Marvin

I suppose the question is, assuming that the unfused plugs are supplied with a 6amp fuse in the consumer unit, will 240 volts at 6 amps injure a person?

I can't see what your missing.

My neighbour has a bungalow with a feed and expansion (F&E) tank at the top of his loft. It was completely cleaned out a few month ago (it had black gunge in it). About 2 months later the overflow started dripping. On inspecting the tank it was "mould growth" that stopped the ball valve from working. I think this time it was white mould but I will check with him. What is causing the mould? How can it be stopped? Details: Typical vented central heating system with radiators and oil boiler. Hot water pump, 3 port valve and hot water tank (HWT) in loft! Water treated with inhibitor Standard size F&E tank. Don't think the tank has a proper lid but it does have minimum insulation. My guesses: Pump pumping so hard that water running out of expansion pipe and going down feed pipe causing the tank to become a Radiator. Inadequately vented loft causing a breeding ground for growth and suitable warmth for growth. Feed pipe installed causing heat to rises into F&E tank Port valve, and pump (and HWT which has no where else to go in the bungalow) shouldn't be in the loft. (I would never put a HWT in a loft!) Has anyone come across this before, and if so what did you do?

How long have you had your numeracy problem or double vision?

I presume you got your taste buds shot off in a war....

Hi @Nickfromwales Just out of interest, our ASHP manual specifies an MCB/RCBO but a Type C Would your comments above still apply? M

Yes the above average intelligence number is any number above 100 on a propper test.

Or you don't, or you do understand @SteamyTea clever witticism, and I just fell for your one.

Yup. We had to drill hole into wall. However I don't see why a temperature sensor won't do the job on a hot or cold day. They use them to tell you when it isn't there!!!!

My one is a reverse reverse refrigerator as it is producing heat on the outside and cool on the inside at the moment.

RCBO's all the time for me.

If the pipework is not subject to very high temperatures and not external, for me, climaflex was the best option. I bought it as thick as I could get on the pipes for any hot pipes. I set my pipes away from the wall to allow for this.Cuts easily with a hacksaw. Mitre the corners. Don't leave any gaps. It will shrink a bit over time so buy spare. Mine went about 10mm a metre. I used 25mm wall thickness on my 28mm pipe. This thickness is not cheap.....

Hi @Radian , your quite right, meant the other ones...

Hi @Adsibob A further thought... Going the simple way of jackets, you can put as many as you like around and on top of the tank, so long as you don't cover cables or immersion covers (leaving a clear flow of air to the immersion metal caps) If the tank is in the corner of a room and there are no cables in the area you can just fill all the gap no problem. The jackets are just loft insulation stuff wrapped in a plastic covering. You can condense them to squeeze them into gaps. if you fill the gap between the tank and the wall the thermal resistance of the heat coming out of your tank will now include the makeup of the wall so even better. (mine purposely had PIR installed in the wall for that reason). For clarity, the insulation's thermal resistance is measured by it resistance to temperature change and its thickness, however, as I understand it, squeezing two 100mm thicknesses into a 100mm gap will not make it twice as resistant because , as I understand it, the air gaps between the fibres are what cause it to resist thermal change. Definitely where possible wrap as much around as possible, squeeze thinner where no alternative, and you'll definetly save money in the long run.

Hi @Adsibob You can always just chuck a jacket on, as long as you avoid the electric cable and immersion covers. My tank is a simple indirect one, and by the sounds of it yours sounds more complicated. what is it? It's unusual to drain down a tank to replace a thermostat. My buffer tank has pockets in which the probes fit in to. These pockets are a copper or brass tube which separates the space in the pocket from the water so no need to drain down. The electric cable supplying high energy to an emersion will heat up when there is demand and the heat in the cable needs to dissipate which it will not if encased in insulation.

Hi @Spacey73 Depends on what is driving your decision: Installation cost, space, running cost, demand...... Also depends on what your other sources of heat are.... It's the winter you want to be thinking about. Are you considering a 300ltr tank because of the amount of hot water you use or thinking of using it as a heat sump. Also in winter how much PV power are you expecting to have excess of to use heating the water? The conundrum here is you could end up with only enough PV power to have a huge tank of tepid water, and so end up using other power to bring it up to temperature What is the average kWh you expect to produce on each day in January? We have 5.12kW PV and we produced about 6kWh a day in January, HOWEVER, your amount would depend on the panel slope, the angle in relation to the sun's zenith, the shading by objects and the location and so on. Hi @Adsibob Here is my 205ltr tank: PIR in room walls, supersoft around tank, 6mm ply on frame to encase the lot. HOWEVER! Any thermostat in the insulation will need to be digital. If I have it right, this type of immersion heater thermostat relies on a bimetallic switch which relies on a typical room temperature to work: so incasing it in insulation means it will not work. (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) I have used one of these to switch a 20amp relay to turn on the hot water immersion: Note the type of sensor: As you can see only the sensor enters the insulated area: Secondly I removed the immersion heater thermostat because that would be effected by the insulation similarly. AND All power cables in the insulation will need to be ducted. Good luck. M

