joe90

Antifreeze ?

My caberdek joints were not taped but enough glue between sheets made the joints waterproof, I didn’t remove the excess until the roof was on.

I used my laser level for my plot, it was not powerful enough to see over the distance so waited till nearly dark, donned the protective glasses and looked into the laser (from about 50m away) to measure a height. Yes water in a pipe is a good idea (with some food colouring).

My floor was glued only and not moved or squeeked in the last few years since completion. I was not there at the time it was laid so don’t know if they protected the edges, around the stairwell it was not and was trimmed later (by me) and I don’t recall any swelling (but admit I would protect the edges if I did the job!).

My caberdeck first floor was laid mid winter and then the upper floor built from it so weeks out in the open with builders stuff all over it, rain was washing down the stairwell and my builder assured me it would be ok, he was right and I was relieved. I think as long as it’s not damaged it is impervious to water.

Yup, been there, done that ? just keep the receipt.

My understanding is that once the air has passed the coils (cold) the relative humidity is deposited on the coils and drop to the drain within the unit, the air is then drier and no further reason to create more moisture as it enters the room ?. This happens within the MVHR units which is why they have a drip tray and drain (unless enthalpic like I and some others have).

But @Marvin has shown a picture of his condensate drain below the coils. I would only use mine for heating so as pointed out no condensate drain required.!

I disagree, a sticking plaster is temporary, spray foam is permanent and I have used it in places to seal the thermal envelope.

Before I installed my ASHP i just used the back up immersion heater in the buffer tank, yes expensive to run but did the job.

I think we self builders are a fussy lot and expect others to have the same standards as we do, which unfortunately is very rare. I was very lucky, my main contractor was as fussy as me (plus the fact I was on site all the time to keep a wary eye on them ?)

No, but then again the room Stat has only (today) called for heat, we lit the woodstove a couple of evenings during the frosty nights and that (with shedloads of insulation) has kept the house temp up to 21’ (room stat set at 20.5’).

In my case ( I designed it so may not be typical). The heating is never “off” during the heating season, buffer permanently at temperature topped up when buffer tank stat calls for heat. Room stat when it calls for heat just runs the pump on the manifold. Any loss of heat from the buffer tank sat there leaks into the house anyway (during the heating season) so it’s not wasted. Because the ASHP does not have to heat the buffer before the UFH gets the heat it’s calling for the warm up time is shorter.

My thinking was the lower the temp the better the COP, ?

This will let the builder know you are keeping an eye on the him / standards, if you don’t want to do it then tell the builder to foam the gaps as you find that unacceptable, this is a bit like the dot and dab debate, air leakage causing heat loss problems. This is a reason why most here (like me) don’t think most builders understand passive build techniques which a lot of the time are down to the small details.

I agree, if it were me I would buy a foam gun (better control than foam from a can) and foam all those gaps trying to not let too much foam go too far back, trim the next day. Cold air through those gaps will deplete the u value a lot. (Doing this will not piss your builder off either ?).

Yes I have a buffer with a coil, which means you only need antifreeze in the ASHP/coil part. I use my buffer stat to call for heat and I designed mine so that the buffer tank is heated permanently during the heating part of the year, the room stat calls for heat when the UFH is needed. The downside of this is the buffer is full of heat all the time but means the UFH heats up quicker . My Carrier unit only has one temp setting but the DHW tank stat is set to 48’ and the buffer stat set to 35’. With regard the ASHP/coil being large enough I did buy an expansion tank to put in cct but never got round to fitting it, the pressure can go up and down a bit due to heating.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59401199

I went on a project management course many years ago (different industry) and found it fascinating and became a project manager, I am sure it helped my build.

But if you are off the sewerage grid what are your options? What would your charge be if you were connected to mains drains? Mine runs 24/7 but don’t know it’s consumptions. I guess it’s either solar or the lowest pump consumption you can get. I would want to see more evidence before timing mine.

I just paid a lad to unroll the pipework in front of me as I was fitting it.

Not seen one of those before, they look very good and yes wood stoves etc can be expensive so yours is a very good alternative.

As most of you know I installed a stove but use it rarely but love it when I do. The UFH is no good for a blast of heat if you feel chilly and the stove does that well, raises the room temp 5 degrees in half a hour then looks good as the heat filters into the rest of the house. I use so little wood and already have the next two years worth ready and have some trees to thin this winter ready fir the following years ?.

As people here know I have a wood stove (room sealed), we did install a rain cowl but it didn’t have a mesh to stop birds getting in, a crow built a nest and completely blocked the flue, after they left i removed the nest and I put some stainless wire round it to stop it happening again.

Surely you need planning permission to demolish and to rebuild, this info will be fed to the council tax department, nice try tho!