MikeGrahamT21

yeah replacement is definitely on the cards, especially while the old bathroom floor is up. I replaced all of the TRVs when I redid the heating pipes and installed the manifold, which would have been maybe 2016? Not lasted very long, others all seem OK touch wood. I’ll bet your accident wasn’t a laughing matter at the time but was afterwards, done similar things myself and had to chuckle later down the line

😂 yeah I’d rather not have my very own black water feature in the living room. I did start undoing the plastic one a couple of weeks back and nothing happened but I chickened out and did it back up again. What happened to you?

Hi, one of my TRVs is leaking, only slightly but had to keep some kitchen roll around it to stop it going anywhere like the carpet. water is coming out of the pin and there appears to be two nuts, one plastic and one brass. would I be right assuming that if I remove either one of these pressurised water will escape? is it likely a repair (I’m thinking it probably just needs some PTFE tape on it) would be effective or would it be easier just changing the valve entirely? cheers Mike

Don't replace based on aesthetics, thats an awful waste in an already wasteful world. When they're on the roof you don't really see them anyway unless you specifically look.

Someone comes out to view the system physically, including the meter once every 2 years, guy came here about 2 weeks back

As above, the licensee is allowed to interpret the rules in their own way, i've been through all this before between ofgem and british gas, and ofgem specifically told me that their guidance is open to interpretation and not enforced as such. This is the current guidance to licensees: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-04/FIT Guidance for Licensed Electricity Suppliers V17.pdf However, this is what i got from Ofgem: The decision ultimately lies with the FIT Licensee in accordance with this guidance.

The licensee is Octopus in your case. im not sure how they pro-rata the payments for generation, but it must be some standard equation they apply. I know these rules did get updated recently to account for failing equipment etc. the important thing here is the rated capacity, if you swap out current panels with brand new ones totalling up to the same capacity then in theory nothing should change and you’ll get paid for everything you generate, in theory, but it’s all a bit of a grey area and you’ll find that ofgem has one set of rules, and your licensee is allowed to interpret them in their own way so could be quite different. the change of equipment I believe has to be approved by both ofgem and the licensee so you should be able to find out what changes if any before placing any orders.

From memory the new one was from the economy range and the existing one on the inner leaf is absolutely huge, so if that’s the case then both will be min 30mins. @nod What kind of mesh will I need for the job? Expanded metal? Thanks Mike

As title really, I’m used to steel lintels requiring additional protection in the form of plasterboard, but do concrete lintels need the same or can I just go straight in with bonding coat? Thanks!

Looks like your missing the cill, but outside pic will confirm

Please post some photos of the installation and where the water leaks, will help us try and figure out whats happening

Thank you, he looks to be suffering greatly at the moment, 1st bowel cancer around 17 years ago, which recurred another 3 times, now has a stoma but it’s spread to a kidney and he’s lymphoma too, horrible to see, he didn’t even have the energy to talk to me other day when I was visiting 😞 he’s done so so well bless him. I’ve got him to thank for my interest in DIY and building, he was a builder back in the day before the cancer got him

Life can be absolutely brutal at times, be kind to yourself and take things at your own pace. Hope the job hunt has proved successful for you? I’ve been on with my renovations for approx 16 years now, have always found it helpful to have something positive to focus my energy on, and in that time I’ve lost my mum, my wife and currently my dad is very ill in hospital with terminal cancer; I’ve often forgotten to be kind to myself along the way. Sending best wishes

