Ferdinand

Can your House Automation system cope with the solution they used on the exhaust pipe of the Death Star? Just need to make sure that none of your local rats are Jedis.

Are you going to miss or notice losing an extra 1/160th (=0.625%) of your room dimension? (If you need to get rid of a 3.56m wide Jackson Pollock to make that possible, I'll take of off your hands, and collect at no charge) Why not go for 75mm PIR everywhere ? 😛

And don't forget to consider ventilation alongside your insulation if it is airtight. (You may have done that on the other thread which I have not reread.)

@OP Yes and that requires the underfloor void to be dry and sealed. In effect you created a shaped plastic bag from your DPC and fill the inside of that. You don't do it if there is a chance of water coming back - high water table, flood risk, standing water in the void etc. When I did my bungalow the BCO was nervous as it was not familiar, so for simplicity I went with insulation below floor level to the bottom of the joists to let any dampness escape, and made sure the cross-ventilation was good below that level. At one place I had to replace the air brick with a periscope version to get it below the new insulation, and 150mm above the extra concrete which had been added to the drive at some stage leaving the air brick at ground level. On EWI, it is *really* important imo to use a specialist long-term in the business (not a general builder or one who can't show you 3 previous EWI projects where you talk to the customer) as there is a lot of detail that can be got wrong, and it is a bugger to redo afterwards. A simple example is if they don't put the 2G in first, as the EWI has to overlap the frames with a suitable detail. And *everything* (drainpipes, satellite dishes, lights ...) mounted on the wall has to be mounted outboard of the EWI or considered carefully - otherwise cold bridges. A good cost up here (North Notts) in 2018 was around £110-£130 per sqm of wall area. Read this thread for some thinking: Perhaps @Adsibob can tell us how it went and identify some elephant traps. Also on EWI you tend to get recommendations with a low amount of insulation - say 100mm. The material is cheap, so I would go with 200-250mm of EPS as a compromise - some argue woodfibre as it is moisture permeable. Plus you need to be sure where the dew point is at your temperature range, to ensure you get no interstitial moisture condensation (more complex if your cavity wall is insulated), and need to be sure that any moisture that makes it in can make it out again. It is easy for the structure inside the wall to show through to the outside. Also of course, it's a semi so you have the step and the coal bridge to next door through the entire cross section of your external wall. F

It's important to think about regulation, and neighbours and pollution, and small soot particles. Log burners are coming into the cross-hairs (imo correctly), especially in urban settings. I have a portable aircon, which is an air conditioner and a heat pump if you plug it in the other way round (CoP about 2.5). This is details, but it is a refurbished version: https://www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/78293300%2f1%2f78082979%2f1%2fairflex15w/electriq-782933001780829791airflex15w--air-conditioner What about a traditional cowboy pot-bellied stove? (You would need a bigger one) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Mountain-10141-Black-Accessories/dp/B000MMWXMY Around here we tend to say look at stoves for boats, which are smaller. Make sure it stands on something fireproof.

Perhaps the renovation thread first, as that sets the context and will alert you to wider things to think about. Make sure you take the time to reflect. It is always worth spending time before you spend money - replacement time is free. For me this was for a long term rental investment over 20 years plus, so simplicity and maintainability are important. There was also a brief thread on Green Building Forum - the "other place": http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=14711

I'd recommend PropertyTribes or LandlordZone or a local planning consultant for this one TBH. You'll get lots of opinions but we have only a small number of experts on stuff this detailed in this area. If the Council think you will get planning either with a retrospective, or with a CLD because you are beyond the enforcement time, that might be worth a try. Or can you say "we agreed to the structure and relied on you to build it, Mr Tenant - if it is not lawful we require you to restore the property to original condition", and just slope shoulders on the whole thing. Or can you argue that it is a Covered Way, or some other structure that does not require PP, or make it into one? Remember you may need to think about both Building Regs (eg flammable material on boundary such as wood) *and* Planning. This may be useful: http://www.home-extension.org/downloads/B-Regs-exempt-guide.pdf Or a convo we did have: ATB. Ferdinand

