ProDave

Our house has no obvious large mass structure, but it certainly holds it's heat for a long time, and likewise takes a long tome to heat up. Probably the largest source of heat capacity is the plasterboard walls and ceilings, and the biscuit mix screed for the under floor heating. It is a very comfortable house to live in. you don't have to worry about when the heating is on or off, as the temperature will not drop noticeably for a long time when it goes off. Likewise the slow warm up from the low level UFH means it does not overshoot when the thermostats click off.

Okay results of the morning. located the mdpe pipe in the field margin before it enters the actual soakaway. Drilled a 4mm hole, turned the pump on and we only get the slightest dribble of water from that hole. Located the pipe closer to the pumping chamber, drilled a hole and when the pump is on we get a good fountain squirting 6ft in the air. So the blockage is somewhere in between. Having lunch now then back to digging more holes.

I suspect the blockage might have been building up for a while. I replaced the pump a year ago, and it has failed at 1 year. They used to last between 5 and 7 years before that. I doubt this years ploughing was the reason, then only did the perimiter run today and I am sure it had failed before then. I also doubt it was freezing. We always get a few weeks of really cold weather. It it had frozen, I am sure it would have thawed in the last weeks mild weather. and if it had split as a result of ice (unlikely for mdpe) there should be a split and a leak and some wet ground somewhere.

It has to be a blockage. The pump pumps at the bottom but there is no flow. I will let you know what tomorrows excavations find.

I sail on old boats that do things the "old way"

It opens out to 4 runs of 110mm perforated pipe. I would be very surpsised if the entire drainage field is blocked I guess that is the worst case;l. Farmer won't be too happy if it needs digging up, he has just ploughed, but not yet seeded.

It's 15 years old. No joints, one continuous coil of 50mm mdpe. It was me that installed it when I built the last house. I thought the rule on a yacht was "He who blocks it - Unblocks it."

This is the grey water OUT from a septic tank, so it won't be a fatberg, all that and various solids get contained or dealt with in the septic tank and the bi annual pump out (it was pumped out last summer) likewise toilet paper and womens products won't make it to the pump chamber. It's a 50 metre run from the holding tank to the soakaway. Longer than my cable fish rods.

Today has not been a good day. Our old house has a septic tank with a pumped output up to a soakaway in the field behind. Tenant informs me there is a "problem" The pump is not pumping. So I go and fit the spare pump. Pump runs, but the water level does not go down. Uncouple the flexi pipe and turn the pump on, it pumps water. Conclusion, there is a blockage. The pipe from the pump chamber to the soakaway is 50mm mdpe. So tomorrows fun job is to try and find the blockage. Any ideas how? I think the first step is locate the pipe where it exits the garden into the field. I have a photograph that pinpoints it's location almost exactly in the middle between 2 fence posts. I don't think it is especially deep there. If we can dig by hand and find it then what? To cut it with the intention of re joining it, would need a lot of pipe to be exposed to allow the 2 ends the be pulled apart to get a coupler in. So my thought is drill a small say 4mm hole in the pipe then turn the pump on. If the pipe is clear to that point we get a fountain and I can then seal the hole with a self tapping screw and some sticks like sh*t. No fountain and it means the blockage is closer to the pump chamber and we try again closer. I can't see how a 50mm mdpe pipe that is only transporting grey water can actually block, so my fear is a problem where it joins the actual soakaway.

Hi and welcome to the forum. You will probably find battery storage is not worthwhile, the "free" stored electriciity is likely to cost more than the retail price when you factor in the storage system price and end of life battery replacement. Why not connect the solar panels to a normal inverter so the house loads can use any generated power, with only a few panels it would be likely you can self use most of it in the house base load.

So is this 0.75KW of solar PV in total? or 0.75KW of PV per flat? I would expect that to be per flat, as each will need it's own SAP assesment. The devil is in the detail.

I have not measured or ballanced ours yet. But I am running it at the slowest fan speed which makes it totally silent. Anecdotally, it is working fine. the air in the rooms always appears fresh and free of smells, so I see no need to increase it. If I find I do need to increase it, it will only be briefly for compliance, then it will go back down again.

Common household bleach would be my choice. Unless someone comes and says it will rot the blocks.

Think about future extensions. A conservatory on the west would need PP, it would be outside the scope of permitted development. However if there was room, a conservatory on the north could be built later under permitted development.

If there is no wayleave, start by giving them notice to remove their equipment from your land. They will start negotiating. Is it possible to divert it to run along the boundary just by moving a pole or adding a pole? In SSE land, you are not allowed to build within 6 metres of an existing line.

To my mind, peak demand is early evening mostly. So when are they most likely to draw on your betteries? yes early evening. When are YOU most likely to draw on your batteries, well early evening or after dark. But if they have already been discharged, tough you will have to import and pay full price. I would only begin to consider such a scheme of they paid the full retail price for what they "bought" from you.

Now comes the issue of registering this with the DNO. I was in 2 minds whether to bother, but have decided to do it properly. This is what SSE says (other DNO's will probably say something similar) https://www.ssen.co.uk/Stageoneconnections/ So they want a drawing of the installation, and a "commissioning form" I could nit find a copy of the required form to download, so I emailed them and asked. They sent me a blank copy of the form that I have attached to this post. So I will do a drawing, fill in the form, and send them to them and see what they say. NOTE The document is actually a microsoft word .docx file but the forum software won't allow that, so download the file and then rename it with a .docx extension. G98 Form B Installation Document for connection under G98.txt

That would be a big negative if there was none left for you that evening. I would want to know how much per KWh they pay you for what they take. Remember, self using it saves you about 14p per KWh. I suspect they pay you a lot less than that?

If using the radial duct system, the "design" is really easy. You just have to find a route to get ducts from all outlets and inlets back to plenum boxes then a large pipe from there to the mvhr unit. I found that easiest to work out on the hoof with a complete bare shell. then it was barely a days work to pull all the ducts through. I have worked on a building where they guys were trying to follow a detailed drawing that showed every single joint and bend overlaid onto the timber frame drawings, and in many places it was blindingly obvious there was an easier and simpler route to run the ducting.

The only change I would make is lose the upstairs airing cupboard and instead put the HW tank in the plant room. It will be just about as close to the bathrooms and kitchen there, and will enable the 2 boys bedrooms to be about the same size, thus avoiding arguments.

Are you planning to build the 2, one for you one for familly? or is this a way to make money to retire?

You are missing the big difference. What you have @newhome is a timber frame where there are big structural timber members inside that gives the building it's strength. The fact your was supplied with the insulation in and the outsides closed in, does not stop it being a timber frame. A SIP panel has basically just sheets of something like OSB on both faces and insulation in the middle. There are no big structural timber frame members, the strength comes from the 2 skins bonded to the solid insulation.

Don't pull the main fuse, it should be sealed to prevent that anyway. I take it this is for a knock down and rebuild?

I think I would be cracking a pipe fitting open under the tap to check you really have a good flow rate from the pipe feeding it. Find an isolation valve first.

All tracked diggers are skid steer. Yes a steel tracked one like I had will chew up tarmac if you are not careful. But if you have to turn sharp, lift one end up with the boom. The alternative to skid steer tracks is a wheeled machine, but they are more likely to get bogged down on soft ground.