SimonD

Haha, yes, I thought it might be a bit over the top! Yes, the Alpha FlowSmart has a secondary return, or as they call it a secondary circulation coil as it simply reheats the return through the thermal store and feeds it back into the DHW flow. However, I've just had some feedback on Alpha suggesting I'd be better looking elsewhere, which, in terms of storage combi, takes me down the route of either Vaillant or Veissman (although the current thread on here about Veissman doesn't fill me with great confidence) so I'll be checking HRC capability of both these. I ideally I would install the boiler centrally in the house in utility room. The problem is that the most favourable wall for the flue terminal would come out under a bridge and too close to it. It also has both door and windows too close. Another choice is to try and route it across or around the ceiling of the master bedroom and out an alternative wall - this would give a flue terminal that is under the required regs for distance to neighbours boundary and fence, but the neighbour is troublesome - my wife's reminded me that any plume is gonna cause complaints - a 45 degree diverter might work, but if it touches his fence in any way, I'm in trouble ? Thanks, I'll have to look at redisigning for HRC but I do think that if I can get the boiler in the utility, that would be best..

To me what you've just said represents part of the problem with the skewed logic abound in this field. We don't have the required facilities to capture carbon, to produce the hydrogen, nor do we have the necessary infrastructure to fully electrify our world. I found it interesting to read some of the extensive research done in Norway, investigating the many untapped sources of biogass available, and it's not just waste. I was also fascinated to find the various technogologies that have been developed to refine biogas, even self contained modular systems that start small at a farm yet can be easily be scaled up for larger facilities. It would be quite surprising if a company such as Ecotricity were to be investing in something that's a pure dudd. Now it may be using grass from otherwise unproductive agricultural land, but there are many other sources such as farming and industry. If the waste from agriculture that is currently killing our rivers were to be utilised otherwise, perhaps those very industrial farms could find themselve self-energising their activities. Just a thought Pure speculation, I know, but when I looked, I couldn't find a lot of research on potential in the UK, simply current figures.

I don't believe that to be the argument either, but it does come across that way, not only in the popular press and forums, but also in a fair number of papers investigating feasibility of certain future pathways - much of this is of course down to the academic requirements of such papers, but it does tend to narrow down the debate, in my view anyway. However, if you do look at the CCC 6th budget, it ain't exactly well diversified in terms of options. For home heating it's heat pumps, hydrogen, biomass, oil and gas. Biomass has already proven itself to be unsustainable so I wouldn't be surprised if that drops off the radar in a few years time. In terms of electricity generation, yes wind and solar power play a significant role, indeed windpower is planned to be the backbone. However, the strategy also relies on carbon capture technology and the ability to burn hydrogen in gas powered plants. In fact, hydrogen plays a major role in most scenarios. I certainly hope it does ? I agree, yet for me this actually gets overlooked. You'd expect that as part of the necessary shift to alternative technologies, there would be a phase change that may not use ideal scenarios, but takes us in the right direction, rather than looking for the silver bullet right now. I think that this tendency of thinking is actually preventing some of the structural change required to make faster positive steps that might be more innovative. The problem is also not always technological, it's social, cultural and psychological. Agreed, there just needs to be a balanced, well informed, debate about it.

