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Everything posted by ProDave
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Don't flush wet wips, esp into digesters.
ProDave replied to saveasteading's topic in Waste & Sewerage
It's nearly 20 years since I changed a nappy, but then the used wet wipes got added to the contents of the nappy and the whole lot wrapped up and bagged for disposal in a bin. Next someone will tell me people flush used nappies down the loo? -
Don't flush wet wips, esp into digesters.
ProDave replied to saveasteading's topic in Waste & Sewerage
Wet wipes seem only of use to me to carry in your pocket to use when you are out and need to clean your hands where no wash basin is available. then you treat it as any other waste and keep it until you find a litter bin. I have never found a use for them in a house with running water and wash basins. Clearly I live a sheltered life. -
Looks like the party is over....
ProDave replied to Beelbeebub's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
I am not aware my LG does. I have highlighted before, I have fitted about 4 different heat pumps, and every single one has a completely different electrical interface to the others. Unlike a basic gas or oil boiler that has power, and "call for heat" Isn't it about time the manufacturers banged their heads together and agreed on a single control interface so the installers only have to learn one scheme and it can be applied to all heat pumps? -
Installation of a Clenviro STP In a High Water Table
ProDave replied to Arrenite's topic in Waste & Sewerage
We have seasonally high water table. When i dug test pits for the SE to check soil conditions I left one open and observed anything from a dry 2m deep hole, to water almost up to ground level. I have mentioned before at our previous house I was badly advised and the guy that installed the tank just set it in pea gravel. That is still okay as long as you only empty it in the middle of summer after a long dry spell. It would probably end badly if emptied in the middle of winter. I made sure they buyer of that house was aware of the situation. Even now with the tank in this house concreted it, I choose only to empty it in the summer. -
Looks like the party is over....
ProDave replied to Beelbeebub's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
It is a combi. Changing it for anything with a UVC would be my preference, I hate combi boilers. But then the whole plumbing in that house is lousy, so much of it irritates me. (see thread about not wanting to move from my nice self build where everything is just right) But my point is just adjusting the system she has, would make the house more comfortable, possibly reduce costs but certainly not increase them. I wonder how many swap from that to a well set up ASHP and praise how good it is, when a lot of that goodness could have been achieved simply by adjusting what was there? -
Looks like the party is over....
ProDave replied to Beelbeebub's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
Most of that is not the ASHP but how the system is put together. I am just back from a week with a relative with a gas boiler and radiators. It has to be the worst set up install I have seen. (or perhaps I am just used to low temp UFH?) Her heating comes on for an hour in the morning, and hour at lunch time and a couple of hours in the evening. When it is on, the radiators run far too hot to touch, to the point you could easily burn yourself I think. You feel the hot air rising from them almost like a fan heater. So if you are close to the radiator you feel too hot, the other side of the room, not so. It is never on long enough to properly heat the fabric of the house, so when it goes off the house cools down quite quickly. The occupant just puts a cardigan on when it gets cold in the off periods. She only has it on for short periods because she is worried about cost. If the temperature was turned down a LOT the radiators would be warm, not scalding hot, and left on longer the house would probably be more comfortable for no extra cost. But so many people accept this scalding, too hot then too cold cycle as "normal" and never question it. -
Looks like the party is over....
ProDave replied to Beelbeebub's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
I am often asked should I swap from a gas boiler to an ASHP. I ask what are your expectations and reasons for doing so? If they just want to save money my usual reply is don't bother. -
Data centre garden shed
ProDave replied to saveasteading's topic in General Alternative Energy Issues
Good idea, assuming the data centre owner pays the electricity it uses (so has it's own supply and meter?) and the host just gets the free "waste" heat. -
Top immersion heaters are the work of the devil. If yours has an old style thermostat without the new safety cutout trip then they work apart from eratic water temperature. But when I was working I had no end of trouble with thermostat failure, and you can now only buy thermostats with the safety cut out, and they were notorious for spurious tripping when top mounted. I would 100% replace the cylinder with a new one with side entry immersion heater.
