Alan Ambrose

I’m imagining that brise soleil are most useful for midsummer S facing when the sun is high but allow useful solar gain for the other months when the sun is lower in the other 3 quarters. Outer blinds as an out-and-out sun block whenever needed. Internal blinds for thermal control in winter. My train of thinking is - what’s to stop us having smartish window coverings that control solar gain and heat loss as and when we need it? ‘Windows don’t just have to be dumb bits of glass’. The other thought I was persuing is - maybe we want to balance solar gain so we get useful gain in winter, not too much in summer i.e. there’s some optimum in the middle there somewhere.

Interesting - have an indicative cost and/or a recommendation for TM59 supplier?

Yeah that and the paperwork delay - would be good to see some comparisons of UK with other countries.

>>> I'm having terrible trouble with one of my three Neostat v2's (connected to the old style wiring centre WITHOUT reset buttons) and a Neohub Gen 2. I might just restart the wiring centre (probably a mains switch) then the hub (remove the power lead) and then remove and reinsert the battery to the stat. I once had a problem where the hub got its time confused - something to do with my internet vanishing for a bit I think.

I'm juggling with our windows, part O simple method & PHPP. I'll also go to TM59 if it'll help get what we want. My objective (I think) is to get a set of windows that are OK for heat loss and make the best out of solar gain in the shoulder months while alleviating mid-summer gain. The windows are nearly all West & East with very few North & South. So, I'm currently modelling automated external blinds & low G glass for protection against overheating but allowing us to benefit from positive solar gain when we can. My questions are: + is there a better way to optimise shoulder months by using brise soleil in addition to automated external blinds? + can I realistically reduce heat loss (in PHPP or real-life) by using automated internal thermal blinds as well? + is there are sensible way to include (in PHPP or real-life) a conservatory-type structure in all this?

>>> I've had power jump about 10m from a cable to a crane mast. Good point - worth verifying with the DNO (if you haven't already) whether these or 230V 'low voltage' cables or something more tingling.

Welcome - we always welcome experts There are many on here from lots of different disciplines and they are generally very generous with their knowledge. These two threads (below) summarise the current state of our hive mind on CDM. It would be interesting to see whether you agree... We have a few different build set-ups depending on how much bought-in skill we're each using on our self-builds. Some pointers on how each of those should work and the gotcha's involved would be very welcome.

>>> Omega Seamaster watches, pre-war Leica cameras, Umbrian villas You forgot Riva launches... @sunflower - congrats, there are not many oak frame-style people on here, but there are a few. Me, for one. A couple of drawings / images of the plot for us to be jealous over?

Yeah, not sure, we have not fully optimised our heating schedules yet, but we had an average price on the bill of 24.07p. p.s. this is Octopus's own analysis:

I've just noticed that Octopus give a proper breakdown day-by-day on the bill in 1/2 hour increments, also a monthly average of the daily use (blue line). One page per day. Well done octopus:

>>> Below is a part of one of my designs for a glass balustrade Hi Gus, just to understand - are you saying 'the profile manufacturer has done the calcs on the profile, we just need to ensure the bolts don't fail before the profile does'? Presumably there are there some standard stair loadings that you are using e.g. the 0.57 shear load? Is there some rule of thumb on what is required to be SE calculated and what isn't? ... In principle you could calc the loading for every fastening used in a build, but I guess we don't have the time and energy for that?

>>> Surely working and living in the same place is the most environmentally sound approach? No need to travel. I think it's just that you're sort of slipping between the planning cracks. The rules we have are largely based around simplistic 'use-cases'. So there's residential, there's commercial and there's industrial. It sounds like you're looking for a mix of residential and commercial. Not so much artist or artisan, which are often accommodated within residential (on the basis you won't be doing much of anything to annoy anyone) but a bit more industrial - think fumes, noise etc. Now there are some rules around 'live/work', which I don't pretend to know, but which you might like to investigate. You also may find some cracks between the rules that you can use to your advantage - but you'll need to know what's available to buy and why the rules are in detail. So, either a place with outbuildings you can use carefully so you don't tee anyone off or some kind of farm arrangement where mixed business and residential are the norm or even easier a house and a nearby space in a mixed studio. If you were in Suffolk I might suggest Jet for instance: https://www.oldjet.co.uk/about-old-jet-arts-centre/ In the latter case, you have the added advantage of a community you might enjoy.

System taken over by prehistoric monsters? Weird bug in software?

Yeah, understand the position re London studios - stupid expensive and often not great despite that. And often used as LPA bait until a developer figures they can make a bunch of money. If you buy a place with a biggish garden then you can probably get what you want - maybe over time with a couple of buildings. An even easier route is to buy a place with barns or and existing outbuilding and convert those - probably with no oversight by anyone. Planning departments are fairly OK about artists and artist studios - particularly if it's your livelihood. Good idea though to keep talk of "fumes / contamination / noxious / dangerous things / potential neighbour problems" to a minimum to avoid triggering the locals .