I used a strategy on a reno 5 years ago, on a wooden floored bungalow of almost identical size and semi-detached layout, where I created an insulated envelope as you are - plus underfloor ins - and ran all the services inside. At that time electricity was about 10% of current cost. The economic balance has now shifted to even more insulation for less reliance on volatile electricity prices. I did not insulate my walls internally or externally as my walls were already cavity-insulated which was suitable to get me a C76-C77 ish EPC. But I did allow for 200mm EWI in the future with extended windows sills etc, but when I got to it the numbers said itw as not necessary. I lifted every 3rd plank of the existing floor, and put 100mm rockwool between joists (staple gun), took out the old services, and replaced non-sound floorboards. Then a membrane. Then 25mm celotex on top in a framed out floor. Then an 18mm osb floor, then a high quality (QuickStep 25yr guarantee) click-floor or underlay + carpet. I left an underfloor void along some internal walls to run my services (*), plumbing to rads on internal walls, and wiring to sockets on internal walls. It was going to be 50mm celotex on the floor, but I couldn't find doors I could trim by 80-90mm. So had to compromise a little or start taking the top out of doorframe; I found Cottage Oak doors that could be trimmed by ~65mm. Really you want 50mm in case 15 or 22m pipes need to cross (which they might), we had to did a little hole in the old floor in one place. The beauty of it is that everything can be accessed without making any holes, or dismantling, anything. As long as you cut your overfloor in the right shapes. Essentially I left a 300mm wide void in the added floor which ran along internal walls as far as the socket locations. That sandwch could be adapted to fit your Wunder system in. I put markers where things went using football pitch line marker paint before putting the floating finish down. (The one thing I put right under the old floor were ducts with pullstrings for telephone and TV wires in the future so the Virgin Orang-Utan would get to pull on a rope rather than apply his 2ft long 18mm drill through my beautiful thermal envelope). My reno, including replacing 1/3 of the roof, cost just under £40k. But I bought the bungalow for under £100k. This is not Twickenham ! Two threads: we discussed the floor strategy, services and insulation in Boffin's Corner here when I was thinking about future replacement of gas by ASHP (long term investment). The piccie just showing is the floor sandwich: There is a detailed reno thread here: ATB Ferdinand

- The previous hot water, 5019kWh is unusually high, what happened to reduce it so dramatically? - In case you missed it I made some comments on floor insulation savings on page 1. Did not answer this when we did this thread first time around. I don't know what reduced the projected water heating amount so seriously, except that it had a copper tank system and went to a brand new combi.

A couple of things don't quite add up imo. 1 - UFH with zero insulation underneath. How much heat do you lose? Short answer: half of it, unless you have something in place to stop, such as no ventilation underfloor void and your EWI goes 600mm underground around the edge, in which case you will get a warmer patch of soil underneath after 1-2 years. 2 - How do you stop your floor joists rotting if you stop the underfloor being ventilated? If you do ventilate it there is an insulation free heat path direct to the outside, except for 1. But 1 will mean that 2 then applies, and your joists can rot when moisture gets in. You can do it by completely sealing it, and then you have a dry void you can leave empty or fill with insulation (traditionally people use poly beads, but it is less popular now). In short no insulation underfloor is a touch ludicrous, as you have to put a more expensive sticky plaster somewhere else. And 2 questions: Where are your services running? What spec are you renovating in to? Your renovation is not *that* deep - I live in a bungalow which the previous occupant reduced to three walls and a hole, and he put solid slab floors and ufh throughout. Cost him more than he got back as it was sold to us in 2013. (Further post with an idea to follow) F

Maybe not. Perhaps logic would say it will track where the per kWh October price cap would have been, plus a small percentage - to equal the £2500 typical bill minus £400 level (?) which seems to be the new price cap level. It's a small minority, so perhaps it won't be price related. Or maybe it will just be a grant on all new oil purchases (sorry) ! F

Octopus Agile Outgoing Tariff may help.

Liz Truss speech on Energy Savings, which seems to have got most of it about right so far: But by all accounts far larger news is about to break. Even Harry and Meghan are heading to Edinburgh to be near HMQ. London Bridge, perhaps.

