ProDave

I "fixed" a "boiler stuck on" fault the other day. It was the HW motorised valve seized. Removing the actuator and the controls worked and the boiler shut off correctly. Initially the valve was stuck solid but a pair of mole grips got it turning and after several full revolutions it was turning freely. Put the actuator back and it all worked fine. I did warn him if it seizes again he will need a plumber to replace the valve body. I wonder if it was just gummed up with carp and rotating it several times further than the actuator turned it cleared all the debris. for now.

B&B or guest house. I remember when building our last house and not long after we had moved up here, I met one of the community councilors. When he realised who I was, he said "Ah yours is the house with 5 toilets......"

So, devils advocate here, you are having an "all electric" well insulated house. How will you heat the house and hot water? What thought have you put into it so far?

My only comment is £10K for the mvhr. A casual viewer would discount that when desigining a house as an expensive luxury. Mine cost well under £2K Interesting the "solution" to a low VOC sofa, was buy an old one, so some previous owner has "suffered" it's ill effects.

Oh that's sneaky. Hadn't noticed that. but I am sure I have seen others at least including the inverter for £2K. Mine will be ground mounted probably on a home made mount (which will form a shed roof) so minimal cost there. Re payback times, a 4Kw[ system will generate something like 3100KWh per year. Even if you only use half that, it will reduce your electricity bill by 1550 units per year, which at 14p per KWh is a £217 saving. If you can get close to 100% usage, the saving will be getting close to £400 per year.

The ones I was looking at on ebay include the inveter panels and on roof mounting kit e.g this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173540599051?ViewItem=&item=173540599051

This has been discussed before. First thing, if you are not getting the FIT, then do NOT get them installed by an MCS contactor. You will pay over the odds. You can buy a 4Kwp system for about £2000 at the moment, just get an electrician to connect it all. The key to making it worthwhile is near 100% self usage. Simple things like use large appliances washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer) one at a time in the daytime. Easier if you are retired or work from home but can be achieved with timers. Second thing is have a hot water system with a tank (or a sun amp) i.e NOT a combi boiler. This will enable you to divert excess PV not being used to water heating. And later on (I am not convinced the economics are there yet) is battery storage. Also think about panel orientation. All facing due south is not necesarilly best. A mix of E, S and W would give more generation over a longer part of the day so more likely to be self used, than all S that will give a big mid day peak that you might not so easily be able to self use. If you can even save a modest £200 per year off your electricity bill the payback would be 10 years.

There was mention on here once (or ebuild) of someone getting a Spanish slate sample, and submitting it to the planner as a sample of the local slate, and they approved it.

Hi and welcome. I thought building on what is currently "garden ground" was almost guaranteed. Perhaps the bit you are looking at is not considered as part of the "garden" but rather a separate paddock?

Look on ebay. Several people selling refurbished Kwikstage. e.g this one 24M by 5M high for £2660. Would 4 sets of that do you for a little over £10K most of which you would get back when you sell it? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Used-Kwikstage-System-Scaffold-24m-x-5m-inc-NEW-8-Timber-Battens-2216-67-Vat/150993037936?hash=item2327e2ea70:g:kCwAAOxy1klRZVO0 I bought mine for a lot less from a private seller, but had to provide the transport myself.

My 5KW LG Therma V is 15L per min. Astonishingly, this vital information is not given in the installation manual. I had to seek it from their technical support (when it would not operate due to low flow) Installing a flow meter I would say is absolutely essential. Some heat pumps provide a flow meter but not all.

When we were in the caravan, we set up an old spare BT hub to be a wifi access point. Hard wired tot he main router with am ethernet cable. It seemed to work well. Something similar for you with 2 or 3 of them?

Wasn't there another thread a few days ago about someone killing the same board by shorting out the 12V? First think is check id the 12V DC supply on the board is working.

Just link out the call for heat contact at the ASHP and power it up and see if it works.

An alternative simple test is a simple mechanical thermostat to start with.

Don't discount dowsing rods to look for water pipes.

I presume MCBO you really mean RCBO The one problem with them is when they trip, you don't know if it's tripped because of overload, or because of earth leakage. Do you have any ordinary circuits you could temporarily try it on (or swap the rcbo for an mcb, just for a test)

That looks like the Tower valve?

Missed that bit. Then probably not, I was thinking of the public highway. I smarted at paying £1000 for a 3 metre single track road crossing.

Like I say, remove that room stat and just link it our so it is calling for heat all the time and try again. Does the heat pump start up or even try to start up?

The issue is, for work in a roadside verge, the contractor needs a minor streetworks permit, and will have to pay the council's road opening permit fee. So not all "man and a digger" outfits can do this.

^^^ Following on from the above, you seem to hear some people saying how useless heat pumps are., but that appears to be people that have simply replaced a boiler with a heat pump with no proper regards to any design, and then complain it does not work well. Out house has a maximum heat demand (-10 outside +20 inside) of a little over 2KW which should comfortably be met by our 5Kw heat pump feeding under floor heating ans a large hot water tank ensuring hot water at 47 degrees is okay.

To test the ASHP, forget the room stat, just link it out so the room calls for heat all the time, and establish that the heat pump works first. THEN you can look at the thermostat issue. What is tripping? MCB or RCD?

I did the wiring for a loft conversion once, and on final inspection the BC found the cill of the MOE roof windows was 1" too high. He insisted on a fixed 1" high step being placed in front of the window before he would sign it off.

For anyone reading, in Scotland you need PP for an ASHP unless it is >100M from your boundary. Luckily I discovered this during my planning application and was able to update the plans to include the ASHP. I was previously thinking of a GSHP (which are permitted development in Scotland) but discounted that idea when I found the ground collector pipes and brine to fill them with would cost more than the heat pump itself. I am willing to bet my Fridge has a higher starting current than my inverter driven ASHP but the DNO's do ask on the new supply form if you are having a heat pump.