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gravelld

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Everything posted by gravelld

  1. gravelld
    Are you suggesting people should drive long distances, over 200 miles say, then just stop for a three minute refuel?
  2. gravelld
    If the battery shape was further standardised (maybe to a small set of different orientations to support different vehicle shapes, you know, like these things called tyres?) they could be pre-charged and swapped. I think a lot of the nay saying is just plain and simple FUD. All new technologies have downsides and challenges. I can't imagine any of the oft-repeated ones not being surmountable somehow, especially in the 2040 time range which sounds to me rather pessimistic. The benefits seem very real to me.
  3. gravelld
    The irony is that with a mulcher you only end up starting it once anyway... no grass emptying. Push button start was definitely a nice-to-have, added to the requirements sheet because SWMBO couldn't start the old mower... plus also the fact I've also secretly wanted a car with push button start (years following the touring cars in the late 80s/early 90s) and this is the closest I'll get!
  4. gravelld
    Wasn't particularly expensive, a Honda would cost double!
  5. gravelld
    Just invested in a Stiga model, with mulcher and push button start (bit of a luxury that bit). I realised afterwards how much easier a more powerful engine makes the mow - this one just powers through compared to my previous very average Mountfield.
  6. gravelld
    If board insulation is required, why not EPS? Needs to be thicker, but better to work with and better vapour permeability... But better I think to create cavities on top of roof and loose fill.
  7. gravelld
    Trouble is, simplicity is in the eye of the beholder. To some, whacking in a boiler, burning some dead dinosaurs and allowing the energy to simply leave the house is "simple" because it's what everyone knows how to do.
  8. gravelld
    It doesn't sound very "eco" to me. If the building was "eco" it would barely need any heat input, potentially none from non-passive means. The whole idea of UFH is low and slow - it's not a radiator. It sounds like bad design to me (although you can never tell without looking). We need to stop using the word "eco" - it's meaningless.
  9. gravelld
    I find this a bit odd. They're all "oh we let the market decide" etc etc... but then they go goo-ey eyed over "technology" and make up some "competition" in a romantic fluster with the notion that a silver bullet may be found. I agree government must watch and maintain markets, and sometimes guide them to derive the best outcomes for citizens. So perhaps they should be aiming at areas that are fundamentally broken with no market drive to fix them, rather than ones that were doing ok previously (previous to them fucking it up the first time with the slashes to FiTS). I'm thinking housing performance. I think we know the answer... £££. But don't get me wrong, I'd like batteries to be better priced. But there's still this gaping hole of demand reduction they continually refuse to tackle.
  10. gravelld
    There are special purpose grommets made like http://www.ecomerchant.co.uk/walls/airtightness-products/service-grommets.html Any good?
  11. gravelld
    Emissions tests, press self regulation, private building control... it all stinks and it's all in the name of "light touch regulation". I'm actually against over regulation, but going the other way is similarly toxic. Self regulation does not work when incentives are not aligned.
  12. gravelld
    I would pay £200 for a rough and ready testing kit (i.e. a fan and mount), without manometer, if anyone fancies setting up a part time business and a kickstarter account...
  13. gravelld
    ... but not _every_ newbuild - if you're building a lot, only a sample (1/3 or 1/4, can't remember which) of the distinct "dwelling types" is required. And of course the test is irrelevant in many cases because the tester is paid for by the developer (conflict of interest) and its just bodged onsite with any sealing removed subsequently. Not in *all* cases... but certainly in some. Only way to be sure is to pay for your own independent assessor.
  14. gravelld
    Yep... different weather conditions too.
  15. gravelld
    How much did you have to pay for designPH as a "normal" like me? I'm guessing we have to pay the "professionals" rate?
  16. gravelld
    I fully realise that, and I fully realise it can be used by laypeople too, having done so myself. It isn't that hard and doesn't deserve the mystique that seems to have built up around it. Using Excel for it seems a bit barmy but aside from that... Furthermore, like you I would personally not aim for certification if I were building a home to live in long term. The point is third party certification whereby the third party's motivations are correctly aligned may be a way of avoiding the conflicts of interest we often discuss.
  17. gravelld
    I've sympathy with that but external, rigorous and impartial certification is probably the antidote to the "throw it up and pay an assessor for the energy band you want" rubbish you and lots of us normally rail against... Argggh, just read on, sorry for creeping the thread again @Russdl
  18. gravelld
    Is there a definition of overheating? I would consider our house over heated in the past few days. During nights temps don't go much under 24C. I've seen one thermometer read 28C in late afternoon which appears to be the hottest point. Our house is complete crap btw. Mostly cavity, all filled but only about 60mm. Old school 8mm 2G windows. One solid wall gable and some 1G here and there. Poor air tightness. My plan to fix it: - More external insulation (to stop heat getting in) - Fix the air tightness when insulating - Mechanical ventilation - More shading according to the sun's position - use software to calculate and plan this - Any other ideas people? I noticed just how much a difference even a small overhang can make. Most of our gables have none, but one section that does - the window is completely shaded from 11-2.
  19. gravelld
    You're right. I do get frustrated though how short term "costs" are used to justify not doing anything, or taking cheaper, less optimal options. It's not like the short term economics balances all the facts; what about the unknown unknowns, the intangible, the unmeasurable? It's not like the derived costs are in any way some sort of representative and true summation of the net cost of the activity. Even the finest costing machine built, the stock exchange (I'm referring to the worldwide trade in securities rather than any particular exchange), is enormously flawed in costing short term (EMH etc). Why would an Excel hero do any better? We see it throughout Government; I think it is myopic, short termist and just ends up with higher costs (not always tangible, financial or measurable) later on.
  20. gravelld
    The construction industry could learn *a lot* from the aeronautics industries.
  21. gravelld
    Ok, so instead the question becomes why wasn't the retrofit done properly including major structural alterations (assume you're referring to the extra weight of less flammable insulation and also better fire access here), or (more expediently) why didn't they knock it down and start again? Leaving the block in its 1970s state was not an option both for performance, fire safety reasons and all manner of other reasons, so I think it's irrelevant whether it would've gone up as quickly as it did if the retrofit hadn't occurred.
  22. gravelld
    I'm not sure that is the question. That reads like you think fire safety and existence of cladding are incompatible. Surely it's a matter of design (and the rest of the construction process). After all, a refurbishment was required. Surely the question is why fire safety wasn't improved/maintained at the same time as performance/aesthetics.
  23. gravelld
    I was going to bring that up. In the UK, most EWI in low rise situations is render on insulation block. But cladding approaches do exist (we sometimes discuss Larsen Truss). And where they do, people often put timber cladding... So being a total noob, is timber cladding fire treated? Doesn't silvered timber have a low moisture content?
  24. gravelld
    If you can re-programme it, this kind of price seems like a great deal even if its only for some supplementary space heating. What are the output options?
  25. gravelld
    So anyone know how many incidents of this type have occurred in domestic low rise (2-3 storeys) scenarios? Is the render-applied-to-insulation approach common in UK EWI less prone to this, with fewer air channels - or is it another argument for continuous ribbons of adhesive sticking insulation to the wall?
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