The diesel one is interesting. We already have a lot (can't find how many) of diesel generator farms connected to the grid as a small part (~10%; much of it is gas power stations) of the Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) a backup for interruptions in service for overwhelmingly maintenance and outages and (about <10%) for renewables backups. Is that what the BBC are talking about? There's an occasional Daily Mail flap about "renewables causing more diesel use", always dominated by fake figures and a spittle-flecked outrage bus. They usually have about 200 hours a year of use - a very good stable cashflow from infrastructure for the likes of pension funds and Nicola Horlicks' organisation, who invested £100m around 2015. So if they are being increased in use, the rates would need to be renegotiated if the top rate use period is not capped. Also a potential Nimby explosion. It seems sensible to allow for further usage, as one of the myriad of small measures.

It may be an issue in a future EU accession given Brussels' commitment to defending its incumbents' interests first, but that is the least of anyone's current problems.

The earthquake was 2015, rather than 2010 - though the seeds were 2010.. 2010 was the coalition Government. 2015 the Tories scooped nearly all the seats in the SW - LDs went from 15 to zero. Factors include the minor partner in a coalition usually suffers, the Tories ran a very good micro-targeted campaign in 2015, and perhaps the loss of the Referendum for voting reform. It was also a "vote Labour, get SNP" election, when the SNP won 56 from 59 seats in Scotland.

The dstinction I am drawing is between eg supplying 20 vehicles capable of long term precision strikes (HIMARS / M270), which has destabilised the supply lines of Russian forces and driven back eg supply bases and airfields, or supplying 100 (which is what Ukr said they needed) and the long range ATACMS missiles 1-2 months ago, which would have let Ukr sink the entire Back Sea Fleet at it's moorings and destroy the Kerch Bridge (for a start). But there are a lot of cross- and undercurrents. One of them is the amount of Ukrainian farmland now owned by foreign investment, including Western, interests - a huge issue in Ukraine, given the history of confiscation and collectivation, weak rule of law etc. https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/blog/who-really-benefits-creation-land-market-ukraine An issue to watch in relations with the EU and USA. F

Unfortunately, perhaps possibly. Though the Q was related specifically to Green Belt between villages, and the reply was noncommital (important issue; Minister will look at it - sensible by Liz Truss). And there will be a real problem kneecapping the Planning Insprectorate, as they are the ones who define the interpretation of planning law in almost al cases. It's intensely political. LDs won a couple of byelections in the S recently by turbo-pandering to Nimbies, and Home Counties Tories. The Tories have not forgotten how Devon / Cornwall was largely LD up until 2015, and the LDs are targeting the 'Blue Wall'.

Unfortunately, perhaps possibly. Though the Q was related specifically to Green Belt between villages, and the reply was noncommital (important issue; Minnister will look at it - sensible by PM Truss). And there will be a real problem kneecapping the Planning Insprectorate, as they are the ones who define the interpretation of planning law in almost al cases.

His desired legacy is to recreate the territory of the USSR as a new Russian Empire (or Imperial Space if you prefer). His potential loss if he goes nuclear is Mother Russia, and especially the Western End of it, as a scorched, radioactive wasteland. I doubt he will do that, or others will let him do it. Personally I think the question is basically moot. There is no alternative other than fully to support Ukraine. Not supporting Ukraine is an invitation to Putin or his replacement to attempt to repeat the performance for Moldova, Baltic states, Scandinavia, Poland. Surely we have learnt that lesson after the previous performances in Chechnya and Georgia, and now Ukraine? If it doesn't stop, the alternative is that it will continue. The risk of escalation is a risk we do not have the alternative of not taking. It is a risk that has to be managed, as we will not get a better opportunity to stop Putin's create-more-failed-states games. If he knows he is not going to be stopped having sent his army to rape, and abuse, and destroy, and murder their way across Ukraine, and is allowed to get away with something, then why on earth *would* he stop? His worldview is the Stalinist one that human lives and peoples can be thrown away, destroyed or moved, as he wishes, for his convenience. Do we want to keep a prosperous, stable Europe? If we don't defend it, we will lose it. And do we want to support the development of democratic, free countries in the eastern half of Europe? We could lose that too. The long game is that Russia (or dis-integrated Russia) will become one of those free, democratic states. As an aside, I think that countries like Poland (which may become the leading land military in Europe) and the Scandi / Baltic State bloc, and in due course Ukraine, are working to put themselves in strong enough positions that Russia won't dare touch them for a century such is the bloody nose it would get. So perhaps any long term decision to compromise with Russia was already impossible anyway. For our comfort, Putin has been making these threats since the start, repeat and repeat and repeat. And done nothing. I suspect that he has been warned that if he goes nuclear NATO will intervene full bore, and he has zero chance in such a conflict. Ferdinand * I think one provocative though cynical question that I have heard asked is whether the USA is trying to 'help Ukraine win', or 'prevent Ukraine from losing' (as a way of weakening one of their two key global opponents). It's difficult to distinguish that from managing the potential for escalation that you wrote about. I don't think any other Western country thinks in those terms now on that scale, except maybe those that were rearming Russia before they woke up **, but the USA still deals in global level strategies. ** I don't want that distinction to be quite that clear - I think that the whole of the West (except countries bordering Russia such as Finland) was asleep for far too long, but some more than others.

