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Everything posted by ProDave
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Just unlocked my front door remotely accidentally
ProDave replied to Pocster's topic in Boffin's Corner
What was ever wrong with the old concept of needing a key in the lock and turning it to start the car? And then the key remained captive unless you turned the key to the "stop" position and only then could you remove it. These modern pushbutton things in cars now are a "solution" that is looking for a "problem" but in the process creates new problems. -
Just unlocked my front door remotely accidentally
ProDave replied to Pocster's topic in Boffin's Corner
The few times I have encountered that, when you "buz" the door, that means it can be pulled to open it. But if you don't pull it and stop buzzing it it remains closed and locked. The daft part of what you have is not only unlocking the door but springing it open. -
Just unlocked my front door remotely accidentally
ProDave replied to Pocster's topic in Boffin's Corner
Design error. -
The downstairs layout just does not flow nicely. such a convoluted route from the front door to the stairs. Is that the reason for all the FD's? Reverse the upstairs front to back and the stairs will naturally turn towards the front door at the bottom.
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Just unlocked my front door remotely accidentally
ProDave replied to Pocster's topic in Boffin's Corner
Is there not a "lock front door" command? I bet there will be SOON. -
How much did they steal? How much damage did they do. Insurance will pay to repair /replace door like for like. did they steal more than £7-9K worth? Make one door more secure, they will enter through a different one or just heave a brick through a window.
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I thought the overlooking issue was if one set of windows faces another. I doubt that applies in this case.
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Very good point. My little 5kW unit does a good job of heating the house. Imagine how over specifiec a 14kW one would have been.
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How to heat my converted converted Garage
ProDave replied to mfmcdonagh's topic in Garage & Cellar Conversions
If you question is what type pf electric resistance heater, the answer is it makes no difference, 1kW of electricity in = 1kW of heat out. If you want something cheaper to run how about one of the small split air conditioning units that work as an air to air heat pump and will do heating and cooling. They will be cheaper to run and the cooling might be handy in summer. -
You could install a static caravan and move in. No enforecement action would be taken while there is a planning application ongoing. Put it out of the way down by the quarry perhaps. If it goes unnoticed for a few years that opens all sorts of possibilities.
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I am running a (different make) 5kW ASHP with a 300L tank.
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I think there are 2 issues here. Voids in the floor like that will let cold air in, cause draughts, add to your heating costs and let insects and rodents in. So it needs to be dealt with. the gas meter will have to be moved before you can sort that out properly and a lot of your already butchered built in units will need alteration / repair. BUT before you do all that, the voids in the floor should not be responsible for bad smells. The space under a floor should be well ventilated by air bricks should basically be dry and there should be nothing to smell. So you need to have a good look at what's there, in particular check you don't have a leaking drain pipe under there.
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It sounds like it is seriously messed up. Why am I not surprised? The 3 minutes on 2 minutes off sounds awfully like the HP thinks it should be heating the radiators, but something else (like a motorised valve on the heating circuit) is closed so all the HP is doing is heating and re heating a short run of water running round a few pipes. It should not be your problem to sort out, the developer should sort it. If the heating is off (or is above the target temperature) then the HP should not do anything until hot water is needed. Have you got an immersion heater you can use for hot water until it is fixed?
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But would you then need a licence to "pilot" it even when tethered?
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OSB sarking & ventilation above breather membrane ?
ProDave replied to sean1933's topic in Roofing, Tiling & Slating
25mm wood fibre does not have much strength. I would not want to use it on it's own as sarking. If you want to use it as extra insulation, put OSB down first. -
OSB sarking & ventilation above breather membrane ?
ProDave replied to sean1933's topic in Roofing, Tiling & Slating
That picture was my sun room roof which is clad in box profile steel hence the larger and more wide space "battens" to support the roof. The other difference mine is a full blown "warm roof" I used 100mm wood fibre board as the sarking, which insulates above the rafters. That would be equivalent to you putting your 25mm celotex above the OSB then the membrane then the counter battens etc. I have the over fascia vents and (on all the tiled roofs) a vented dry ridge system. I really don't think omitting the vents would make much difference to heat loss. -
I assume there is no heating on at the moment? Remind us which ASHP you have (if it has been mentioned already) Our house uses about 8kWh per day to power "stuff" where "stuff" covers everything except heating and hot water. One day I will measure each individual appliance to see which use what. electricity used to power "stuff" is about twice what we use for heating and hot water. At this time of year my ASHP is using 0kWh per week for heating, and typically 15kWh per week for DHW, less when it is sunny as surplus solar PV is diverted to the hot water tank so on a really sunny day no ASHP input required. So typically at the moment the ASHP will come on at it's set DHW time and run for no more than half an hour continuously until the DHW tank is up to temperature then stop and remain stopped until a significant amount of hot water has been drawn off.
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What's the shortest concealed cistern you can get?
ProDave replied to Roz's topic in General Plumbing
I have a similar arrangement. It is a floor standing back to wall pan so no frame needed. It is just a standard concealed cistern bought before we knew exactly what we were going to do. The flush pipe is shortened as much as possible, to set the cistern as low as it can go. I then set the worktop height as low as it could go still allowing room to lift off the service hatch on the cisterm, which in my case is all front access. And then I chose a thin worktop, just 10mm thick. This gives a counter top height of 80cm and it's 95cm to the rim of the basin. In my case the cistern is set at right angles to the pan and service access is by removing a trap door in the right hand end of the shelf unit. -
If you have a water course available then what you would need is a waste treatment plant, not a septic tank. Just about everyone on here would recommend one of the ones that work by using an air blower to aerate the contents, such as the Bio Pure, Conder, Vortex or Graff and you would typically pay about £2000 for a treatment plant plus instalation. You would have to run your proposal past building control and you would need a discharge permit from the Environment Agency. You would not be the first to choose a treatment plant because the cost of a mains connection is too high, and imho discharge to a watercourse is just about the simplest sollution possible.
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socket positioning and Part M
ProDave replied to jfb's topic in Regulations, Training & Qualifications
Yes you can. Some electricians joke that the way things are going, it won't be long before all sockets and light switches are at 800mm. -
Buy with a tracker mortgage then move to a self-build?
ProDave replied to Daisychain's topic in Self Build Mortgages
As above, I would be surprised of you can get anything other than a trivial value mortgage on a prefab. -
Fill it but use proper dry lining joint filler, not something from a tube.
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I am not sure what is going on in the "dining" bit? Is that an L shaped island with breakfast bar seating, plus a small dining table next to it? Too much in one space? Agreed change that door to the vestibule to a slider. Personally I would change the door to the downstairs bathroom to opening inwards (after sign off of course) Then rather than face to face sofas that make no sense, a dining table in one bottom corner and a sofa in the other bottom corner, and a more conventional rectangular island with the seating along the bottom edge in the plan facing the kitchen window. P.S I know that is only an architects plan, but you can't have a dishwasher under the sink bowl.
