SimonD

I would take the radical position 😄. We need some serious structural reform to deal with the current situations. The energy market is dysfunctional and I'd also say that the way that capitalism has morphed is more like cancer than a benefit to the world and society at large. Central to this is the problem of economics which has, for whatever reason, taken centre stage in pretty much every single human activity and is now treated as if it were some immutable natural force. In the words of Keynes himself we should not 'overestimate the importance of the economic problem, or sacrifice to its supposed necessities other matters of greater and more permanent significance.' But yeah, if there wasn't such huge waste during Covid, there'd be a bit more cash to splash on renewables and all the other things. 😊

If you take into consideration the entire infrastructure together with all the structural reforms required to make the Net Zero shift, I'd reckon the total bill is way beyond private investors. They will and are cherry picking the bits most lucrative. The reality is that private investors don't like early stage risky high capital bets. But instead of me jabbering on, it's probably better to quote from a pieve by Aviva Investors for COP26: This outlines that in order to make the technology being relied upon to even get close to Net Zero, a lot of very expensive technology needs to be developed, tested and then scaled in order to make it attractive to the investors to take it forwards. This pattern is fairly well backed up by history. I'm not trying to be a naysayer, but there's a good number of proposals coming out about how it's going to be achieved, including by governments, that are frankly pretty naive.

The International Energy Agency Net Zero Report: Commitments made to date fall far short of what is required by that pathway. The number of countries that have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions has grown rapidly over the last year and now covers around 70% of global emissions of CO2. This is a huge step forward. However, most pledges are not yet underpinned by near-term policies and measures. Moreover, even if successfully fulfilled, the pledges to date would still leave around 22 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions worldwide in 2050. Investment will have to triple by 2030 at least.In the end I suspect it's going to be governments that shoulder the burden, not private investment, even though they're likely to reap the rewards unless the governments take proper equity stakes like some sensible ones do.

But it won't. RE investment is already too low to transition in time for 2050 and all that would be accomplished by supporting suppliers but paying the generators and extractors etc. is further transfer of wealth as it will result in bigger bonuses, happy hedge fund managers, increased dividends and more. It would merely amount to further FF subsidies over and above the existing ones. (Although Uniper in Germany has suffered over $12bn in losses and has been bailed out by the German government) Capping prices and dislocating gas from electricity prices is a good start but there has to be a re-configuration of the whole energy market as it's dysfunctional.

I'd love to know... the sales blurb says they cooking everything amazingly apparently. I bet it'll be like the rest of the kitchen toys we've bought or been given; the slow cooker, multi-cooker, sandwich toaster, 3 food processors, normal microwave, combination microwave, halogen oven, rice cooker...... I suppose it's one way of keeping the economy afloat.

And there's even talk amonst conservative members that they want him back after comparing the alternatives. 🙄 He'll be talking about airfryers next

Installed volume is the static volume of the whole installation including the meter. Domestic is max pipe diameter of 35mm and max volume of 0.035m3 above this the gas engineer needs to be Commercial. If your buried pipe is PE then assuming a 32mm diameter pipe you would ideally be looking at 28mm copper as 22mm copper brings the installation close to max permissible pressure loss even without many fittings or bends. In my calc I assumed 4 elbows and a single exiting Tee for the PE but none for the copper at 22mm and this came in at 0.93mbar. With 28mm copper (no fittings) the calc was 0.66mbar which gives room for a few fittings in the copper pipework. Looking at your photos I can see that you've got a 6m3/h meter which looks like u6/g4 type so approximate installed volume of gas is 0.22m3 based on the pipe lengths you've given me, assuming 32mm PE and 28mm copper. On this basis and assumptions it looks like you should be fine for supplying both boilers with sufficient gas. I only have PE SDR11 32mm figures to hand, not anything for 40mm which you'd need to check with whoever installed the buried pipe if you can. I think 40mm PE pipework could tip the installation into needing a commercial gas safe engineer to do the installation and commissioning of your new boiler.

Your typical domestic meter and regulator will be able to supply up to 6m3/h which is equal to a gross heat input of about 64kW so no problem dealing with your 54kW demand which would be about 60kW gross. You can check the rating of your meter easily on the data badge or looking it up to confirm this. The only thing then required is to do a proper pipe sizing calc so that you don't have more than a 1mbar drop from meter to any appliance when all running at max rate. Your heating engineer should be able to do this in his sleep. The one issue I can foresee is if he's only certified for domestic work and the total installed volume of gas takes him into commercial territory so largely depends on the pipe length and required diameter from your meter to the new boiler. What's the proposed pipe length to your new boiler? You're going to struggle getting a combi that will modulate down to as little as 2kW on the heating side. Most system and heat only boilers struggle with that.