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Looks like the party is over....
ProDave replied to Beelbeebub's topic in Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
I am not sad to see the end of this silly scheme, because it has failed to deliver low prices to the consumer and instead just let the contractors trouser most of the grant and still charge the customer a lot to fit a heat pump. -
Get a plasterer to skim that wall and paint it. If the cracks come back it is still moving. If not, the poor joining of dissimilar materials is hidden. Better still might be dot and dab plasterboard. Less chance of the cracks showing through. If the cracks are not showing on the other side of the wall then it is either not moving any more, or it has been recently filled and painted to hide it.
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Unless this property is special or particularly cheap, I would look for a different one to buy. Why take on such an unknown and possibly expensive risk unless it was cheap? A bit more context where this garage is in relation to the rest of the house might help? Is this the outer wall of an adjoined garage? The wall between the garage and the rest of the house etc? The joists suggest it might be an extension built above an existing attached garage and perhaps the foundations were inadequate etc.
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Garage doors. This shouldn't be so difficult
ProDave replied to saveasteading's topic in Barn Conversions
Foam filled, white, 2.5M wide 2.7M high -
Garage doors. This shouldn't be so difficult
ProDave replied to saveasteading's topic in Barn Conversions
I bought mine from Rollerdor on ebay. Made to my size and delivered for about £500 Mine fits to the inside face of the opening not "in" the opening and is sized for that. It came with the door rolled onto the roller mechanism and the side rails separately. It was easy to fit but a 2 man job to lift the roller assembly into place. As well as electric opening with 2 remote controls, it can be opened manually with a handle from inside if needed. -
Long hot pipe runs (second HW cylinder?)
ProDave replied to lookseehear's topic in Bathrooms, Ensuites & Wetrooms
No 1. MOVE the HW cylinder to a much more central position. NOW is the chance to do that. Under the stairs would be about as central as it gets in that plan. No 2, don't route pipes around the edge of rooms, take the most direct straight route possible. -
Electrical supply to static caravan
ProDave replied to flanagaj's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
If you really intend this to be a temporary fixture then you would be as well to just connect a suitable 3 pole socket to plug it into, then when it comes to time to sell it on, you just have to unplug it, no need to get anyone back yo disconnect it. -
This thread sums up the dire situation with providing decent broadband to any rural community. We were with By on a lousy slow ADSL connection a few years ago and it looked like nothing at all was happening to provide a decent connection. We knew fibre cables passed the end of our road, so at least we thought we might get FTTC with just the copper for the last bit, but that didn't happen. Then a local private company stepped up. We now have decent speed broadband 100Mbps up and down. If you get a fault, you are phoning a local company, almost always the same person, no silly switchboard to frustrate you, and when they fix the fault they call you back and tell you what it was. I wish there were more of these local companies. This is delivered by point to point bespoke radio link. Only now, 5 years or more behind when it was wanted have we had a company digging up our road laying fibre to each property. I son't be taking them up on their offer. Their fibre is buried in shallow bare trenches under the road verge and nowhere near deep enough as far as I could tell where it crosses the road. First utility that needs to access their own services will likely cut the poorly laid fibres.
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If it's the bathroom door catching on the floor the first thing I would do is put a spirit level on the floor make sure nothing has moved.
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Is this an internal or external door? Post some pictures including the whole door and hinge detail. These are not hinges unique to Danwood, just the ones they chose to use.
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Electrical supply to static caravan
ProDave replied to flanagaj's topic in General Self Build & DIY Discussion
I gave up with wholesalers a long time ago. The final straw was when I went to get a load of lights for a job, they didn't have enough and could only supply half what I needed straight away. I went next door to Toolstation where they had the whole lot and for less than the wholesaler would have fleeced me for half of them. So it was always been Screwfix, Toolstation, TLC (online) CPC (on line) for me. -
MVHR Enthalpy Exchangers, BS or SB?
ProDave replied to LnP's topic in Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR)
It is common here to get a week or 2 at -10 in a winter and we have had no issues with that temperature bothering the MVHR