As is fairly typical my architect 'forgot' to put much thought into the aspect of plumbing in our house. I've been thinking about is for ages trying to find a good solution, but I'd like to ask for some input here, please. It's really about the DHW distribution. My problem is that the DHW demand is from two opposite ends of the house. At one end I have the main family bathroom with a bath and then a guest bathroom with shower. At the other end of the house I have an ensuite to the master bedroom, a utility room and kitchen above. The current plan is to install an Alpha E-tec boiler with heat recovery unit and thermal store within, or next to the family bathroom. This is partly to do with incoming main at this very corner of the house. If it's relevant, I have 7 bar standing and 3.5 bar dynamic mains pressure, 22 l/m flow rate. This is one of the reasons I'm using the Alpha heat store as it can take up to 5bar mains pressure and I can use everything I've got in terms of flow (DHW flow rate on boiler is up to 19 l/m). Its setup is also more compact than system boiler with water tank (something which the architect overlooked in his designs - and I also mistakenly overlooked at the time too!) The initial sketchup of the DHW distribution was to run to a manifold which sits within the utility room and then distribute from there (at this location the manifold is more or less central in the house). The problem I've got is that this creates relatively long total runs bringing DHW back to the family and guest bathrooms. However, I'd obviously then end up with a very long DHW run from boiler to kitchen sink too. For example, in terms of meterage, I'll have 22mm or larger DHW to manifold which could be about 16m if not longer, then 15mm pipe back again to bathroom for each fitting, another approximately 16m each. The kitchen supply would only be about 4m beyond the 16m 22mm to manifold. Having thought about this, I'm not convinced this is very good due to the long runs, so I'm wondering which way is best to get around it. I've got a space problem where I'm looking to install the boiler. 2 things I'm considering are 1. Whether it's better to install a manifold at the boiler to split the supplies to each side of the house and then use distribution manifolds to each of the relevant rooms once it gets there. I'm tempted to also put in a solitary 10mm plastic run directly to the kitchen sink from the boiler location, again to reduce hot water wait time and wastage. 2. To scrub the planned single boiler and instead install two smaller combi boilers at each end of the house - is this a crazy idea? (price wise, it's actually pretty much equal to installing the full Alpha kit and would save me money in terms of manifolds). Boiler labour cost of installation is free here for me, so not part of the equation. From a heating perspective, this could actually work quite well as I'd use each boiler for the main house zones. Any thoughts and advice?

I haven't watched the video but I'm suspecting it's a bit of a Roger's rant! Regardless of the arguments re efficiency/inefficiency, I suspect that there will be a gas distribution network in place for a long time to come and that this will be used for some kind of hydrogen/naturual gas/biogas mixture. I find it interesting that biogas hasn't played much part in the debate about future heating. Norway, however, has recently voted in parliament to add biogas as a third option in line with electricity and hydrogen. In its recent newsletter, Ecotricity mention its biogas project near Reading and how it wants to UK government to re-think its future energy strategy. For me the argument shouldn't be an either/or focus on a single heating strategy - these are all doomed to failure eventually because it inevitably puts too much pressure on a single resource. I think it should be a diversified strategy that includes all options depending on suitability. Thus you'd get heat pumps in some locations, geothermal in others (like some areas in Cornwall), biogass somewhere else, etc. In some areas of housing, district heating could be a very sensible option that uses shared, large scale heatpumps together with solar etc. - think village energy cooperative, using an unused field, or even the local football and cricket pitches. For me there's just too much narrow thinking on solving the problem. I also have to say that I get quite worried about some tendencies toward heat pump evangelism that doesn't really deal with the real world drawbacks of these systems, nor the practicalities of large scale implementation. They're neither a panacea, nor are the entirely as environmentally benevolent as they're made out to be. In many studies heatpumps come out quite low when it comes to overall environmental impact, even if they're favourable in terms of GHG impact.

Agreed, it is on the weighty side. However, with some technique, it's not much of a problem. I build it up all on my own and have built three lift platforms no problem. The trick is to lift the heavy bits - the standards and the timber boards - in stages. With high platforms, I've sometimes used my little elephant hoist to help out too.

+1 to that. I bought my Kwikstage refurbished and bought some of the 'tower' wheels. Flexibility is incredible. Wouldn't do a build without it.

Yeah, you see I've not had a problem with that. I've just fitted about 116 m2 of cladding all nailed on 25 x 50 battens. This install did have 47 x 47 battens behind, but I don't think it's any different from clouting slate tiles onto 25mm battens on a roof.

Does it half!

Try Cuprinol 5 Star treatment - it's pretty toxic, water based and simply soaks into the wood with a clear finish. I've used it a lot to soak ends of joists going into walls. However, I have to say that I much prefer using the Wykabor I referenced above, but when needs must.

As I understand it, the Boron impedes the digestive system of the insects so they can't digest their food - the wood. It's only mildy toxic for humans. Mildly irritant to skin and eys, but in high concentrations is dangerous in pregnancy apparently. How and why it's also works as a fungicide I'm not entirely sure.

I last used Wykabor 10.1 to treat approx. 40 meters of glulam ring beams and a load of untreated CLS. Here's the data sheet Interestingly it does say: However I do suspect this only applies to wet application, not once the product has dried after application. Possibly worth a call to their technical department. HTH.

