Andeh

18 months in and we have had a slowish leak for a while. During the summer I needed to top up the water pressure every few days by 1 bar or so...but during the winter im losing a bar a day. System is sealed, 2 x manifolds of UFH across 250sqm, ASHP with glycol etc in the water. I can't pinpoint the failure mode, but it seems like it is a very slow gradual leak and then once or twice a day a short/sharp gush through the tundish, as I can see the gycol liquid around & outside it but have never witnessed it. Turning up the pressure of the system dumps water down tundish...to the point I have masking tape around the tundish to prevent splashing. Got a really good plumber, but his girlfriend about to give birth so is out until end of January before he can come and have a look. For peace of mind I am trying to work out what could be causing it. He recons a failed/failing safety valve and/or pressure cylinder needing recharge. We have no evidence of leaks anywhere, including round ASHP, with the blue gycol I like to think i'd spot something! Does a pressure cylinder recharge make sense with a slow AND gushing leak? Does a safety valve? Any hazard a guess which to 'go for' first when he does come out? thanks, pic below of the setup!

Well that's good to know Kelvin! Having always relied on the mobile app, I had assumed the schedules would have been halted as well. As I set the schedules on my mobile, into the NeoHub....are these stored in the Neohub (as I assumed) or are they stored locally in the individual thermostats? [We also had an unrelated (i think) error messages on the ASHP this morning (E912...flow issue, which I need to look into separately) which stopped the ASHP which Id forgotten about! ]

Woke up this morning to no heating on, and found myself unable to connect to the heatmiser app. Clicking in our 'home' just brought up a screen asking me to pair a Neohub. Tried every combination of power off, resetting network, router etc but nothing works. The Neohub has the power light green, link light green... But status light. Even trying to re-pair the Neohub to my phone fails to connect after waiting the 2 minutes. Anyone had this before? Could the Neohub have died?

Wouldn't hurt to stick some thin insulation like Armaflex into the pipes behind the fridge!

Could it be with water tracking up the back of the tiles into the woodwork vs into the gutter? I'd tuck some membrane deep under the bottom few rows of tiles into the gutter to really trap the water.

That is a good idea! We have a few timers on things that would benefit from similar.

Yep, all our ceilings are 3.2 to 4.5m due to mono pitch. Adds a real dramatic feature in room, also meant we could design in Mezzanines for the kids bedrooms with mini staircases Does get echo in the kitchen, with hard floor, kitchen and no curtains... More noticable if multiple conversations and they go 'collide' more. We had blinds fitted recently, but forgotten to check if it makes any difference!..either way wouldn't change it for the world!

Ah well done OP, what a horror story of a read! I am so relieved and pleased for you!!!

BUGGER! We've spent an extra £16k between completion and handing in the receipts on final big ticket items (gates, garage door, electric blinds) on the assumption (ass!) that we could.....

I have pretty high expectations, but the reality is a lot of this isn't terrible...a bit sloppy but you're below DPC and most of that will never be seen again... Had the builder been staying on I'd have said totally leave it, the fact he is rotating off gives you wiggle room but for the sakes of half a days worth of a brickie they will get resolved, but the level of stress you'll have put into this.... You're building a house, not a space shuttle. It's outdoors, in all weathers, by multiple people who generally have a low threshold of care and lower skill levels, and they're far more experienced then you are at grinding people down If you have this level of attention to detail and expectations this build will put you in any early grave. You need to prepare to compromise, the art form is in knowing when you need to - vs when your standards mean the work gets redone. You can't win them all though...

Urgh woke up to no heating and E912 error message, once 15mins after the heating should have been in AND again 15mins after the hot water should have ended. Would the same flow rate be impacted on both heating and hot water side of things?

As an update they rang me a few days after I moved to check I was happy and any questions! All went through fine. Definitely looking cheaper then octopus cosy a week on in. They don't have an app, but you can check their non-mobile optimised your usage. It does update quicker then the octopus app.

