joe90

I am sure this has been discussed before but can’t find it. Now that I am getting nearer completion my mind has come back to this question . As we all know the COP of an ASHP goes down if the unit defrosts, so as per Others I plan to limit the water temp to about 40 -42 degrees and top up with immersion’s. It occurs to me that the defrost is weather dependant and I was wondering if there is some way for the ASHP to keep raising the water temp till it gets near to defrosting, and then turn itself off, that way in good weather you may end up with 50 or 55 degrees and spend less on electricity for the immersion’s and only pay for top up when necessary?

Yes I hate 1500 baths and I am short?

I too have a plant cupboard with everything in except the MVHR which is in a warm loft. It also has the washing machine and all cleaning products and tools for the house ( well it will have when I finish the build ?).

More info when our neighbour returns after a few days away. The only thing I know is he rented it out to an employee of his (taxi firm) but the driver lost his license so no longer employed by him,

Our cavity is 200mm, extruded poly below DPC and rock wall batts above. Our bricks are “tumbled” so to quote our bricklayer they are “ all over the place” but the effect is stunning. My mrs was not convinced brick would look nice but it’s the dogs doodads ( in our opinion, and everyone else that’s seen it).

Thanks guys, I don’t know the wording of his permission, I will ask. If the council asked for proof of rental and they got it ( for 9 years) then they know it’s being rented out, go figure. Having dealt at length with this particular council over planning I have found them completely disconnected with the real world. Watch this space.

Well, after fighting for planning permission for several years and winning on appeal, hoping to move in early 2018, my wife was offered a job locally ( moving from Bristol to Devon) so we needed somewhere to live temporarily. A neighbour has a parkhome on his land which has been there for 14 years ( full approval from local council) and has been rented out for the last 13 years. I approached him to ask if we could “use” it and he agreed. Two weeks ago a council official turned up and asked my neighbour if anyone was living in the parkhome and he informed them we were using it on a temp basis, he was then told we would have to pay council tax ( in the last 13 years council tax was never levied on the parkhome). last week a council enforcement officer told my neighbour he could not rent the parkhome out and we would be told to leave. On top of this the neighbour has been trying to move into the parkhome himself, sell his house and retire but the council will not let him as it would then be a “ new” dwelling. Initially the council wanted him to prove that the parkhome had been rented out for 6 years, which he got, then they raised this to 7, then 8,9 and ten years. They are unable to find the ten year ago renters so the council won. So, do I pay the council tax, refuse as it’s not a separate dwelling, (I am not paying rent ?) if I do pay council tax will it help my neighbour establish the parkhome as a separate dwelling!!!! rant over ( do not ask me what I think of planners and council officers ?)

My insulation below DPC was allowed by my BCO but they are all different and apply rules as they see fit, my insulation is as per Golcar which has fairly high compressive strength to stop ground pressures pushing inner and outer walls together. Best to speak to the BCO to get his take on it. I was lucky, my BCO is forward thinking and likes new products and ideas, many BCO,s do not!!!!

I built our founds as per the Golcar site above, no thermal bridging, the only thing we did differently was put two DPC,S, the one on the Golcar site gives a slip plane on the inner skin above the skirting board and my builder had done this once and the customer ended up with cracks in the plaster at this line which needed constant repair. We lowered the DPC to ground floor level ( inside) but this meant the DPC was below ground level outside, so he installed a second DPC in the brick outer skin level level with the internal floor level, 6inches above ground outside. Because we have a French drain around the outside the weep vents from the lower DPC empties into the French drain. My builder did this on another house in the area several years ago and it works very well.

Mine is a new build with good insulation and air tightness ( I hope?) and I have yet to work out whether E7 is worth it or not. I was thinking that with lots of heavy weight materials heating and DHW gained overnight would be sufficient, I am yet to work this out. My plumber thinks running both 24/7 at a low temp would be best. I also think (hope) that a single thermostat will be sufficient like JSH says ( and proved in his own build).

A big thank you to dpmiller for lending me his UFH pipe clip machine when I found it impossible to hire one in my location. It was in the post within hours of his kind offer. There was a thread about this some time ago where members talked about sharing tools and I think it will be a great success. I am not sure I have anything worth offering but will keep an eye open. Thanks again.

Turns out that even Travis Perkins can’t get one locally and they will only source one for me if I have an account with them ?. dpmiller I have sent you a private message.

Did find one for £95 or offer on Ebay but £27 a week is better ?

Cheers mate, I have TP near me in Bude, never thought of them, I traulled all the local hire places to no avail.

I have found a local neighbour/plumber who is going to help with my UFH and he suggested hiring a pipe clipping tool but I have failed to find anyone who hires them out. Any suggestions.?

I doubt crampons will work on concrete or slate ?. What Jeremy said plus a pair of climbing shoes ( very soft rubber “slick” soles) or trainers.

I have not heard or seen ones with completely hidden cables (yet?), screwfix/ toolstation do some but not got mine yet. This would suit me. https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-curved-electric-towel-radiator-1100-x-500mm/9864d

I am having electric towel radiators In my bathrooms ,they come ready filled with oil and a short cable to an outlet plate in the wall and this is cabled ( buried) to a timer/thermostat/fused spur outlet in a suitable location ( hidden in a built in wardrobe outside the bathroom in my case).

Dyson, emperors new clothes!

I got bog standard shower mixer bars because they are repairable, my son bought a posh shower mixer and just after the warranty ran out it leaked and a replacement was £800 and spare parts are not available ?

I noticed from the link from Ragg that they recommend sika5500s adhesive and it does not need the bitumen to be removed from the blocks!!!. It depends on whether I machine off the back of the block to use the original patina or machine the front for a "new" finish?. Thoughts anyone?

Thanks Ragg, yes managed to get recycled stuff at a good price and don't care about labour as woodwork is my thing ?. I would like to use bitumen like originally done but I think the UFH would melt it? And we don't want loose blocks do we?. I was thinking about 15mm so no big step from tiles, carpet whatever!.

We have fallen in love with reclaimed wooden block flooring , herringbone design and want it in our lounge, hallway and cloakroom, my question is with UFH ( wet) within a 60mm liquid screed what thickness should I machine the blocks too as I would imagine too thick and it will act as an insulator, too thin and it may distort?. Not sure how it will work with the tongue and grooves!. I guess we will glue it down and as it's over 100 years old it should not shrink anymore. Any advise welcome. J

It's this sort of help on this site that warms the cockles of my heart. This is a wonderful community, keep it up chaps ( and chapesses).

Brilliant bit of kit, I made my own from a retractable ski pass cord ( before proximity passes were invented) and it worked well before wearing it out. Shame the Axminster one is out of stock.