Alan Ambrose

>>> I have engineering and architect drawings and designs. My next job will be to create my own drawings to use myself or pass on to a joiner to complete the actual work. I’m using a cad program called fusion 360 and I plan to 3D print the design <<< It might be worth checking with the trades concerned that they're really going to follow your detail drawings. I think a lot don't ... and just use whatever 'system' they've used to-date. If you do prepare drawings you'll need to walk through them in detail and get the trades to agree on the detail with you - even then they may make it up as they go along if you're not watching. I think this particularly applies to 'newfangled' practices like insulation continuity / airtightness / insulated pipes / radial circuits etc etc. FWIW I'm using Fusion also - not the best, but passable both for architectural and engineering drawings. You reminded me that I planned on getting a 3D print of our design for review purposes. Fusion also has load analysis and heat analysis which I have played with but not used extensively. You might want to check out J Harris spreadsheet / https://www.ubakus.de/ / the Passivehaus spreadsheets for heat and condensation analysis. Maybe those calcs were done by your architect/engineer already - in which case you should have U value numbers already.

Yeah, I think it's all in there although it's a long read. In practice, I used one of the summaries by stove suppliers e.g. https://www.woodburnerwarehouse.co.uk/building-regulations https://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove_building_regulations.html https://www.imaginfires.co.uk/blog/log-burner-regulations/ I guess in theory you can't rely on those 100%, but I think I did - it was 4-5 years ago I did mine. Re getting max heat out into the room - I wonder whether a reflective sheet of stainless behind the stove might help?

I think the original Dualit design is a classic - both old-fashioned but also very modern in its repairability. I have one 29 years old and I don’t expect to replace it anytime soon. I’ve replaced the elements twice and the timer once. And this design didn’t require any clever engineering - just that the thing is held together with screw fasteners and also that spare elements and mechanical timer switches are made available. Wouldn’t it be great if more products would last a lifetime and were very simple to repair? I would fill my house with products like that. >>> £200 / 25 years = £8/year >>> My £5 pound one lasted over a year. i’m not a rabid enviromentalist - but just for engineering efficiency I would prefer not to send a dozen or so cheap toasters to landfill.

Some clearance dimensions (hearth sizes etc) are in the BC regs. Some (to combustibles etc) are in the stove manufacturer’s specs for that specific model. If you think about it, it has to be that way as it depends on say what’s going on inside the stove re insulation at the back. Yeah you should really make your BC application up front.

I'm all in favour of ambitious DIY and I did my own BC-signed-off wood burner install. But .... in this case, I would try my best to find both a really good builder and a HETAS-stove person and get them to jointly recommend a way forward. The risk elements are structural re the chimney, fire, carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke infiltration into other rooms. FYI you should find a notice plate (e.g. below) and a CO alarm installed - if not it's a suspect installation. It may not actually be that inefficient a set-up that you have now. So, it may be that 'do nothing' is the best option. You might want to check the stated output for that model and judge whether, say, a fan heater of the same rating would heat any slower. (If you want to be a bit more exact in this judgement allow for the efficiency of the wood stove - that'll be published by the manufacturer and probably be 80% or lower.) Also note that Scandinavians often use a traditional stove design where the stove is deliberately surrounded by bricks or heavy ceramic tiles to smooth the heat output of the stove into the house (see photo below).

FYI there are some standalone ice makers (bars & restaurants use them) - I don’t think I’ve seen one with ice and cold water but my search was fairly casual and a few years ago.

I like the overall design concept. I was just in S of France and reminded of the utility of a shaded courtyard. I know also that it’s v common to use RC domestic structures in S Europe. Supporting a heavy-ish roof slab obviously needs a bit of ‘structure’. What’s your feeling re the need - is it a ‘thermal inertia’ aim? You could, of course, use a much lighter roof structure.

Can you maintain these after they are installed? e.g. when/if the motors fail?

Yeah agree, it’s a big quality of life thing for us, especially in the summer. And we buy much less bottled water because the simple inlet filter makes the water taste good. The ice machine gets clogged about once a year and I give the ice basket a quick shake. I change the filter once every 2 or 3 years. Even then, I can’t taste that the filter is past its best. This is a Samsung ‘American’ fridge about 20 or so years old.