Could you create a temp seal? Wrap the whole thing in taupalin tied down well and see how it copes with the next few months. Try a few weeks with a dehumidifier, then check in the spring?

We went with a big twin sided Stovax jobbie, that has 45sqm of kitchen on side and 25sqm of lounge on the other, both with 3.5m ceilings. So it actually does a remarkably below par job unless you really fire it up hard.. Which then consumes enough wood to keep Drax's power generation spinning. It was ungodly expensive to install, paid for over 2 years of building the house and making it work (400mm deep into a 140mm thick wall and lintel...) but we wouldn't be without it as a 'wow' factor. We use it when the house has been too warm for the UFH to kick in, but gets chilly later in the day (Ufh runs through the night as default). Also for the ambiance on a Friday and Saturday etc.

Insulation seems very reasonable, your well into law of diminishing returns at that stage! Maybe eek the flood up a bit with UFH. Ours is 0.11 floor, 0.22 walls (shoulda done better but realised too late) and 0.14 roof. Air tightness either becomes a focused investment or DIY, you will need to be all over the trades at all times realistically. I used to drive past the house after work nearly everyday with expanding foam and sealant doing what I could around the edges (DIY). We then stuck a wood burner in with external vent and lots of sliding doors 🤪

Have dropped them a message, as I can't see a way if finding my account or checking direct debit etc. See how long they take to respond!

Wait until a dry day, masking tape and a generous bead of silicone along the joint? It's only a lean to...

Welp, I switched over to them earlier in the week, from octopus cosy so we will see! Got £250 credit as well, which I'll call octopus to find out what happens. First 3 days seem cheaper then octopus, but will need to wait and see.

Fine to do that with the cold. Don't do it with the hot circulation route. You need the circulation route within a couple of feet from the tap. Our main bathrooms are within 2ft and it works perfectly... Our kitchen is a out 10ft and the hot water arrives by the time you've finished washing your hands. Still a great decision though, as without it we'd be 30m + away.

Can't help but think a stiff plug being pulled out is asking for Plaster cracks?

Put lights where you need them, not everywhere. Illumination levels should vary based on what you're doing. We did Leds over the counters (food prep) then hanging lights over the table and island (atmospheric). Lounge/study is atmospheric, you don't need operating theatre grade lighting. Terrible pics as camera over compensates the lights, but shows you what we did. Downlights ABOVE the counters so your body isn't casting a shower on the food you are preparing. Leds stepped out so not above the tall units, so the light is between you and the cupboard/fridge/oven. Hanging lights over island which is our default light (atmospheric) . Table downlights for eating when you down need 500 lumens over your head. This works very well. Leds everywhere just tells me your electrician decided the lighting arrangement, and priced per fitting.

So sockets utterly flush with the wall around them? Interesting.... Any images of what they could look like finished? We spent £1.50 ish on ours because our shit head of an electric recommended them be a use that's what he used in his house. As he wired his kitchen, likely with us paying for his materials....

As has been said. What's your daily kwh usage? If your floor has been cold for a few days whilst you've been figuring it out, it could talk a couple of days worth of heat to warm it up! If the pipes going into the floor are warm, and the pipes coming out if the floor are cool then the system is working fine and you need to give it more time. If all else fails hire a thermal camera and or use an IR Thermostat to have a look at what's going on.

If you want meaningful cooling, and you should, 100% split system aircon. Only way, the rest are compromised. We did across 5 rooms powered from 3 external units and love it. The world is only getting warmer, and with your solar panels mean it'll be free to run when you need it, so you can go nuts with it. Premium feature for the home and massively impactful to your comfort on hot nights and if WFH on hot days. Installation for me was the lowest point of out build due to original firm not joining (crimping) the joints on the longer run, but only being found after they'd gone bust (with our money) and after 2nd fix.... Not fun. But utterly worth it now!!

Do not forget insulation size on the pipes!! We had a nightmare of a job pulling 4 x AC pipes through together with the insulation on. 110mm duct was stupidly ambitious, but narrowly managed to make it work. Also bends disproportionately add to the resistance pulling things through.