Alan Ambrose

I put EPDM on a large shed roof recently. I was impressed and I'm wondering if it is a much underrated material. Alan

Hmm, another vote here for standard underpinning. Not much bother with the right crew. Personally, I think 'in a subsidence area but has been underpinned and hasn't moved since' wouldn't sound so bad to future buyers'. Alan

Hi, I've been lurking for a while here as I didn't want to jinx my purchase, but now we've exchanged on a plot. Completion is sometime in Dec or Jan. First off, the content here on BuildHub is fantastic and full of information. I've learnt a lot already, thanks for all the effort describing and debating everything. The plot is 0.3 acre of pasture in a hamlet in East Suffolk. It has planning already, but I'm applying for a change in design to a more traditional 'Suffolk barn' style - think single-storey rectangular barn, lowish pitch roof with pantiles, black horizontal cladding. The plan is to use an oak frame structure, reinforced concrete slab/basement, probably block and beam floor, passive house-standard insulation. Next steps are to try and agree the design with the planning authority (they've already raised a few points) and get a soil investigation for foundations and basement structural design. The soil is apparently 'Soilscape 18 - Slowly permeable seasonally wet slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soils'. BGS seems to think Lowestoft Formation Diamicton over Crag Group Sand. Alan

Ah, FYI I also enquired with Octopus (I am not currently a customer) and they said: "I can confirm that if you was to join Octopus Energy we can change your current 3 phase meter for a smart 3 phase meter however there is around a 4 month wait from date of supply. The reason there is a wait is due to only certain qualified engineers are able to work with 3 phase." Alan

>>> They have already been twice before over the last 18 months to fit a smart meter, only to find out it was 3 phase Yeah, 3rd visit or bust seems to be the standard service level. And they play the part straight-faced as though they had no idea and had never heard of it. Surely you and your weird electricity set-up just beamed down from another planet? Alan

>>> have you got contact details of how to get one set up, my electric supply is due to be going in tail end of Dec I just wrote to 'hi@eonnext.com' and said 'We have 3-phase power here. Is it possible to have a corresponding smart meter?'. Looking at the thread, they replied within a working day and they must have used my email address to figure out my account, because they didn't ask for an MPAN or anything. After they said 'yes' - I got them to double check that they knew the a/c was 3P and they said 'I did have a look at your account and saw that you have a 3 phase meter so your smart meter will be a 3 phase install'. So, very efficient ... so far . I did try this maybe 5 or 6 years ago with a different supplier, I forget who. They made 3 separate visits - two 'engineers' arrived on different occasions with single phase smart meters and eventually 'the boss' arrived for a third visit with a 3P dumb meter. I was not impressed. So, still keeping my bits crossed, but good so far. I was surprised to get a quick, pleasant and knowledgeable response - so they get good marks so far. The email response I think came from the offshore call handlers. Let's see what happens when the order is sent to the brit engineers for execution. Alan

Hmmm, Sonoff's kind of work but they're not that reliable. Heatmiser is good but more expensive. And, with a little tweaking, you can use it to control immersion heaters and measure the temp etc. Alan

Ah I heard from Eonnext yesterday and they have offered an install of a 3P smart meter a couple of weeks out. I asked them to check that it really was suitable for 3P and they said 'yes'. We'll see. I'll keep you posted. Alan

Hmmm, and I’ve always though standard batterns were pretty trashy. I was hoping to find some of a _higher_ standard. Alan

>>> First issue, the start up current of the printer tripped the 200W inverter I was using. Clearly I would need something bigger to account for things like that. So everything else apart from the printer, consumed 7 amps at 12V DC No chance of powering any of those items directly from 12V to avoid some of the ELV->LV->ELV conversion? Alan

>>> Is there a formal definition of "base load"? Well I was taking it as the load of all 'the stuff' left on continuously e.g when you e.g. go away for the weekend. I know some will manage to turn everything off! So, fridge, freezer, network stuff, misc small stuff on power bricks, smoke alarm sensors, smart home stuff etc. No heating or hot water, but no PV/battery contribution either. I wasn't looking at it as a science as everyone lives their life differently, but just to get a sense of the range. That way, the high users might see if they could really turn some stuff off and if so what. Medium users would know they were average. Low users could tell us all what we could all do to reduce. For those that have 'zero energy' periods - how do you do that !?! You don't have a fridge? Alan

