Gone West

Apparently they shouldn't be fed mealworms for the same reason as not feeding them peanuts. I can't imagine a few mealworms or peanuts in their diet would cause serious problems. Another important requirement for hedgehogs is a place where they can drink. We have a large, 350mm diameter, heavy saucer which the birds and hedgehog use. http://www.hedgehog-rescue.org.uk/feeding.php

They get the bird's peanuts, in fact they eat anything left on the ground that the birds have missed.

Is that £1150/m2 just materials and labour for your VAT reclaim or does it include all costs for paperwork, utilities, landscaping, tools bought for specific jobs etc.

We've got some great footage of the hedgehogs in our garden. We put peanuts out for them and we've filmed them fighting, mating etc. We've also caught on video voles and a pair of mice that pinch some of the peanuts before the hedgehogs come. I'm hoping to have time to make a hedgehog house for them to hibernate in this winter.

Sorry, I didn't notice in your original post. I don't have a gap between cladding, mine is just T&G cedar.

To be awkward I have a combination of your two choices. Wall, membrane, battens, membrane, cladding. To be different I do have EWI between the battens and then counter battens before the outer membrane.

Hi, welcome to the forum. I would check carefully that there isn't any asbestos.

What is your airtightness value? If it was installed as a luxury item, is it needed?

Hi, welcome to the forum. Good luck with your project.

In an unvented system I can't see how the bugs could enter the pipework. We store our DHW at 45C and have for the last eighteen months. Hopefully my confidence won't be shattered.

+1 I fitted an attenuator to the supply ducting in the ceiling near the MVHR unit and the supply vents are silent. I didn't fit one for the extract ducting as I thought a little noise in the bathrooms etc wouldn't be a problem. It isn't a problem but it is just audible.

The reason for the noise and smell from hot air systems is because they were 'hot'. If they were 'warm' air systems then the volume and temperature would be reduced and I don'r know why they wouldn't work in a modern house built to current standards (if built correctly). I know my house has a very low heating requirement but I have 125mm ducting and an EASHP which supplies most of my heating.

@JamesJJJ Our MVHR system installation instructions give a crude setup for the vents prior to fine tuning. 1.Set the fan speeds to the number two setting. 2.Adjust all supply air valves so that the valve which is closest to the unit is open at three turns from the closed position, while the one furthest away is open at eight turns from the closed position. 3.Then open the valves in between at four to seven turns depending on how close they are to the unit. 4. Repeat for the extract air valves. We did this and had it running for a few days before carrying out the fine tuning without any problems.

Nice and peaceful there then . I guess the sheep farmer doesn't mind.

@JamesJJJ The latest section in my blog details how I commissioned our MVHR system. It may be of some help.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Bet it's been hot down there this summer. What stage are you at.

Most likely I would buy a bungalow well away from the SE England, probably in the West Country. So if you know of any remote, no other buildings within half a mile, bungalow with an acre or two I could well be interested. It's not that I'm unsociable, well I guess I am really, but I would like to live somewhere where the only sounds are birds singing. To make life easier we are both singing from the same hymn sheet .

As others have said it's either because the filters are blocked or the system hasn't been set up properly. Our system is too quiet to hear. Do you know if it was set up to SAP ventilation rates.

Don't know if you are aware that BBC4 showed what was called 'Slow TV' around three years ago. It was very easy to watch and as you say restful. On one program a camera was fitted to a traditional Sami dog sledge which travelled through the arctic countryside along an ancient postal route. It was about two hours long without talking or much sound at all.

I certainly wouldn't and it's finished and we've been living in it for over a year. I liked the technical challenge of designing a low energy house but to me it's still just a house. The idea of a forever house is something I have difficulty understanding.

I guess Hampshire is just far enough west of us to make a difference to the weather. It's been 23/24C for the last few days and we haven't had any significant rain for what seems like ages. We were expecting a deluge yesterday based on the forecast and all we got were a couple of showers lasting about 15 minutes each. We've only had three spells of heavy rain in the last three months and the ground is like rock. I've got some trenches to dig so hoping we get some rain next week.

Yes if you're using branded EPS there shouldn't be a problem. I read a paper a few months ago that IIRC stated that the percentage of recycled EPS in the samples tested affected the creep effect significantly compared to virgin EPS.

I think the problem with more compressible types of EPS is creep due to the mass. This happens over a long period of time and may not be uniform which is why EPS300 is usually used.

I've always been very happy with the results of using Soudal Fix All Crystal.

I attended a live fire day on Salisbury Plain many years ago and there were a couple of A10s 'attacking' tank hulls and the Gatling type cannons were deafening.