I wonder whether there is more to add to this list. I'd include an explanation to politicians that they could actually get together and engage in a global collaborative approach to pricing and payment. But alas it's currently each to their own. Then again, our government couldn't possibly engage in collaboration as they'd fear it was just another attack on their imagined sovereignty. All that will happen if they cover the gas prices is the world's greatest state value extraction which does nothing to address the fundamental energy system flaws, rather perpetuates them and will leave the majority much the worse off. All the current discussion is at the wrong level which won't solve a thing.

Good question. It retrofit circles airtightness is claimed to be the first low cost biggest bang for buck improvement followed by insulation. On new build, BRE suggests airtightness accounts for about 10% heat loss. I've seen other figures suggesting 15-20%. Energy Saving trust puts a figure of 30% losses down to thermal bridging. However, countries like Sweden put airthightness at the top of the list in terms of importance for energy efficiency - it's first design for airtightness then insulate. I don't think the overall heat loss is 'just' down to the heat capacity of the air but how that movement of air impacts thermal loss of all elements - we know how much eliminating convective currents within insulation layers improves energy efficiency for example. Like with everything, it's got to be a balance of what is done to what extent and for what cost?

Hmmm, would be interesting to have a larger sample size of average normal family consumption rates. I've just noted our first 'normal' month on all electric using induction hobs, excluding DHW and minimal EV (daily average 0.57kWh) due to holidays and we've used a daily average of 12.29kWh for 31 days. Tumble dryer has only used 0.52kWh/day average. We do cook and bake a lot but I'm wondering if this is high for a family of 4. Must get some individual energy monitors on the circuits to see where exactly it's going.

I reckon you need to check the configuration of the system. Has it been installed for priority domestic hot water? If you're going to run lower flow temps on the ufh you'd be much better of with this setup. PDHW means that the boiler runs at two difference flow temperatures - a high temperature for your uvc to get to temperature quickly and a lower, variable temp, ideally modulating/weather compensating for the heating system. Also look at the balancing of the system - what's the flow and return temperature across your heating system? Unfortunately not a lot of installers understand this this stuff let alone set the system up properly to do this ☹️ Without the separate temps, you rely on the same flow temp to heat both your uvc and heating system which can lead to this kind of problem.

The problem is that there are no transparent figures and the /kWh prices vary by region. OFGEM doesn't even provide these figures referring people to their regional supplier. Everyone quoting their figures on here only applies to their region so it's not like comparing like for like.

I think that at about £110 per month it's close to the going rate, but insurance rates do seem to be going up recently. The Protek one at least is an all risks policy with pretty comprehensive cover, including material theft, owned tools and plant, plus the rate for adding hired in plant is very good. Mine even covered the caravan if it got squashed. I'd call them.

No, the wood fibre insulation board referred to by ecomerchant is a different product compared to the between rafter wood fibre bats. In this case, blown cellulose is by far the better option. The high decrement delay woodfibre boards are those that are usually installed above the rafters and form a sarking so you end up with a hybrid warm roof - very good for reducing repeated cold bridges too.

I can't speak of the technical programming of the heat pumps themselves, but I think there's a big difference between what should be done and what is done in the market. To design a heating system using a heatpump or a gas boiler is exactly the same process if you want a properly designed heating system. As follows: calculate heat loss calculate hot water demand calculate total heat demand size heat emitters based on design temperature drop of the system and flow/return temperatures select your heat emitters based on heat factor and pipework emissions (this also varies depending on radiator connections) calculate system flow rate including pressure drop and flow velocity size pipework and pump accordingly (with heatpumps this might include the buffer) The differences between your fossil fuel boiler and heatpump is largely the flow/return temps and temperature drop across the system (which can be managed using a buffer in heatpumps) and thus flow velocity and rate. Using this method it's a fairly simple process to future proof the heating system for upgrade to heatpump in the future. The problem as I see it is that most installers doing gas/oil, don't bother to do these calculations, using rules of thumb instead which can be totally random. But with these systems you can get away with it because you just chuck in a big engine. Not so with a heatpump. I reckon if we rejigged all the existing fossil fuel systems we'd manage to save well in excess of 15% of gas, if not a lot more and have decently heated houses. Talk in the industry appears to be edging towards hybrid heatpumps using small heatpumps added to existing fossil fuel boiler or new hybrid boilers as a transitional phase.

Also beware any warranty or quality problems. Suppliers won't give you support for any problems if there's too long since you bought it and you could be out of warranty by the time you install the stuff. I bought loads of stuff just before Brexit. Yes, I saved myself a fortune compared to today's prices with some items, but on the other hand I've now spent a couple of years working round stuff and it's actually got in the way of getting things done and finished. It's a difficult balance.

Oh dear, bang goes the sustainability claims on that one then!

Yes, it does rather look like that. I wondered whether it was a disguised whole population jailhouse or a massive extension of foreigner compounds. One of the image mockups in particular looked like they'd taken a scene from Bladerunner and plonked a load of trees on the balconies and bridges. I also like how imaginative the architects must have been when making sure the project "will contain residential, retail and leisure areas as well as schools and parks." You'd hope so wouldn't you.