Yes - interesting. I'm also hearing noises about a reform of the electricity market, which is also being contemplated by the European Commission for those countries whose markets they control. https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-weigh-option-power-market-reform-bloc-race-gas-storage/ A question here from Sir Peter Bottomley trying to get the Planning Inspectorate castrated in favour of Nimbies is interesting: F

A few thouights: 1 - Gas is still flowing to Europe through pipelines via Ukraine, Yamal system I think. From Reuters yesterday. Presumably transit fees are still being paid. For comparison full capacity of Nordstream One is 170 million cubic m per day, so about 25% of that if I read it correctly. Nominations for Russian gas flows into Slovakia from Ukraine via the Velke Kapusany border point were about 36.7 million cubic metres (mcm) per day for Tuesday, little changed from the previous day, data from the Ukrainian transmission system operator showed. Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said on Tuesday that it will ship 42.4 mcm of gas to Europe via Ukraine via the Sudzha entry point, in line with the previous day. Eastbound gas flows via the Yamal-Europe pipeline to Poland from Germany at the Mallnow metering point on the German border were at 551,464 kilowatt-hours per hour (kWh/h) between 0800 and 0900 CET on Tuesday, data from operator Gascade showed. You are probably better placed than me to put that in context. Though I agree that Putin has shot nearly all his bolts. Once exports to Europe are zero and a decent buffer is in place, he has lost all leverage. 2 - I think all of this will be a good indicator of Truss's political acumen. If she keeps the option of getting a pound or thirty billion of flesh from suppliers, it is a positive sign. 3 - There seem to be some significant reverse ferrets on inflation predictions from commentators and forecasters on the package without the subtleties above, such as via the BBC bekow suggesting that the peak could be 10.8% rather than 14.8%. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62817391 (LOL. I see they have now changed the headline to the doom-mongering "Bank of England warns it cannot stop UK falling into recession"). Gotta love the meeja. 4. There's a bit of interesting politicking going on by France "we will exchange supportive gas exports to Germany for supportive electricity imports, as we do from Spain". The electric imports are already in place, at approx 15% of French demand from those 2 sources at present. Plus another 5-6% from the UK, which for some reason did not get mentioned. The Fr/De pipeline is just being finished and has very approx around 5% of the capacity of UK-continental gas pipelines. 5 - The North Sea Link UK-No interconnector has pretty much reversed its usual No>UKflow for much of the time at present. I assume this is to do with Norway preserving its Hydro reserves. F

FT is not owned by Murdoch. Surprisingly it is owned by Nikkei. Unfortunately no one else buys me a FT sub, so that's all I can see. It needs a subscriber who can "share" it. I haven't seen it anywhere else yet, I'm afraid.

La Truss has cover for introducing a levy on non-gas Energy Producers from EuCo, it seems: https://www.ft.com/content/ab469e2d-8e87-44ee-855b-f46b5b2dd17e ---------------------------------- EU seeks windfall tax trigger well below market rate Brussels wants to hit non-gas power generators with new levy to help households through the energy crisis

Thank-you - I hadn't spotted that.