IPA maybe? - the alcohol kind rather than the ale kind.

These are space frame trusses - you do see smaller ones being used e.g. for lighting rigs. Maybe the extra cost is justified in that case by the truss being lighter and thus easier to erect for temporary installations. e.g. https://www.ltt-versand.de/fr/structures-alu/naxpro-truss-black-label/fd-24-noir/24829/naxpro-truss-fd-24-longueur-300-cm-noir

@LSB Possible to tell me which one? I could do with another quote…

See e.g. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/16/climate/solution-hot-rocks-renewable-energy-battery/index.html Something we can use 🤣

I’m still very surprised by the mdpe - I have not found specs or guarantees yet (I’ve spent all of 10 mins looking) - but see ‘50-100 year life, 16 bar’ touted around. Apart from uv impact, I’ve never even considered lifetime - the same way that I think of copper pipe, bricks, blocks etc. Do you have any of the pipe that was taken out that could be tested? Maybe it was sub-standard? You may indeed need to sue the installer - at least that would offset the costs of whatever fix is required.

>>> We found and dug up one leak and I believe our installer looped the pipe too tightly and over time it has simply developed a crack on the apex of the curve. Are you assuming that there are equivalent problems all the way down the pipe now? Is it possible the problems are localised and they could simply get a patch fix? p.s. what kind of pipe, MDPE? Also, any idea what pressure it's running at?

Can you give us an idea of the spec you're looking at for the investigation? I just got a quote for £5K + VAT for 6 boreholes to 6m including all the detailed testing and analysis. I didn't think that was crazy cheap considering it would probably be a team of 2 or 3 onsite for max 2 days.

>>> btw, quoting people the way you do doesn't notify them that they've been quoted! 😉 @Thorfun - ah yes I do that when I want to actively avoid bothering someone - but then if they come back to the thread they can answer if they want. Thanks for the thread reminder - I had seen it but will read it through again and make sure I understand everything this time

A big bit of steel pipe over the burn otherwise?

I can't quite visualise your set-up - a drawing and/or photo would help. Like JohnMo, I insulated around the twinwall in the roof with mineral wool - making sure that I was observing the distance to combustibles limits (e.g. for the roof membrane). BC signed off on it. I don't know exactly how much of a thermal bridge I have left. I guess I could figure it out, but it strikes me that if you have a wood burner and a flue, you're prepared to take the hit on the thermal bridge.

Goodness another BS result like Greenwich. There must be way to nip this stuff in the bud - presumably BC signed off the foundations in the first place. More brinkmanship do you think?

>>> as you have the Larson truss sitting on the non structural plinth wall This is structural oak frame with the cladding hanging off it, like your neighbour's. You'll see that the oak frame bears directly on the basement wall. My understanding is that's what all new oak frame houses are like now. You're right also - there should be a bigger gap between the truss and the plinth just to make it clear that the plinth is not load bearing. >>> I assumed this was more a specification/ guidance than showing real life detailing. This is a design sketch with the objective of making sure the main design blocks hang together and that the design decisions re plinth and lightwells can be firmed up. I have detailed stack-ups for the wall etc and, as it says, there are no membranes shown there. At this point, the detail is not that relevant though - I'm keen to see whether I can have the plinth and the lightwells. Obviously, I could omit both and make the structure simpler - but I would really like them if there's a way

Where's @Bitpipe when you need him? Gus, I think you might be right, I could do with some proper advice on the bits that fall between. That option hadn't actually occurred to me, duh. I'm not mainly trying to save money (as soon as you say 'oak' you mostly lose that battle) but to get the best job done I can. I think oak frame with a basement is a bit of a niche - not exactly rocket surgery, but not mainstream either. Let me PM you if I may.

Jeez... https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/13/michael-gove-to-ease-housebuilding-targets-for-councils-in-england

>>> ground water depth & flow It's also struck me that if you have reasonable insulation outside the basement RC and a membrane external to that - then the ground water effect should be minimal.

>>> In the old days we called it 'Curve Fitting', now it is called machine learning. You don't you think it's important to recognise cats and the MIL?