Hi @Joe-90 A diplomatic answer further up from@jack What a mess we are in! The whole "how best to heat my property" relies on so many factors and 1 size does NOT fit all. We have no mains gas and had an LPG boiler. We replaced it with an ASHP and prefer the ASHP set up. However. We completed AIM and APE on our refurbishment making the property suitable for a small ASHP. AIM is Airtightness, Insulation and, Mechanical ventilation. APE is ASHP, PV and EV. Finally, and this is the most important bit IMHO, before we started out we completed thermal loss calculations and the property design and heating installations were completed using this info so we had a good idea what would work. ( Including info on the local climate and solar gain) So an ASHP system may not work for you but it also may. Good luck M

Drywall adhesive is usually used. I hope mechanical fixings are not required because I have never used them for the purpose of fixing the boards on a wall. I usually cut the board to size after first fix services,slap the adhesive on the wall, squeeze the board on the dabs of adhesive and prop up using wedges on the floor. I usually use a spirit level to tap the board flat and vertical. Good luck M

You feel this is not quite the right reason then?

Tricky one. I had discussions with Building inspector about flat roof and vpb under celotex. Inspector wouldn't agree not to install it, despite all edges/joins silver taped. I would ask Building inspector.

Fine filtering basics: https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/household-water-treatment/sand-filtration.html Here is my adaption: So the pump pumps up to the top of the filter. The water drips through the diffuser (The bottom inch of a bucket with holes in it in my case) and runs through the barrel to the bottom pipe grid. The filling is a graded very fine sand (I used block kiln dried paving sand, then sharp sand, then grit, then sieved 20mm down stone into bigger and bigger layers until starting around the pipe grid with 20mm stones. The levels of all of the pipes in relation to the power of the main store pump, how fast it flows, and how fast the water passes through the filter bed is all critical. If the main store pump pumps the water in quicker than the filter will let it pass it will travel out the vent at the top. As it rises up the vent pipe more pressure is put on the filter to let the water pass and this may resolve the problem. However high up I installed a Tee which allows any excess to return to the main store via the overflows from the barrels. I brought the water level low so it was in the sand to try and stop the plastic barrel from splitting in a frost. The bottom pipe needs to rise so water is held in the sand. Most of the pipework I used is actually overflow pipe including the pipe grid, but the delivery pipe from the main store pump is plastic pipe. The barrel I used: https://www.diy.com/departments/ward-100l-slimline-water-butt/679230_BQ.prd?ds_rl=1272379&ds_rl=1272409&ds_rl=1272379&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlemWBhDUARIsAFp1rLUXvi2blwts9pdQr41OGdw5rsl3w2dI2rdvcebgBOq0ri9rHPDhGhEaAj82EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&storeId=1163 Pipes all over the place... In order to get the pipes right I played with the levels by putting a really tall pipe as a vent and looked to see how high the water went. Secondly I reduced the amount of sand used which had no adverse effects. Once started the first water was brown but after about a week it went clear. My filter is also connected at the top to a water butt overflow so during the winter the excess water flows through the sand filter over fills the barrels and overflows into the main store to run into the soakaway when too much. I think this constant trickle through the winter is what has kept the system so well. Good luck. M

Most stuff off the roof goes through gratings in 2 places and what is left is dead moss and bird poo. However, you are right that a gully with a grating at ground level would be better. The pipe layout between the properties make this choice not possible, but still a good idea (anyone who is considering setting something up!). Good idea. I didn't want to seal it off because of the chance of syphoning. Now I will have to lift the lid again....😧 Thanks for your thoughts. M

Hi @ReedRichards Obviously its designed to use gravity. I have it horizontal.The internal flap sits almost vertically. Yes it could but I have no vertical pipe between the buffer tank and the 28mm tee. I think both could happen, the latter most unlikely, but neither reliably. Since installing the valve the hot water tank heat loss has greatly improved. However, the buffer tank now heats up due to the radiator pipes sitting in the hot loft, so another job to do.... M

Crates and liner for the shape, also crates designed to withstand side pressures. We had limited room. (Shape low and wide) Fine filter next thing to post.

Diagram of the bulk water store design: Our store is below ground. I actually used a pond liner and soakaway crates below the patio. Here's looking down the access hole: Make sure the pump you need is capable of getting down the hole! The pump will need to be determined by the flow rate and head of water required. Missed on my diagram of the tank is the fine filter tank overflow pipe which goes FROM the filter down to the bulk tank. This was needed to let the air out of the head of the fine filter tank and also to let water back into the bulk tank if it is being pumped up faster than the filter can filter it.