dpmiller

thought about it, had enough land for it, but having seen how much solid rock we have within a couple of foot of the ground, I'm glad I discounted it...

One of the green ones arrived with me last week. At 311 euros inc vat I can justify the punt...

looks like there's no flashing and the staining is from behind. I wouldn't be happy with that but I'll the more experienced hands offer something more constructive...

Lab glasswashers come with flat trays that you then add accessory baskets to. Anyone with a Miele could certainly look at G or PG range accessories if you wanted a plain tray instead of a plate rack...

Good to know. we're using some!

So I've a couple of places where soil and rainwater pipes have to cross each other. Invert depth at the treatment plant means that the soil pipes are basically on the surface at the current working level, and will have just on 300mm cover to FGL. The rainwater pipes can be pretty much any depth below this, we've almost a meter down to our open and piped ground drains. Before I go to the BCO and groundworks guy with a cunning plan for this, any easy answers or gotchas? I'm guessing that setting the pipes on pea gravel (or whatever single-size is offered) , wrapping in polythene and then haunching with dry kerb-mix ought to be the way? Or is it concrete slab time? But what about crossings? I can't see anything in the Approved Doc about them... Is the upper pipe negated when planning for the lower one? so 100mm of gravel between them? or does there need to be a barrier of some sorts? ta.

Our TF people looked after all the structural drawings and forwarded it directly to the BCO. This, as there's no ownership of the kit whilst it's still at the design stage.

Why Dundonald? The factory was/is in Dunmurry... Now used by Montupet, producing automotive castings

are the flow and return from the boiler reversed maybe?

arcing is more of an issue with DC though, isn't it?

that's an odditiy, no? Wired connection from doorbell to monitor kinda negates the value surely.

We went for Keylite's solar offering and they drop into place, you attach a couple of connectors under the top hood, and... done! One slim remote does up to 16 windows and blinds too.

I've a foot square panel that does about 10W, but have a 6v wallwart in parallel to ensure it starts in low-ish light. All through the solartwin differental controller

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-12V-3M-Solar-Water-Pump-Circulation-Pump-Brushless-Motor-Hot-Cooling-New/263758894915?hash=item3d69415743:g:PqsAAOSwjodaJLB2 I'm using one of these on my solartwin stylee system. can vouch for their capabilities.

are those tiles all in neat unbonded rows?

Insulation is good. I like insulation. It even seems to be working... Overnight temperatures are dropping radically but the small amount of heat that the diverter is putting in during the day seems to be hanging around nicely. Drops consistently from 16 and a bit to 15 and a bit overnight. And while we're airtight there's not yet any insulation in the attic and the GF is a bare uninsulated subfloor so I think we're doing OK. Was given the loan of a plasterboard lifter so that'll make things slightly less difficult in the near future. Oh and got some company for the digger, a dog-rough but useable Thwaites 4000 dumper. Putt Puttt Putt.

Our guy was great. In UK parlance only an AT, but fully trained in NZ where they focus a lot more on the buildability and structural side of things apparently. Absolutely no pushing of his ideas onto us and a easy exchange of requirements and facts.

me too. there's around the same gap between the back of our (black) tiles as the under-felt ventilation gap. Dunno.

think it's much cooler under a panel outside?

nothing that I can see in the 17th? And if it's a non electrical reg I'd be intrigued considering the number of gas boilers that are fitted in loftspaces these days...

We've microinverters and I chose to hang them in the loft. Any loss of life is easily compensated for by ease of replacement.

I'll second the difficulty of working above the panels. Our roof was an absolute mare as we've panels crammed in around a dormer and with a valley each side. But yes, you can fling them up, poke the wires through a nearby felt overlap, and carry on...

The Kinetico units are a bit different, there's a clear cover ontop of the meterhead that you can easily unscrew to swap out a little metering disc underneath.

more toys installed. Acquired a Solar iBoost+ and while I don't have any water storage yet I did have the desire to hang on to what generation we do have. So plugged an 800W halogen heater in, to keep the cool at bay. Last night at 7pm? still a nice warmth. Pretty impressed. today at 9am. heater maxed out. What to do... Plug the kettle in. Well blow me, if the kettle hasn't gone the whole way to the boil twice today. 5.5kWh captured. not bad...

Not sure I agree with many of your downsides... If it's a factory kit, you won't be short. Payment generally phased no difference in floor buildup, same structural and acoustic considerations. Case in point, we've poured screed over posijoists, and while the accousitc insulation is mostly in place the PB isn't up yet. Better half clumps about in hiking boots on the site and based on the foot noise I went outside to talk to her (I could hear footfall but absolutely no indication of direction) only to find she was upstairs directly above me... Floor is both stiff and silent. Exterior walls can be service battened.