>>> I wonder if these stats have an accelerator (heater/ some AI copy of) that's massaging the sensor to improve response? The whole Heatmiser tech set-up is fairly dumb old-school tech although it does have wireless to the hub and an app - otherwise it's a simple set of desired temperature profiles held in software and a relay in each sensor to switch the load. There are settings for each sensor to control the switching (time between call and non-call changes and temperature difference to ignore) - those stop rapid switching. There's also a frost setting and a setting to allow 'pre-heat' warm up to reach desired temperature in advance of the schedule. That's it. This kind of thing (below)... @Andehh - as the designers suggest it's a HP cold weather / defrost thing - can't you get them in to diagnose and fix? Is your house well insulated? If so, the general advice here on BuildHub is to have your heat pump run consistently for long periods to deliver a more-or-less constant internal temperature rather than have it bounce around trying to fit the 16-21 degree swings that it's programmed for right now. Actually a useful experiment would be to change the profile to a constant 20 or 21 degrees for a day or so and see whether it settles down.

OK I've found the answer (not really). But PHPP does have a bunch of calcs for: + standard slab + unheated basement (i.e. basement outside thermal envelope) + heated basement (i.e. basement inside thermal envelope with interior temperature assumed to be the same as the rest of the building) + US-style suspended floor above crawl space + some way of coping with combinations of these. They include ... adjustment for soil type / perimeter losses / ground water depth & flow / seasonal ground temperature and delay! I'm not sure how anyone measures ground water flow rate in the typical soil investigation? Exactly what methods PHPP uses I have not determined yet. But if you accept it as a black box, then it would seem to do most of the necessary calcs. I'm not sure yet if there's a workaround for 'partly heated basement'.

>>> Not sure where the original input for the "need" of a new regulation like Part O came from in the first place though. Yes, it would be interesting to know. To pick an example, here's the spiel from Future Homes Hub: In September 2020, the Future Homes Task Force was set up to develop a long-term delivery plan for the sector in line with the Government’s legally binding net zero and wider environmental targets. The Delivery Plan is divided into four areas with a goal and roadmap for each area. The Delivery plan also set out the specification for the Hub. The Future Homes Hub has now been set up as a non-profit making company limited by guarantee. We are an independent organisation bringing together the homebuilding sector with the wider circle of supply chain, infrastructure, finance and government organisations that need to collaborate. Over 40 of the largest homebuilders committed and many other related organisations committed to working together through the Hub to achieve the goals on publication of the plan. Here are the steering group members - now how did these guys get selected? Adam Graveley, Element Four Professor Kevin Lomas, Building Energy Research Group, Loughborough University Simon McClelland, Story Homes Danielle Michalska, Barratt Developments Clare Murray, Levitt Bernstein Neil Murphy, TOWN Anastasia Mylona, CIBSE Oliver Novakovic, Barratt Developments Richard Partington, Studio Partington Martina Pacifici, AHMM Dale Saunders, Taylor Wimpey Michael Swainson, BRE Victoria Tink, DLUHC

>>> I don't think I'm being misled. I hired him because he does a lot of groundworks for council and schools. OK then, that implies that he decided not to notify or maybe he did without wanting to bother you? Ask him maybe?

>>> My builder re-routed it in our garden to avoid the foundations (back wall). Is there a chance you're being misled by your builder? Did you see the work?

Some examples: (1) Electrically heated kitchen floor with floor sensor following programmed morning cycle. Yeah, it's bang-bang (i.e. on/off) control with a 0.5 degrees dwell and 10 minute 'output delay'. (2) Wet UFH on frost standby (will heat if temperature drops below 12 degrees). Log fire keeping the place warm - each bump is someone adding a new log or two. (3) Electrically heated area following program. (Outside temperature is quite cold and therefore takes ages to warm up.)

>>> why is it even calling for heat? The dashed line is your programmed heating schedule - it says 'heat up from 16 to 20 degrees please from 3-7am, then don't heat after 7am unless it drops below 16'. If you check the profile for those rooms you should find that that's what is set. This is the basic operation of any typical timed programming device and is described in the manual. >>> Are those room temperatures? Depending on which thermostats and sensor set-ups you have - most likely room temperatures. You can add floor sensors and/or remote wired or wireless room sensors to the standard room temperature display - so it depends on your set-up. Ask you installer maybe? >>> I can't believe the room temperature goes up and down so rapidly, so I would be looking at some other local heat source confusing the thermostat It does look a bit rapid, but I've found it is surprisingly sensitive. Yes, you're seeing desired temperature (dashed line) and actual temperature (reddish graph) together with an indication of whether Heatmiser thinks it has called for heat (hence the red colour). If the call for heat somehow doesn't switch the heat source on, say, due to a fault or you light the log fire (which Heatmiser doesn't know about) then the actual temperature won't necessarily reflect the expected behaviour of the programmed temperature - i.e. slowly catching up with the programmed temperature.

OK will look for it, thanks. >>> But it was so long ago I can’t remember the formula! If I could remember even half of what I used to know, I would really be quite smart

Is there not a ditch nearby that you can drain the outfall from packaged treatment plant? By the time it's left the plant it's meant to be guaranteed to be clean enough for this.

Obviously there some insulation thingys which go over the tap. Screwfix etc. I put mine on a couple of weeks ago. My water company suggested one of the insulated green boxes that @Kelvin mentioned for a site tap.

OK suggest this is either your HP cycling or the UFH blending valve closing off as the water is too hot. You can see from the graph that Heatmiser is 'calling for heat' but something else is shutting off the heat supply for a bit - presumably until whatever it is has cooled down enough and then it starts up again. Suggest close observation of the manifold, actuators, mixing valves etc and the HP itself. Also checking what temperature the blending is set to. Looks like the cycle is about an hour? A temperature probe / thermal camera and a voltmeter might help.