Kind of... grooves up are the traditional way, grooves down are an alternative, but the important detail is in which to use depending on the cupping of the boards once they're installed. If installed so the top board cups out, meaning water will run towards the edge, then the groove is outwards. If installed so that cupping is prevented, the groove goes to the inside to prevent capillary action under the boards. Personally, I do wonder about the obsession with screws. Nails are, believe it or not, absolutely fine - tried and tested. It's a great site for details, a lot of it builders here in the UK could learn from for timber frame detailing.

I think it's sensible to use the existing floor structure and to retrofit insulation. Depending on joist depth you can pretty much select the insulation material of your choice, but if you're lacking depth then Kingspan stuff is probably a better choice even if it's a pain to install and detail properly, particularly in retrofit. Above the new floor insulation you should also concentrate on making it air and vapour tight. Either chipboard, or osb subfloor would work well above. If tiling, then it's better to use a tile board - No More Ply sells a 6mm board for this purpose. With floor insulated and timber subfloor your floor will feel warmer, but ceramic tiles are conductors so will feel cool underfoot without the boost of underfloor heating. However, this coolness doesn't tend to feel uncomfortable. The resilience of the timber floor structure actually adds to the comfort of the floor. Here's a great resource about suspended timber floor and insulation. Covers pretty much everything you need to know and maybe more Suspended Timber Ground floors HTH

I haven't looked at the link but that's about right - that is what plinth insulation is. Basic buildup illlustration, from ground: gravel, plinth insulation, expanding foam tape on top of plinth insulation, starter rail at dpc, then your normal ewi. Plinth insulation thickness should indeed be reduced. IIRC, i read a rule of thumb figure that it's thickness is determined by either 75% of thickness of ewi or 75% of the ewi thermal insulation figure - can't remember which right now and don't have acces to the relevant paperwork right now. Either way you get a drip at the bottom of your main ewi at dpc.

Why? Have you expained the ramifications and the difference in product? I've usually found that a quick conversation along the lines of cold bridge = condensatoin = black mold on those lovely new deep window cills, sorts the issue out very quickly! Otherwise, just make an executive decision...

Yes, that's with render finished.

I'd approach this very carefully. EWI takes a lot of care to detail properly and I'd be surprised if a general builder knew the detailing requirements - it's bad enoug finding an ewi company that really knows what they're doing. I think the prices you've been quoted might be on the cheap side. Last time I got a complete figure it worked out to about £75/m2 plus VAT by an EWI company. This was 4 - 5 years ago. Recent figures I've heard from other it's been up to £100 labour and materials. Some of the things the consider: Old substrates where old render has been removed may need a levelling coat before installing the EWI to avoid excessive voids behind that can lead to unwanted convection. Windows and other openings are a bit of a pain as you need to ensure no joins are in line with the corners, so it's a bit like a game of tetris. Then you have the detailing around the reveals that need to be done with care to prevent cracking and water ingress. If your reveals are to be 40mm as per your insulation thickness, you're going to struggle to include both a corner bead and apu rail - the rail that seals the render and ewi against the window frame - so you will have to look at some alternative detail as just using silicon is not best practise). Are you having plinth insulation installed below dpc? If so, what is the cost of the usually specced xps, rendering and ground detail? How is the builder suggesting you deal with service openings and runs - e.g. soil pipe, guttering, waste pipes, gas/electricity meter box, and any phone lines/electricity cables. And that's just the beginning. Also keep in mind that Kooltherm is not vapour permeable so you'll need a careful look at moisture and condensation management to the interior of your walls. EPS would be better as it's considered to be semi-permeable, so better than none. Rockwool ewi possibly even better on this front. Anyone looked at your condensation risk for your proposed ewi? Overall, I think you'd be better off finding a dedicated EWI installer to do the whole job including the final render. That way you'll be more likely to also qualifiy for the manufacturers system guarantee too - whatever that may be worth ? At present you run the risk of multiple parties blaming each other if there's a problem down the line - not unheard of with poorly installed thin coat EWI. Sorry if I've put the cat amongst the proverbial...

Thanks, that's helpful. Unfortunately, I can't go and test right now as I'm here in England and the heat pump is in my mother's house in Sweden. Unfortunately the installer seems pretty rubbish and is fobbing her off while the manufacturer has been pretty good. Manufacturer is having a word with installer.... I think that one major problem is they've focussed only on the heat pump, not looking at the whole system.

