Marvin

Interesting. There are several searchable technical trials on compost used to produce energy (mainly heat) from a small scale to an industrial scale. Reading the results and conclusions give a good general understanding of how to get the best for my garden. Made quite a lot of compost and tried several versions over the years. From what I understand, basically the rotating bins help air flow and uniform decomposition. If you start with understanding that in order for the breakdown of the vegetation you need the right temperature, humidity, aeration and fresh waste at start, all the rest is easy. The main difference with the rotating ones, with or without insulation, seems to me to be to effect speedy and uniform results. What system/apparatus would be best for you would depend entirely on the supply you have, what outcome you want and when you want it (slow or fast breakdown). After many trials I use a jumbo bag method. (All food waste goes in the worm bin). I shred all my garden waste (and some of the neighbours) that's woody and mix the various types either together or in thin layers in the bag. (no evergreen). Because it's so big it holds the temperature in the middle so no particular need for insulation. When it comes time to take it out I grade the result: good stuff one side, un-rotted back in a different jumbo bag to sit for a year because once the bacteria is dead (too cold/hot/dry/wet/no oxygen) you're back to rotting it the slow way. To check the temperature I use one of these: cooking well even after a cool night... In this bag I put a layer of 2 inch old wood chippings in the bottom to help with drainage. Filled 6 of these last year: all gone on the garden. You should never need to dispose of any garden waste apart from thick wood!

Hi @JackofAll You haven't indicated how you intend to heat water. I assume a instant hot water system and it will need a pressure limiter anyway. However in general a water pressure limiter will protect your home from excessive pressure which over time can wear out equipment, cause some loos to be very noisy when filling, protect water softeners, allow a more regularised supply when more than one tap, loo, shower or machine is using water at the same time. I usually connect them right after the supply to any outside taps.

Hi @JackofAll Personally I would use a pressure reducing valve set at about 3 bar fixed on the incoming main. Depending on how far you are away from the supply during the summer the pressure can drop significantly. But its not just the pressure its actually the flow rate that you should worry about. Test this by using the first tap from the mains: Put a big bucket under the tap. Turn the tap full on and count how long it takes to fill the bucket and then turn tap off. Measure the water in the bucket so you know how many litres are in it. Divide the litres by the amount of seconds it took to fill the bucket and times the result by 60. This will be the amount of water that will enter the house system per minute. As an example a typical shower will use between 12 and 16 litres a minute. What will happen: If you have 2 showers on at the same time in the house you will need a supply of 24 to 32 litres per minute otherwise the showers will dribble. Bear in mind the kitchen tap on and off loos flushed, washing machines and dishwasher possibly using water whilst showering. Good luck M

Shame. Easily available: lead sealant in lead colour.

Yes. if anything, I prefer to see a mister system....

Yup. You'll know for sure doing this...

A must.

Hi @G and J This is a fluid question. The GU10s have gone up and down in price. The range of choices is now so big as to require a spread sheet to list them. Different makers produce different qualities with different designs with different materials. Different installations with different temperature extremes, being turned on and off more or less frequently. The list goes on and on. You can buy them for 79 pence each now. The first ones I bought cost 3.75 each. You can also pay £7.99 for 1 thingy. I have clients who have had the same GU10's for over 20 years without replacing one (these were all glass domed ones). I had one client where the same bulbs kept blowing. I put it down to the poorly built cold flat roof allowing a breeze to blow through...

Interesting. We have multiple GU10 brands, some different wattages with different brightness and angles. Some get hotter than others and I think this is a factor. Also I seem to remember reading that ceramic domed ones are better in regard to heat problems. We have about 50 installed. Some have so far lasted 8 years with high use. WE mainly use GU10 4W 120 degree warm, cool, or daylight. @NickfromwalesDid you see how I managed not to mention Bulbs? 🤬 I just mentioned them.

