Gone West

In our last house we had distemper on the brickwork of one wall which we wanted plastered so we used a scutch hammer with a wide comb.

Something odd going on.

If the flow temperature is 54C and the bare floor temperature is 23C then it seems to me that there is a lot of heat being lost downwards. An explanation for that, is as you suggest, that the sound insulation is preventing much of the heat from reaching the floor. It would be useful to have a drawing or details of the whole of the floor construction.

There doesn't seem to be a consistent definition on the internet although the fact that a screw has a self tapping thread and a bolt has a machine thread is often mentioned. So the length of thread on the shank seems irrelevant. "Although coach bolts and coach screws are distinct components in their own right, the two do share a number of similarities. The most notable similarity is the head shape, which is domed, or mushroom-shaped, in both instances. Both coach screws and bolts are also best suited for use with wood." "However, a key difference is that coach screws feature a self-tapping thread. This means that these screws can create their own threads in timber, ensuring a more seamless installation. On the flip side, carriage bolts have a machine thread, meaning that they always need an adequately-sized pilot hole to be drilled into the material before installation."

If it's threaded with a point on the end it's a screw, without a point it's a bolt.

Our windows are grey, RAL 7037, inside and outside with the window board and paintwork white and the outside sill matching the windows.

A very true statement. I hope you manage to get it sorted to your satisfaction. We had a tall narrow window opening in our hall, which was supposed to be central, put offset and we made them alter the timber frame so it was in it's correct position. You have to be watching them like a hawk all the time, very stressful.

I looked into ST when I was designing my house. Didn't think it was worth it for me because roof access would have been difficult but I thought the drain back system was good. https://www.viridiansolar.co.uk/resources-3-6-solar-thermal-plumbing.html

Why can't you rest it on the purlin with a standoff tied to the purlin.

Although he hasn't used it as much in the winter as the summer the heating is left on all winter because the temperatures are so low. He just does what the locals do.

My mate has a holiday home in Northern Sweden not far from the arctic circle. Him and some locals installed a GSHP for his holiday home and they used buried pipes not boreholes. They are a lot more self sufficient up there and just get on with things themselves.

Ok for normal planning but for Class Q conversions, after 15 April 2015, the GPDO said that development must be completed within a period of three years from the approval date.

It's just lonely stick another bit of hose on Edit: blame it on zoot, I'm losing the will to live.

Yes you can think it's hold or cold or whatever but do you think everyone would think the same. The point is that without a standardised measurement nobody actually knows what the room is like. I might like the room you call clammy and not the other room. There's always a degree of humidity and you might say it feels more humid than yesterday but you could be wrong because as I said we can't sense things as well as you think humans can. A lot of things can affect how you sense humidity, such as air movement or temperature. Are you sure you can sense the difference between an RH of 50% and 60% in different conditions. You are measuring humidity using the feel of sheet of paper and I measure it with a hygrometer. Using the hygrometer is more accurate and if you're trying to ascertain differences between two rooms you would be better off using a hygrometer and thermometer.

One of the wettest around here for while.

No just the opposite. You are trying to find out the overall cause. It could be caused by length of time of occupation, airtightness or many other things but without knowing the level of humidity in each room and how they are being used and are constructed it's just finger in the air guessing. Without knowing the measured level of humidity it's very difficult to say. The human body is very bad at determining temperature and humidity. Putting your hand in hot water or cold water can feel the same. Sitting in front of a stove will feel different to sitting in another room at the same temperature. Some people find it uncomfortable with low humidity and others with high humidity. You need to measure what you find comfortable in terms of temperature and humidity. If you find that you are more comfortable with lower humidity then you will need to install some form of ventilation in the rooms that need it, but without knowing the levels you've got nothing to work with.

The only way to know for sure is to know what the humidity is at any particular time in both rooms. If the humidity is the same but there is more condensation in one room than the other then where the condensation is forming is due to a cold spot and that is the reason. The only way to know the levels of humidity is to measure it in both rooms at the same time with a couple of these, which I think I may have linked to before. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Digital-LCD-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Humidity-Indoor-Temperature-Meter-UK/192691525710

I would guess that 'professionals' probably all use the same method so don't think they have to define it. The problem is that, if for example, they use net internal area it doesn't take into account the differences with say PH wall construction but they just continue in the same old way, so it's probably laziness.

Large difference in results between external and net internal measurements, and with PH type structures with possibly more complicated and costly external walls and the open plan design currently in vogue I still think the level of inaccuracy is so great that the parameters should be clearly defined.

Are you talking about external, gross internal or net internal square metreage.

Snowing here .

I surrounded the waste pipe with a block of polystyrene and cut it out when the concrete had gone off. It also allowed a bit of play for setting the shower drain at the right height.

When good design, detailing and construction are a given, then the U values of all elements and the airtightness are the most important factors to produce a comfortable, low energy house for a particular area. If the U values are too high it won't be a low energy house.

The AECB are having another airtightness webinar tomorrow. https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MBqttYnORDyuaE4vyZN-NQ