Ah, so 100W base load? Does that include fridge/freezer etc? Alan

Anybody else have actual numbers for their base loads? It would be handy to see what the realistic ranges are. Alan

Ah, I’ve been looking at this subject this week as I just installed the Bright app. I’m getting a ‘base load’ of about 180W including fridge/freezer, router hubs etc & other misc loads e.g. fire sensors and cameras. I have not tried measuring each load separately yet - I’m guessing the fridge/freezer is the biggest part. I had the same thought as you - this should be the most cost effective slice to deal with. It represents 32% of our total electricity use - the rest is hot water, lighting, cooking and a little heating. Most of our heating is wood stove. Alan

>>> So it seems that even if something is Permitted Dev, planning can say no. Which kind of makes sense in the weird and wonderful world of British bureaucracy. Ah, yes it needs sorting out. It's worth asking what policies in either the NPPF or local plan they are using for their determination. These two plans detail most of the 'rules'. So if you're plans are 'breaking the rules' - then it's only reasonable for planning to point out which rule/s your are breaking. That is, this shouldn't just be a matter of the planner's own opinion. Alan

OK I see this from OVO: Alan Updated on 12/09/22 by Tim_OVO: Do OVO offer 3 phase smart meters? As of August 2022, we're currently in a pilot, and will be contacting pilot-eligible customers (OVO customers on single rate tariffs) over the next few weeks and months. We are working with a select number of trained engineers around the country therefore we unfortunately can't install to just any willing participant (as much as we wish we could). Our advice is to make sure your contact details are up to date in your OVO account so that our teams can reach you.

One vote here for blowing the water out. Alan

OK thanks, so Octopus is a candidate. >>> They have already been twice before over the last 18 months to fit a smart meter, only to find out it was 3 phase @Blooda - it would be great if you could report back. I had a similar thing with an electricity supplier (the mists of time mean I can't remember who). Very frustrating but hopefully we've all moved forward since then . Alan

>>> What frost settings are you talking about? Well I have a Heatmiser set-up, but pretty much the same thing applies even if you have a gas-combi and a single thermostat. I guess I mean in this case 'frost setting' as in 'even if you don't have the heating schedule 'on' - at what temperature do you want the heating to start working anyway to avoid the pipes freezing?' I realise other vendors have other terms. And I realise that heat pumps, MHVP etc have their own set-ups, which may or may not be configurable, to avoid stuff freezing inside their machinery. Alan

Hi, I recently installed the Bright app and made a connection to my old BG smart meter. Incidentally, the electricity is currently supplied by Eon.Next who are not picking up the smart data, but Bright is. Duh. Well success, and I spotted yesterday some usage in early morning and evening which surprised me - because I'm not there atm. Seems I had some frost settings set too high at 16 degrees. So, I lowered them to 12 degrees. Now I know you can set the frost settings too low (ask my neighbour who now has a blown UFH set-up). But the question is - how low can you (do you?) reasonably but safely go? Alan

Hmmm, still looking for a 3P smart meter. I've emailed my current supplier EonNext. Next up Octopus & OVO. Alan

>>> The planning application has been one of the quickest bits so far. Oh I see - I only put my first offer in (don't ask) for the land on 2nd Feb and have yet to exchange contracts (don't ask). My pre-app went in on 20th September. And around here, you're likely to get only a vague single paragraph response to your pre-app. Alan

>>> Presumably they won’t take calls and this is all via email? Both - I have had the odd reply by email, often it is just ignored. Same with the phone - once I got through, otherwise I leave a message which is ignored. 11 weeks !!! It would be quicker for me to move to Scotland Alan

Hi, I'm interested in what kind of turnaround times people are getting with their local planning department? Also, how you nudge them along? Also, whether they generally keep to any of their quoted deadlines? I have a local planner who told me on 5th Oct that his response to our pre-app was 'already drafted and would be with me shortly'. And then he said that again on the 19th Oct. Guess what? This is for a plot in East Suffolk that already has permission for a dwelling - we want to just vary the design. A neighbour has had an application for a new dwelling in since February with no apparent planning activity since May ... TIA, Alan

The hatches are your extension? I'm guessing they're interpreting the 12m as an arc rather than a rectangle? Alan