Well, to matters even more clear to the unitiated, the guy running the heatpump training moved on to explain that a heatpump pump makes heat 'run up hill' compared to the normal process of heat rolling down a hill from hot to cold. That's definitely the reverse cycle, but I can't help but imagine a scenario explaining to a customer that it's a refrigerator that chases heat up the hill using what's in effect a powerful water gun. I wonder how many customers would sign you up then 😁

Funnily I've just been watching this series on heatpump design on the Institute of Refrigeration website: https://ior.org.uk/heat-pump-design-course The guy running the training says in the introduction. AND NO..a heat pump is NOT a reversed refrigerator. • IT IS a refrigerator. I suppose that clarifies things except a lot of people might think it's going to make their house cold......

How well do you know the installer? I guess you've already had discussions about the extent of works? My concern is that there are a few areas open to interpretation that could allow shortcuts to be taken. For example, 'prepare walls reading for tiling (special plasterboard...) and 'prepare floor for tiling (boards etc.). I once had an installer lay plywood as the bathroom subfloor on top of exiting floorboard saying it was a great job only to find that once he'd gone, the floor flexed as he hadn't bothered to screw done the plywood at the required 100mm centres as specificied by the floor product manufacturer and the plywood should have been thicker. He also bent the plywood over a dip in the floor instead of filling it. Within 6 months we had to get it all re-done. I would re-look at the specification of works to make sure there is no room for interpretation, providing specs. of the subfloor and even the type of plasterboard you require as the substrate for tiles, bearing in mind you might need to take into consideration the weight/m2 of the tiles on the boards. Is plasterboard the best option or could a fresh plaster and skim suffice instead? I would personally be inclined to specify the overall wall and floor areas for tiling - e.g. is it just the sink splashback, half wallheight around sink/bath, full wall height somewhere else? Also, don't give your installer the cart blanche freedom to buy materials for re-imbursement, define a controlled process of request, approval and purchase that gives proper oversight and works for all of you.

Oh dear! Sorry to hear that. As a product and material, I've come to really like it. Time will tell as to longevity.

So far I'm happy, but do bear in mind that I did the installation entirely myself. I've now done one shower and the kitchen worktop/splashback. For the actual microcement I paid a couple of different prices as the system varies according to toughness and area of application. At current prices the system for shower/wetroom cost £29.50/m2 for 10m2 kit and the system for the kitchen worktop was £41/m2 again for a 10m2 kit (plus shipping which as it's heavy works out at about £65). The shower has had regular use for about 6 months now and is as it was when installed - as you'd hope! 🙂 Kitchen worktop has seen regular use for nearly 3 months. Neither long term test yet. The only slight annoyance I've got is that the worktop kit says it's completely resistent to stains from just about anything. It seems to do this but when cooking with turmeric, if it sits on the worktop for a period of time I have to scrub it off the surface rather than just wipe it off like with everything else. Once scrubbed, there's no sign of it so it doesn't actually stain. I do wonder whether I applied the final coats of sealant slightly too thin because there is a fine texture on the surface which I think the turmerice gets into. When I get the chance, I have enough left over to apply another thicker final coat of the sealer. Nothing else touches it so far. Service I have to say was very good. When I started laying the microcement for the kitchen the base coat came out very blue, and so did the first of the top coats. I contact the supplier with some photos and within a day they'd shipped out a replacement topcoat kit with a corrected pigment. I've uploaded a photo of the worktop with integral splashback and window sill - still looks blue in the photo but it's actually a silver grey that takes on a slightly blue tone under certain light conditions and the bare wood in the house also makes it look more blue that it really it. Apologies I can't help more with installers but I bought my stuff from Relentless Microcement and bought the professional kits rather than diy kits. If you want to tackle the job yourself they do provide comprehensive instructions and training videos. Otherwise perhaps get in touch with them to see if they have a network of known installers, possibly worth a try? I think the cost of microcement installation is because it needs several layers with time in between each coat which means lots of curing time and return journeys for the installer. I've found that if you follow the proper curing times it ends up taking about 6 days in elapsed time with daily applications that take anything from only 1/2 hour to 3 hours only.

I recently moved from self-build insurance to a specialist home insurance policy. The sb insurance had become overkill in terms of both extent of cover and premiums, so the home insurance was a better option. I used Towergate as I've used them over the years for numerous policies. I simply explained what was left to be done, how long it's likely to take. No problem at all. There are just some clear exclusions to cover when using contractors and subbies who must hold their own insurances. They were mostly concerned that the structure was complete and watertight and this phase had been signed off by BC. Personally, I'd just explain where you are to the insurer and see what they come back with - always better to be upfront rather than risk voiding an insurance policy, and also check the requirements made by any lender.