haven't even had a courtesy response email (as was promised in the final page of the application process). I've emailed them my application confirmation number and again no response Just checking if anyone else on the internet has applied, and what if any response you got? (Even if just an automated confirmation of application received) The whole scheme only runs 6 months so clock is really ticking for anyone trying to use it. https://www.gov.uk/apply-green-homes-grant

Governments of big countries (USA, EU, China, OPEC) meddle in pricing and it has global impact. Matters less and less if it's "your" government doing the meddling. What the UK government does with taxes is actually a small influence in comparison

just to be clear on this, it is government meddling that has made energy so cheap for the last century https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-fossil-fuel-subsidies-a-closer-look-at-tax-breaks-and-societal-costs A reduction in meddling will drive up prices.

If planning is granted you don't need any more permission from your neighbors (unless you're looking to cross their land for access for works?) you just need to follow a set of rules as set out by the party walls act. Peter's comment notwithstanding, if you did have to issue a party wall notice you can expect them to require you to pay for the surveyor they appoint (in addition to your own), and a lot of awkwardness, but ultimately they can't just decide to block you

Have they put in Cat6 to anywhere else? WiFi APs can be powered over the Cat6 cable so don't need to be near a mains socket at all.

Well, I just submitted my GHG application for the ASHP, let's see where that goes! If it's turned down I'll have RHI as a fallback Honestly I'm carrying out more the 80% of the eligable primary and secondary measures so it's rather frustrating that the RHI eligible ASHP is the only one that is eligible for GHG too (installer needs a trust mark license; needs to be quoted independent of the rest of the project). Fairly par for course on these schemes