ProDave

I would guess that transformer is about 100KVA and is 3 phase. Don't get hung up on the supply capacity, 80A is plenty, but regardless of what they say you might get a 100A fuse anyway. My supply was only supposed to be 12KvA and should have come with a 60A fuse but they fitted a 100A one so I did not complain.

What is the make and the model of the heat pump (it should say on the manual) It should have flexi pipes, think of the things commonly used to connect sink taps, then enlarged several times over. You can usually tell because the outside piping where the flexi is, forms an arc, not straight lines. Take some photos? I agree the standard controllers are stupidly complicated things. I virtually ignore mine, and instead have it connected to a conventional central heating programmer so I cn set on and off times just as you would with any central heating, with a programmer that most people can understand.

Second picture is just plain WRONG. The only thing stopping that leaking is the under felt.

So you buy an old wreck for 35% less than a decent house. Can you build a replacement decent house for that 35%?

I still have very mixed feelings on a knock down and rebuild. Yes it does make the most technical sense, but you have paid "full house price" for a plot, that is the bit that does not make sense. We have a housing market that presently values a habitable old leaky wreck at almost as much as the energy eficcient new build that could replace it, meaning it is rarely cost effective to knock down a habitable house to replace it. I am mindful of one near here where they bought an old bungalow and it was only when they started to try and do some alterations, they found it had no foundations and there was nothing to work with, so they knocked it down and rebuilt. The result is they paid more than 3 times as much for a building plot as we did for our bare plot, and they have built a house that has cost them to build way way more that it would ever sell for on the open market. That is perhaps more of an issue here where plots are easy and cheap to buy.

I haven't decided but at least 3M by 6M

I will watch this with interest as I will be doing much the same but I doubt my budget stretches to Oak. I will be going for a 2 post design, with the 2 posts supporting 99% of the weight, and the attachments to the wall just to stop it falling over, nothing more.

I agree that looks like 3 phase. I wish I could remember the name for those twisted cables. As there are only 4 connections, not 5, it must be PME earth, which is unusual for overhead, but we had that in a previous house. Which house are you knocking down? the one in the picture looks too good?

Post a picture here for us to scrutinise. I assume this is an LV line (230V) and you come directly from that? or is it an HV line with a transformer up the pole?

I am sure you have mentioned Roger the Lift boy before........

My proposal is something like a bosun's chair on an electric winch. Then swap that for a rigid chair. Add a couple of guide rails so it does not swing about. And a couple of extra ropes and counter weights so the winch is not lifting the full load. It would lower down onto the bottom stair of the flight and at the top would be a gate in the banister to exit. The major drawback is you would not want to leave it at the bottom when not in use as it would block the stair.

Ha Ha, I meant to say off the cuff thought. Brain not connected to fingers this morning.

Assuming there is a septic tank on the property that discharges to this shared drain to a shared soakaway I see no reason why you cannot put it back into use. Where the rules have changed recently is a septic tank is no longer allowed to discharge into a watercourse. Anyone discharging into a watercourse must upgrade to a treatment plant. they should have done that by 1st January this year but I know at least 2 near here who have not. Perhaps you need to find where this communal pipe actually goes to? If it's to a drainage field on the cliff then you are okay. If it is discharging into the sea then all of you should have updated to a treatment plant. Perhaps the best way to cover yourself is to upgrade yours to a treatment plant.

As an off the shelf thought, I have a design in my head to make a DIY lift that operates over a staircase and something I will build if the need ever arises. It's not something that would meet with any approvals whatsoever though.

Get a quote for your heating system you want with the RHI. Then look up the price of the equipment and work out what they are charging for install Vs the RHI you will receive. Then we can work out how much of the RHI will just end up in the pocket of the installers.

Are there still bells in that tower? does the clock still work?

Well you know it's not leaking now. I would leave the top valve cracked open a bit now.

So you have filled it with water and pressurised it, just the manifold and pipes. When it warms up there is nowhere to expand because I bet you don't presently have an expansion vessel connected?

Indeed about 245V is pretty normal around here and I start to get worried there is a fault if I ever see under 240V

The 6M ones might be quite large. Are these just for a ceiling? If so it won't matter if the shorter ones are smaller. If for a foor, make them all the size dictated by the larger span.

2 conflicting statements. Have you completed on the purchase yet or not? If you want to do some exploratory work before completion, ask the vendor for permission.

Can you ask the vendor for permission to dig a trial trench across the line of that pipe to see if it exists? It looks like a trench across the boundary of that "sticking out bit" would identify if it was there or not.

18KVA should be plenty. That translates to an 80A fuse. Our house is technically only on a 12KVA supply and is plenty. If you tell them you need more than 18KVA it will likely push the cost up with an argument of a network upgrade needed. They get worried about large inrush current with some older type direct start heat pumps. Either tell them you will be using an inverter driven soft start ASHP (if indeed you are planning to use one) or (cough) answer no. Car charger, unless you have an EV already answer no. What they are looking for is any excuse to upgrade their network at your expense while offering you a perfectly adequate supply. Provide them with a layout of the plot showing the house and marking "temporary site supply box here" and "final supply location into house here"

Can you not apply to the local water company for a water connection and a drainage connection? That should quickly yield their plans of what assets they have under the plot or nearby. Do the same for electricity and you should get a plan of all their cables. You should be doing this anyway before exchange so you know your water connection is not going to cost £40K for example. Are you any good at dowsing or know anyone that is? a walk around the plot with some dowsing rods could be interesting.

It will be taken away from here by the skip load. It will be interesting to see how many. Knowing our ground conditions here and high water table, I hope they get it done before the "wet season" starts otherwise i just can't see how they will do it.