ProDave

You forgot to tape a joint in the air tight later?

And then tell everyone how useless heat pumps are.

Window pane fell out

AAV failed?

Air inlet duct for stove fell off?

Hose fallen off MVHR inlet or outlet vent.

You had left another window open and forgotten about it.

It is supposed to be cold and well ventilated up there. The loft insulation, the pink stuff at floor level, could do with some tidying up to make sure there are no gaps through to the actual ceiling (likely where it is lifted in that picture)

We used to run a B&B and that had UFH in the bedrooms, which we all know is slow. We used to keep the thermostats set at 20 degrees. One morning after the guest had left we went to service the room, only to find the thermostat set at 30, the room far too hot, and the window wide open. I guess they wanted it a bit warmer than 20, turned it up, nothing appeared to happen so they turned it up more. Never under estimate how stupid some people are.

I thoroughly despair at the state of customer services with most organisations now, both public and private. In the last week I have sent two complaints to 2 different companies because I just can't get any sense out of them. And one of those (the public one) the ONLY way to make a complaint is by post.

Hi and welcome. You are a brave man. The biggest challenge I expect will be to create a home that is anything like energy efficient. Don't even consider UFH until you have a proper conversion plan and an estimate of heating requirements. I look forward to reading how this project goes. Best of luck.

I run the current clamp cables for my home made PV diverter through about 25 metres of 6 pair SWA telephone cable that gets them into the under stairs cupboard, then about 10 metres of cat 5 inside the house to get them to the plant room. It seems to work okay. But no guarantee it will work with any particular system.

That raises more questions than it answers. Why does consumption rise? Is it because the insulation is failing? Or because customer use is changing and it would have risen even if no insulation had been fitted? Is the "increase" measured in cost or units of gas consumed? It just seems to be clickbait to push the "you must get a heat pump" message.

I would put 10mm 3 core steel wire armoured. That will feed a sub main, to the outbuilding and your solar PV would feed into that. But we don't know what is going into the outbuilding so that is a bit of a guess. As you talk of batteries there will probably be some data cable or a cable for a current clamp that has to go on the main incoming cable by the meter. I would be thinking of Cat 6 network cable for that? anyone else care to advise? Is that available in a SWA form or would it have to be outside Cat 6 in conduit?

Possibly similar seals? I think the difference are 2 fold quality windows fitted with care by builders that understood. I know while getting the frames square, there was a lot of opening and closing of the casements to ensure they closed evenly without distortion or rubbing. The Rationel windows come complete, glazing fitted and casements fitted into the frames. A lot of UPVC windows come as the bare frame and assembled on site, more chance to get things wrong. That's not to say you can't get good UPVC windows, there are plenty on here who have good well fitted UPVC windows. I definitely would not get the local "double glazing" firm to do my windows.

Answered in first reply. Fitted by builders I trust who took the time to fit them square, straight and secure so they won't move. And air tight sealing to building membrane detailed by me.

Are these run of the mill UPVC?

What make and type are your windows? No draughts noticed with my Rationel wooden, aluminium clad 3G windows or the velux roof windows. The cheap roof window in the workshop has a pretty poor trickle vent that does not seal well even when shut.

I am surprised you go there, it's polluting everyone outside. Looks more like a pub than a cafe?

Already been done https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a41869336/sand-battery/ Heat the sand with cheap electricity, extract the energy as heat for heating. Conversion back to electricity would have big losses.

Usually just a switch.

Yes you do not want to fill the cavity between the timber frame and the masonry skin. In a TF all the insulation is within the frame, or more recently a layer of insulation over the inside of the frame (you won't have that in a 90's house) There is usually but not always a vapour membrane over the frame before the plasterboard goes on. What does the EPC say? i.e.what assumptions has the assessor made?

Timber frame has been common in Scotland for a very long time so I would have been surprised if it was not timber frame. You can be pretty certain it was built with a 100mm timber frame. the unknown for that era is what, if any insulation was fitted in the frame. Earlier than 90's it would have been none, just a hollow frame. It would be a simple matter of unscrewing a light switch or a socket and having a look to see, but not something a surveyor would do and you would need to ask the vendor if you can do that to look and see. If there is no insulation then it is not a trivial job to upgrade it, pretty much all the plasterboard would have to come off to retro fit it, unless anyone knows if it is possible to install a blown in product, but even that would mean 2 holes in each section of wall so still not trivial. If it were me, I would ask the vendor if I could take a look.

The point is those of us who have trees, you need to do something with the wood. Windfall, normal pruning, and shortly I will be dropping a dead tree. I suppose I could stack it all up to become a mess in my garden for woodlice to live in as it slowly rots and slowly releases it's carbon, or I could give it to someone else to burn. So instead I burn it myself.

A lot of modern stoves, mine included, restrict how much you can restrict the air flow so it is impossible to throttle them down too much. They do this to meet the current emissions limits. While I love our stove, it's key advantage is free fuel. If you live in a city, and have no trees of your own, I would not have one.