Ferdinand

Update. The insulated 150mm air hose (shades of Fork Handles) has arrived. Very impressive. Ran the air con on full when 35C outside, and it dropped the temp from 25 to 23 in an hour whilst tea was cooking, so seems OK. Even with not-very-good seals. It needs some plywood nurdling I think. Plus some elephant tape. So looking positive. Will see if my proposed model of getting a lowish temperature by about 9am works tomorrow - external temp reported as 25C.

Can you do a Google satellite view clip?

Don't forget that "principal elevation" is also a definition used in the sense of "what is facing the road" - to manage things like Permitted Development. I always think that houses with varying orientations look classy, contrasting with "little boxes, all the same". Propose the best solution for your needs, and build an argument to justify it. But pay attention to how you will live as well as how you will minimise energy.

I wonder what happens at the start of a sentence?

Seems to be working. Just been in my conservatory, and the new aircon has run that up to 40C whilst keeping the kitchen at 23C. On low and the 150mm insulated hose is not here until Wednesday..

Hmm. So that seems to be worth a try then. Ah. Money and Energy reminds me of past embarrassments in advertising. Nearly of Consignia plugole quality. I quite like "If you cut draughts, you cut overdrafts." "GET MORE FOR YOUR MONERGY".

Can I bump this, and ask for an update. I have: 1 - Solar which deliver a FIT reward of around 15p per unit. 2 - Octopus on the bugger-Avro-went-bust tariff. 3 - I do not have an electric car or house batteries. 4 - No Smart meter, but considering the potential advantages. If I just switch to a Smart Meter with Octopus, without embracing a tariff which takes over or removes my FIT, will it tell me how much I am exporting? (The Octopus helpdesk man says it will only show it when using one of the special export tariffs, which sounds suspiciously like it involves losing my FIT.) @NSS are these the same as your circumstances? Thanks Ferdinand

Perhaps ask them for what would make it acceptable in planning terms. Where is your ground plan wrt Root Protecton Zones? See if you can get a written opinion from the Tree Officer that there is no encroachment on the TPOs. Do you have any trees at risk of being TPO'd themselves?

You need to ask whether they wilt in the heat at 40C. One of the reviews calls them surprisingly flexible.

There you go. Now you have so many options you will be like the centipede in the poem choosing one. The centipede was happy, quite until the frog in fun said, "Pray - which leg goes after which?" He worked her mind to such a pitch she lay distracted in a ditch, considering how to run.

The other type of inexpensive fencing that I like is metal "Estate Fencing", like this: The one above is "Chatsworth" style fencing at £25 + VAT per metre, which is not bargain basement, but is very reasonable for what you get. I think that would look attractive along your canal bank, and could be postcreted in without risk of rotting in 10-15 years. It should outlast you. You can get gates for it, which would help if you are mooring your own boat. And if within say 250-500mm of the edge people would be discouraged from getting off (the boat). Especially people on their first boating holiday ... who are your main customer group aiui? Here's another example: https://www.thetraditionalco.co.uk/estate-fencing/ I have noticed developers using an ersatz manufactured version of this, which looks good and must be inexpensive - but I have no idea where it is sourced. Distant crop from Streetview. This is on a development called Sutton Heights by a company called Gleeson if you want to follow up. Detail below. Above is outside the show house. Ferdinand

One of things to be said for above ground is that you can get a gravity feed. I have 3 linked Wickes water butts for 600l of stored water, one of which is plumbed in (with a piece of hose pipe) to an automatic watering network for my container plants and newly planted bushes, The advantage of that is that rather than turning it on from a tap (which would need a double tap) or a pump I just leave it to drip out with the 0.5m of head for half a day. If butt 1 runs dry I just move the hose to butt 2. Butt 3 is for the watering can. This year it is noticeable how much intermittent rain we have continued to have. If I go on hols it is slow enough that it lasts nearly a week until it has emptied one butt. But - horses for courses.