Especially when it's -3 in January! Not sure there's anything worse than a day handling frozen steel.

It's a 3 day course giving participants an overview of the self-build process. Starting with funding & finance, finding landing, design, building & construction methods, planning permission, building regs, blah blah. Day 3 is 'eco' s tuff and it's £395. TBH, I don't think this will cover the areas in any such detail to give him an opportunity to find out what he's interested in. It'll only really touch the surface of what you need to know with a self-build too. Personally I'd say the best suggestions so far are for him to find builders and/or trades and then shadow them for a while, or go out and buy a small project low risk project that can be used to gain some experience and learn what it's all about. The other more far out suggestion would be for him to quit his job in the city and get a job as an estate agent for a while. Laugh or scoff, but that'll give him access to the market, get to know trades, and find potential properties and be able to sell them. I know someone who did this and made a mint as a property developer after learning the market.

A recent discussion with a Swedish heat pump manufacturer re the problem I mentioned above, said that compressor should not be regularly tripping out at the high pressure threshold as that indicates a problem within the system and will cause excess wear on the compressor system (this what was happening in the example I mentioned, hence premature wear of three compressors). Admittedly this is on a geothermal heatpump rather than air source, so may be a diffierent issue. Now, I can only take their word for it as I'm no expert at this kind of thing so very happy to understand more.

ASHP isn't just about chucking in the pump and cylinder though is it? You've also got to design and commision the whole system so that it all functions correctly. I know someone who paid a lot of money for a heatpump installation and because something was wrong, it's burned through 3 compressors and now requires a whole new heatpump as replacement.

I'm wondering from this whether he actually wants to be a builder - as in hands-on doing the creation and improvement work - or more as a developer - managing and organising others to do the work to create and improve buildings. These are very different things and require rather different skillsets. **Edit - I just saw this bit had been dealt with while I was writing ** My nephew, only 18 at the moment is exploring similar things as part of a year or two off before Uni. He's been helping me out on site for a couple of years and has now gone around his neighbourhood offering to help out. He's now fully booked by people who need extra help, but are also teaching him the ropes - this is everything from grounds maintenance, labouring for a builder, mowing lawns, fixing machinery and various bits with me including carpentry, brick work, etc. etc. He's also getting loads of practical input in how to set up and run a sustainable business. Given that there is currently a shortage of labour, I'd reckon your son could phone around some local builders and offer to help them out - possibly free - to see if it suits him. But undoubtedly he'll first be given the crap jobs to do. The problem with the college courses being offered is that the environment is totally different from the real world. I'm always accused of being too wellspoken and posh in my areas of work, including the building stuff, but what I've found is that doesn't matter for long if you're happy to get stuck in and graft. You also have to demonstrate your knowledge a bit more because some do try to get away with stuff thinking you're a naive toff! The most important thing to keep in mind is that it isn't just about building. If he's going to make it, he's also got to understand the fundamentals of running an business (probably even more important than the nuts and bolts of building). And he's going to have to understand project management. There are many great builders out there but a lot of them can't organise and/or manage a business and projects for toffee, because they're so different. Another thing that I think he needs to be aware of is that in running such a business, it's a massive grind a lot of the time, especially in construction. Very stressful and there's a lot of mental health problems in the construction industry (mostly overlooked and ignored), partly because many construction environments are really unpleasant place to work. There's not a lot of openness about this but it's better to be prepared. Beyond the self-building, my professional background is in psychology and I still work with clients going through this kind of stuff all the time (I've actually just been asked by a client if I can be a primary contact for all his employees and subcontractors for initial support). But the most important first step to assesing his capability, is whether he now shows the initiative, in part to work it out for himself and to put the time in - whether it's a course or experience, whether he likes it or not, it's going to take him a few years to learn the basics, a few years of developing skills, experience, and a network of contacts, and then a few years to get going. Patience and initiative are key and there are no shortcuts.

I think it depends on where you are and the local suppliers you've got access to and what species you're looking for. I bought my British Western Red Cedar from Cedar Direct they supply Canadian cedar too. I had good service and when my order was ready, I got a call from a yard with number telling me it was from Brecon. All very close to me. They do supply nationally.