Hi @Pocster Er... No one wants to look at your photos in case their of, or eluding to, an abnormal anatomical subject matter. Especially when you write about gel. M

I have not done this. However I wouldn't do this. Pipes in trenches in the ground are a big heat loss thing especially over that distance. Yes it can be done but you will be paying a lot more for heating and hot water forever... I saw one once. The concrete path above the pipes melted the snow, and the rain water flowing around the pipes absorbed heat before flowing away. It would have been better to lay them in a swimming pool. Outside temperature effects ground temperature significantly in the first meter so on very cold days the ground around the pipes will be colder... Protecting boiler and pipes from freezing will be achieved by running the boiler during the day and night or antifreeze?? Humidity effects the electrical side of a boiler and components. I wouldn't do this either, but it would be better off in the loft if you have one suitable. The best place is inside the building thermal envelope. Other's may have other opinions Good luck M

This sort of thing often happens over the Xmas period due to the requirement for a decision to be made over a limited amount of time. Sometimes applications submitted in December miss the last parish council planning meeting but need to be commented on before the main council planning meeting in January. In cases like this information is usually forwarded to parish councillors for opinions and the result forwarded to the main council. I think the rules regarding notification to neighbours have been watered down over the years. Sadly the vast amount of objections people make are not valid planning reasons under the rules for planning permission to be denied. The neighbour informed by letter was probably the one whose boundary was nearest the works to be carried out or would somehow be directly affected. If the neighbour was informed during the consultation period I think the requirement to allow people to make comments would have been fulfilled. Planning is a minefield and is only equalled by building control....

In my humble opinion I think this shows the different mindset between buying, doing up and selling, and buying, renovating and living in. With a bit of luck, insulation would last and have no running cost, however the additional energy used because of the lack of insulation would probably increase year on year. I think there's a lot of maths to find the reality to the cost difference and it would depend who's doing the work etc. For us facing a future of retirement and a reduced income it is better for us to have paid at the beginning (by spending less on holidays) then trying to find more money later. But then we intend to stay here. My brother used to say 'Pay now or pay later either way you pay' The only thing is you do not know how much the future bill will be.

not like you..

Yes.

Hi @Jimbobjones Planning says yes, and building control have to ensure you follow building regulations - different things. I know a lot of plans that permit a building, however there was nowhere for rainwater to go but in the foul sewer, and this was permitted by default. M.

Hi @OldieNewbie Best thing to do first is to lift the lid and take photos showing if there are any branch lines going into the manhole and show us. M

Rubber mat.

Most packs of flooring have lots of info with them with recommendations. As the flooring is made by the manufacturers rather than the retailer the attached instructions are far more important to follow. I use a sealant ( flooring sealant like Clicseal) to joints anywhere where there is water in a room like bathrooms, kitchens and so on. Also I use sealant at entrance ways so when people enter with wet feet it doesn't seep into the flooring. On the last job I sealed all the downstairs flooring because the customer had previously had problems. I would expect this info in the box instructions. The boxes usually have diagrams showing layouts, minimum lengths and so on. Good luck M

Hi @PhilT Your going to have to give a little more info than that. Even an indication of what the different coloured lines mean would help!!! However, if your batteries are really going down to zero, this could damage the batteries depending what sort and the set up. M.

Hi @AdamD Forgot to add: Definitely linked, especially if you are running lots of high flow items like showers at the same time.

Not a stupid question. They can effect Flow rate and we use high flow pipes.

We have used Kinetico and use a Monarch. Many other brands available. Things we considered were: If the regeneration is governed by time, or use of water. The type of salt used v cost: blocks or tablets or grains. If the machine requires electricity or not. Different capacity machines for different amounts of occupants. You may wish to consider how you will obtain non-softened water for the garden for example or filling some heating systems. The system will need to flush waste water and will require an overflow pipe in case of failure.

The flexible pipes form the ASHP unit are designed to absorb any vibration from the ASHP unit and should connect to rigid pipes before entering the building as far as I understand and is what I have done. Bare electrical cable outside? no no no. (not even cables used for controls) A lot of this will be covered under electrical regulations, plumbing regulations, building regulations and manufacturers specifications. We had to have an electrical isolator and plumbing isolator valves outside so the unit can be isolated by anyone doing maintenance. Check the size of the primary flow and return pipes with the ASHP manufacturer's requirements (ours had to be 28mm to port valves and back to ASHP) Another one that was not oblivious was the sizing of the power cable to the ASHP unit. We were advised that ASHP's are effected by a small voltage drop and we increased the size of the cable to reduce voltage drop along the cable. (not due to the power demand). Anyway I'm sure I will be corrected on this if need be.... Good luck Phil.

Hi @Big Jimbo Re @Pocster Just don't mention the walk on glazing...