The cheapest option is always knock in round posts and half rounds as horizontals ie horse fence. It looks rustic, if that is what you want. Best source is an agricultural supplier. For this I would suggest heavy posts - either 5" 6" or 8". Should work out at less than £10 per metre run. Ferdinand

Incidentally, I have ordered *this* insulated 150mm duct, as it is more robust than those with an aluminium outside, and does not use fibreglass insulation. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07HN37Q2M

Depending on the heat soak balance an extent of high temps, cross-ventilation may ot be enough. My house starts to struggle on just cross-ventilation after two nights above say 20C between hot days. I am just playing with a portable aircon / heat pump unit in this thread. To turn it from an air con to a heat pump you essentially plug it in the other way round. It's currently running via an upper window, and I need to make a sealing plate. The recommendation is to run it through a wall outlet. The says not to use to heat beneath ambient of 7C an dideally to get to 10C using something else, and the minimum cooling temp is 16C. I'll be using it as a sort of trial this summer and next winter to explore how heating and cooling works in my house, with a view to eventually maybe swapping out my gas boiler, or limitng it to hot water only. I have lots of EW facing solar (8 KWp and 2 kWp), which should make 2-3 hours in the morning to set the place up for the day free. Insulated 150mm air duct seems to be about £3 per metre if you buy more than say 10m of it. eg not a recommendation. https://easyhvac.co.uk/index.php?id_product=13&controller=product

Further update: It seems to be keeping my largish - 5x5.5m kitchen - quite convincingly cooler (22C) than outside (29C) on intermittent running on low after a boost early despite being provoked by a 400mm rather than 600mm ventilation pipe (ie 60% smaller) that just goes unsealed via a small window to the conservatory, which has an open window at the other end. It will need tweaking to a 600mm insulated, properly sealed to a window or a wall vent, hose, which should do the job. Getting a few strange noise, but that is perhaps because the venting is jury-rigged. F

Naval Mines sound more logical and appropriate to end the problem. Hopefully it happens once then they all see it on TV and get educated. BAE Systems still make these aiui which you can dial up and down between a force of a small amount of TNT and 600kg of TNT. You get a show because they also have a shelf life, then blow themselves up. You can help the other side too. The Shipwrecked Mariners Society still use WW2 mines for fundraising for "shipwrecked" people. You can host a fundraising location to help survivors and victims of canal shipwrecks. In a few months there may be some secondhand ones from Ukraine on Dark Web Ebay - if you are a bargain hunter with insufficient security clearance to purchase one officially. ATB. Ferdinand

I'm trying very hard not to post the "Talk like a Pirate Day" song, as a group of people who really understand "R". Sorry - as you were 🙃. Ferdinand

Why does it have to be a sink? What are you doing there. Why not a traditional stone with a shallow (6") 'sink', or a horse trough? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255623417534?hash=item3b8457cebe:g:qEoAAOSwR2NiuHVM

Update. My god it's big. Pretty much the same size as a normal dishwasher sliced in 2 vertically. W x D x H is 2ft x 1 ft x 3ft, with rounded corners.

IF it's purely a desktop study, then you don't necessarily need a local company. I'd trawl an area where they can commute easily without staying overnight - just in case you need a site-based study later.

I don't see any problem with this strategy, other than that you need sufficient leeway to allow Plan B if you calculate wrongly (in either direction). One aspect of plan B for underestimating heat need could be awareness of double or triple rads for one or two of your locations as a future swap out if you need more hear. Or have some extra pipework installed. If you need less heat them 45C is quite a high flow temperature, so if you Heat Pump can be reduced to say 35C that (and some TRVs) could give you that side of it. Using common sizes is a universal tactic - for example the standard 18mm sheet materials will always normally be relatively less expensive as it is the standard thickness. The same goes for whichever thickness of floor insulation board *just* meets building regulation standards. F

Well, it's arrived 2 days early, and they woke me up. Big parcel - 28kg and got a "f*ck's sake" from the nice delivery man as he lifted it over the doorstep very kindly, having suggested he leave it on the drive. Looking forward to a cool weekend. 🙂🤗

I'll address the proposal in this thread and the doc separately. However, on Councils and Appeals - my small housing estate proposal received what I call a "political no", despite a recommendation from the Planning Dept to approve. That is, the Councillors on the Planning Committee did not want to be held politically responsible for saying Yes. It went through on Appeal instantly (about 6 weeks), but the local Councillors had improved their chances of votes. In my view the Planning Inspectorate are the most strategic body in the Planning arena, as the only one that is committed only to following law.

Quite interesting, and I'll try and find half an hour to comment. I'm interested in the first para of Trees about the Leyland Cypress: The site contains a TPO tree in its northwestern corner, a Leyland Cypress (TPO ref 161/T5 10/07/1985) which would be removed as part of the proposals. (I've checked and that is what it says.) Which individual put a TPO on a Leyland Cypress? Have they subjected to death by Candiru fish yet, and if not, why not? 🙃