Ferdinand

This is the definition of the various terms from the document linked: So, based on the conversation above, the reduction of C02 Emissions Factor for Electricity, the SAP Rating should not change, and the EIR Rating should reduce proportional to electricity usgae, and C02 Emission Rate should reduce similarly. By contrast, in 2018 the SAP algo was adjusted when they found that solid walled and uninsulated walled properties were relatively better in CO2 emissions terms than had been thought previously. https://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/SAP/2016/CONSP-16---Wall-U-values-for-existing-dwellings---V1_0.pdf The assumption had been U-value of 2,1m which was updated to I think 1.69. (The background is that the previously assumed value was derived from that used for sizing heating, so naturally assumed it was worse to help make sure that systems were comfortably big enough.) F

No. I have not checked whether the update has been made.

Depends whetehr "better" means quality of build or ease of understanding. The Gravenhill one is about 5% of the size of the Building Regs, for example, and for the layperson probably does not seem to be written in Chinese.

How did the two different numbers compare, Jeremy, if you have those. I think that your current SAP is a 107? What is the new impact rating? (Will try and comment on the other excellent points from everyone later.] F

I would think that a normal plug would be too high risk for coming out by mistake or leaking with a corrosive like that.

Layer of cement in the bottom?

I’ll clarify. Thanks for the response. It is in relation to the changes in the algorithm which have reduced the effective C02 production of electricity relative to gas, as mentioned on another thread. I am trying to get a feel for what difference that will make to the actual number on an EPC. So will the EPC number of a house with ufh / combi boiler (say) go up or down. Ditto a house with say storage heaters or ASHP. I would expect, given that the dataset is not normalised to a curve over the 1-100 number range, for an electrically heated house to get a better value, and a gas heated house to stay about the same with perhaps a small increase in number due to the small impact of he electricity used for other than heating. So this is in relation to understanding how the numbers will change. That will feed into landlord requirements and tenant experience, given that regulation is on the numbers on the EPC, but Inwas trying to understand the algorithm changes with this thread. What I am hoping is that there are few people who have repeated the calculation in Stroma under both definitions, and we can get some data. F

Ideally this is one for a tame EPC Assessor! Do we have any idea how EPCs will adjust under the new values? Has anyone rerun their numbers? Cheer Ferdinand

Just checked, and my water butt direct connection to hose (about 3m) then a connection into 20m of Cleber 6mm pipe is in fact sufficient to get flow to the other end. That is with perhaps 1.3m of head, which would be about 0.13 bar. Encouraging. Ferdinand

Probably best asked here. @JSHarris My hose splitter has arrived. Do you have any clever way of stopping it leaking where it screws to the tap? Do I need to soften the seal, or apply grease, or just tighten it up really tight? Cheers Ferdinand

https://www.derbyshirelife.co.uk/food-drink/carr-head-farm-1-5715661

Drink less, winebibber, and stop dreaming of Jilly Goolden. Found out today that there is a vineyard in Hathersage at 900ft. Not sure what is happening; they already have Little John and a gorgeous lido. F

Afraid not. I mean the little round 70mm ones. I repurposed a ‘plastic panel bottom half’ conservatory as a sun lounge to avoid having to build any dwarf walls or foundations, and insulated all the surfaces, incl. the floor. Did the lower half of the walls by glueing on treated cls battens on the inside, then 50mm of taped joint Celotex, then finishing with plastic shiplap, with a windowsill above. Done such that each side across several panels was a single cavity. Then I ventilated the void behind the Celotex to the outside with I think a soffit vent on each panel. This was 5+ years ago. If the cavity have been say 2m high I would have done two of them at say 225 and 1825 to get some natural flow; that is what I sometimes on similar cavities when insulating a half brick wall. The theory was that should anything leak a little in my renovated 2nd hand conservatory, there would be a route out for the moisture from there and a degree of resilience built in. Did vaguely similar things for other aspects. The only pooch in the pumpkin is that one of T’s dogs pulls them out and chews them, so I supplied a bag of ten spares which cost £2.99 and it has been quiet since. I did not glue them so that I would have access with a hoover just in case. F

I don’t believe that; I think that an elasticated waist, a belt and suspenders is a good thing. Or perhaps they did the study the Scottish season when having it ventilated to outside will make it even wetter rather than drying it ?.

Very very very unlikely to work now.

Do you have the hole in the ground with the provable gap in the water supply ? , and the piece of pipe in your hand? “Until I put *this* in there, lady ...”

Looks quite firmly screwed up...

Welcome to the forum.

Does anyone have a recommendation for film for sticking on the inside to make windows opaque? It is a temporary measure to prevent anyone seeing in too easily whilst a small shop is empty. It might be nice t ave other than a single colour. I know that Vistaprint do a product, but that is not well reviewed. Cheers Ferdinand

Probably our different viewpoints. I see it as a way of compensating for, and building on, the possible inexperience of the client.

Interesting complementary points. My argument was for a brief brief plus some more inchaote ideas as an anchor for such a follow-up conversation, with some work in advance so that the client has formed their strategic idea, but not the tactical design ideas. As a slight bulwark to going-offtrack-itis.

Noooo .... going off topic.

I have had BT pull their wires through my pre-installed ducting before now. But talk to them.

Another way to get away from overthinking / overimagining, is to get some data by keeping a lifestyle diary and "area of house use" diary for a week or two. Sarah Beeny has a delightful technique where she identifies unnecessary .underused areas of house by fitting people with a tracker and building up a breadcrumb trail / heat map.Room use diary would be similar.

All those have a place. If you think they do. Some may be best to help you reflect then summarise. You need something you can send to an A before a meeting, that they can understand your needs from immediately, and that you can then usefully discuss in your 45 minutes with them. It needs to reflect *you*, but the A needs a 3 minute brief, as well as some detail. This technique may help with working out / communicating your essentials. 1 - Boil it down to 1 page, of which the first 30 word para is an elevator summary. 2 - Give it to a competent friend / acquaintance for 5 minutes, on their own, with whom you have not previously talked in any detail. Work acquaintance would be ideal. Someone who has an activity or job which involves dealing with different things. 3 - Take it back. 4 - Ask them to give you a summary of your key requirements in 60 seconds in their own words. Cut them off at 60. 5 - If ithey can do so accurately, bingo. If not, your doc is not yet sharp enough. Rinse and repeat with somebody else. 6 - Use that as either the entirety, or with a 1-2 page supporting appendix. Once the A has got to grips with your essentials (and you need that to make sure that your details are hung on a balanced core requirements spec), then the A can ask you about your more general ideas and you can do your Blue Peter act.. At first you need to present the architect with a balanced-overall thing, otherwise it may skew the view around the sub-bits of the overall that you already know about. Do not forget your budget requirements, and potential flexibililty (or not). And do not forget to have some cash in your back pocket that you keep completely secret from everyone. Clearly there is more than this to choosing an A, but a clear understanding is a good place to start. Ferdinand