Thanks to the relatively mild weather this winter i decided to start chipping away at the bathroom project, which is being extended into part of the extension which was finished over a year ago. This gave me the opportunity to install the bath, sink and toilet in the new bit, at which time I’d totally disconnected the old bathroom allowing me to strip it out and that’s worked really well for my as I struggle to do more than 4hours in a single day so I could keep doing a bit and stopping when I’d had enough. didn’t fancy tackling the ceiling for plastering in the new bit so got a pro in to do this bit for me, all done in a couple of hours which was nice. and made the most of the space and got the painting done after putting a layer of 10mm marmox board down ready to accept the underfloor heating mat Next job was to start making a frame to hold the toilet frame and the sink and cabinet Decided on making my own cabinet rather than paying silly money for an MFC one, got pine furniture boards, a pocket hole jig and a new router and came out with this which I’m pretty happy with that all got painted and the sink installed, wall mounted tap and the wet room panels that I’m using both for this and for the walk in shower area all installed. got to work cutting the OSB backing and wet room panel for the toilet in prep for the final big push to disconnect the old and commission the new, that was a hard days work! And then bath and toilet all installed once the shower area is complete the bath will be disconnected again to lay the underfloor heating, self leveller and the flooring before being put back in place, and eventually building the wall and plastering it. Made a start on stripping the old bathroom out Next job is to patch up the loft insulation where the old spotlights were, new wiring in place for a single light fitting this time, airtight membrane adhered to the walls and then battens before reboarding it ready for plastering. Floor is coming up also to be replaced with 22mm chipboard to match new bit.

That leakage has improved even further since, why I’m not quite sure as the firmware is still the same, but my power curve now looks like this on a daily basis: Having not needed to charge from the grid so far this month, from 1st to 12th I’ve only imported 1.38kWh, and the majority of that will have been small spikes over the max output of the inverter, which are few and far between but can happen on a real dark day which we’ve had quite a few of lately. Estimated cost is £0.33 for import so far this month (exc standing charges) and I’ve been paid almost £10 for my export to the grid. Gas usage is slightly elevated this year due to the old bathroom being ripped out and rather cold air coming up from under the floor, which stands around £6 exc standing charges, so I’m in a small profit so far this April

Have a look at my blog, as i'm doing the same kinda stuff, might be helpful for you:

So for the purpose of the solar, the additional amount of space which will come available on the south side will be fairly limited as you said. Depending on cost of G99 in your area will likely be the deciding factor for you, but since the panels are fairly cheap these days, you'd probably be better buying enough to do the entire roof including the new bit, and then adding them on when the roof area comes available, having to amend an existing install will have its additional costs however, so it would be worth finding out how much that might be to weigh up your decision.

I believe you can have more than the 3.68kWp in panels, but still remain on a standard under 16A circuit, you'll lose out on the peak power available via panels, but get more year round, though i'm not 100% certain on that one

Northern Power Grid is anything from £650 up to £10k (ex VAT) for low voltage G99

How much extra capacity is the extension likely to give? You are already at the maximum 16A for a standard install, any more and it would need to go to DNO for a G99 which in itself costs money, if say it only gave you an extra 1kWp it probably wouldn’t be worth the hassle. if the roof is likely to need replacing any time soon, this would be one thing to have done before the works. they seem to have specified two inverters, one for solar and an ac coupled for the battery, this wouldn’t be advised for a non-FiT install, better off with a single hybrid inverter as you’ll get fewer losses on the conversion between AC and DC.

Yes absolutely fine, my unit came with 20mm flexible pipe like you get on a dishwasher/washing machine, just drips out

Self adhesive breathable tape it specifies https://www.builderdepot.co.uk/wraptite-tape-100mm-x-50m?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAuYuvBhApEiwAzq_YifAiLwSC0NIFRUl0LYEG73Uatlf9z2-oWwS69VZb36WkUZUMfK38ixoCmOgQAvD_BwE That type stuff should be ideal, minimum 100mm wide. it seems to be their preferred product https://www.insulationshop.co/image/catalog/pdf/Kingspan/Kingspan_Kooltherm_K106.pdf

I’d think plywood would be the best option, stable and won’t suck the moisture out of the wallpaper paste as fast as MDF. Hardboard goes bendy the second you look it so probably not ideal for putting paste on either

Welcome! Look forward to seeing your progress on the build

Only one way to know for sure, buy a test kit and get it tested