ProDave

the xbox is connected via wifi. the router reports it's connection speed as 130MBPS which is no doubt the theoretical data speed between the xbox and the router. I have not found an option anywhere to limit speed anywhere let alone to limit speed just to one specific device.

Can;t find anything on our standard BT home hub 4

No fibre available here. I have logged my details with them to notify me if it becomes available. This is why I am reluctant to sign up with this private company, we keep getting told by politicians that every home will have super fast broadband available.

East wind at the moment. Haar rolling in off the North Sea overnight but it usually burns off in the day to give clear skies before rolling in again in the evening. No star (or meteor) gazing tonight. Thunder storms predicted here tomorrow.

None, or at least nothing useful. 2G from O2 and Vodaphone and weak / slow 4G from EE but even if they gave a decent signal with decent speed there is no sensible unlimited data package from them.

We have BT wired copper ADSL broadband at a staggering 3 MBPS connection speed. We also have a BT landline rarely used but nice to have mainly for incoming calls. Although slow, baring faults it has worked well. But daughters boyfriend has moved in, he is a computer game junkie and now his XBOX seems to be almost continuously downloading stuff leaving the rest of us with little or sometimes nothing. I have been tasked with pricing an alternative on the basis the BF will be expected to pay the additional costs. Now there is an alternative (only one) that is a local company that provides broadband via a wireless service. It is basically a series of point to point services, with some houses hosting a relay station. The system is already installed in this locality and we have the required line of sight to the nearest dish in a nearby neighbours garden. This wireless service offers broadband speed of up to 50MBPS. I will be questioning them (and neighbours that are already using this service) to see what real world speeds are actually like. And it will cost about £10 pm more than BT (when you include a VOIP landline as we would completely dump BT of we choose this) I have resisted switching to this service as in a way, I wish they were not there. By offering this private network in my mind they have let BT / Open reach off the hook for providing a decent service and investing in the network. We know there is fibre at the top of the road and it would not be difficult to for them to provide a fibre cabinet at the top of the road and provide FTTC service to all the houses in this road, but with only a few of us left using BT now, that is unlikely to happen. But part of my concern is if we upgrade to this and say get 40 MBPS how do I know this infernal XBOX won't just carry on it's never ending download at that speed and still leave little for the rest of us? Obviously I have technical questions to ask of the provider like can their router throttle the speed to one particular device? Thoughts please from anyone that has uses a non BT / OR private wireless broadband provider?

Looks to be grey (is it really or is that just what the picture shows) so most likely armoured telephone cable. Dig a bit either side and push it over a bit for your post. Wrap the bit of outer sheath you have damaged with self amalgamating tape.

CE mark is not the issue. The Inverter must be on the approved list and have a G99 certificate for connection to the UK grid.

I doubt they will come with the correct G99 certificate that the DNO will require here. Link to the alibaba advert?

It might be helpful to know where you are and what regulations do apply?

Don't seek advice from the chippie, seek advice from the tiler.

How old is the house? No generation meter (unless it's remote from the inverter) suggests not old enough to be on a FIT? It also looks a small inverter so not many panels? I have yet to find a simple off the shelf energy monitor that shows export as well as import. I have that function built into my home made solar PV diverter displaying on a simple centre zero meter import or export. But the rule of thumb for self using as much as you can is use the big appliances like washing machine etc one at a time around mid day, using them on a timer if you are not in.

The house next to us, the owner / builder realised on the morning BC was coming for final inspection, that he had not fitted an extractor in the utility room. So he quickly cut a hole in the plasterboard and fitted a fan. It is not wired and not connected to outside. BC did not notice and it has been like that for 19 years through 2 changes of owner and still doing nothing.

Isn't Ditra a decoupling mat? We have tiles straight onto the 22mm chipboard with a (different) decoupling mat.

I would go and have a poke at the sticking out bits to make sure they are still attached to the base coat and not delaminating.

We use up to about 40kWh per week for hot water in winter. less in the shoulder seasons when the incoming cold water is not as cold, and there is solar PV to help it along a bit. Very dependant on how many in the house etc and if any of you like very long showers.

Very happy with my Mendip Stoves Churchill 5. It has ducted air intake making it a true room sealed stove.

Why is your MVHR supplier specifying your heating system? I would expect that to be a different person. What does your SAP say?

From recent tv interviews, if Gordon Brown was on the list, he would get my vote. I never thought I would say something like that.

But if hmrc actually read your VAT claim, they will reject that, and instruct you to go and get the VAT back from the contractor. We had that on first build for some ground work, only the contractor had croaked before we finish and I did not have the heart to try chasing his widow for the VAT.

What trade and why does he think it should not be zero rated? Pay his bill net of the VAT and see if he bothers chasing it (but make sure you don't need him back)?

I tried downloading the manual from their website but then it needs a password. How stupid is that for the manufacturer to make the manual a download and then presumably need you to contact them for a password?

At least you can seal small cable holes and they don't need a big ventilation gap to cool a downlight. What pitch is your sloping ceiling? for spotlights in the ceiling you probably want the ones that swivel to adjust the angle and there is a limit to how far they will tilt. For our 45 degree vaulted ceiling, i used one pendant and some surface mount swiveling spotlights. We keep banging on on this forum about a properly designed insulation and then air tightness layer and then INSIDE that a service void before the plasterboard goes on, so all the wires etc can be run without bothering the air tightness layer. Self builders seem to understand this. VERY FEW general builders have a clue about this and the rule of thumb seems to be the more houses they build, the less they know about building properly.

So they are saying it is not permitted development. So next step, a planning application. Note they have not indicated that a planning application would be refused, only that they believe it requires planning permission. DO NOT mention anything about amenity land in the planning application, refer to it as your garden ground.

Sorry I thought there was a flat roof underneath. you will just have to accept the compromise BC have suggested. For the benefit of anyone reading at an early stage, please do yourself a BIG favour and get the roof designed as a warm roof with the insulation above the rafters, so much easier to build, easier to detail and much better performance, not bothered by things like downlights.