Ferdinand

Also have a look at commercial mezzanine systems designed to install office floors in industrial units.

One other thought is do your gutters overflow in heavy rain? (Solution might be deep flow gutters)

Points not raised. Writing as a small landlord... One cause may be that the render makes it more difficult for moisture to escape, and so moisture tends to hang around more. I note that your 2G windows do not seem to have trickle vents, which will have helped seal the house even more compared to how it used to be. Useful test: What is the humidity in the house like? If it is high (which means perhaps 65-70% or above, ideal is 50-55%), that suggests that ventilation may help. You can get min/max humidistats/thermometers from Amazon for £10. I have about 3 of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ETI-Ltd-thermometer-hygrometer-indication/dp/B017KNQNZA/ My only warning is that they don't bounce off tiled floors. Do you have any lifestyle habits that would cause problems - eg drying washing inside, tumble dryers that vent to inside, bathrooms without decent ventilion etc? Find alternatives. My best anti-moisture measure to make my rentals more resilient to tenant lifestyles is to fit a PIV loft fan, plus a constant ventilating HR fan. That maintains a slow throughput at minimal cost. I also do things like fitting small shelves immediately over all the radiators. Examples would be: This: https://www.nuaire.co.uk/product-list-page/drimaster-eco-range?v=DRI-ECO-HC and this: https://www.vent-axia.com/range/lo-carbon-tempraselv That has been my policy for a decade now, and it works ime. While you are at it, make sure all your fans have anti-backdraft shutters. F

I have a chimney which is dropping little bits of brick and mortar off. Photo: Is it a better option to repoint, or to remove the stack and seal / ventilate the top appropriately? Originally the chimney had a cooking range below, then a gas flue installed, and is now unused since an electric fire is in the fireplace. The place was built in 1850-ish. Access is a little tricky, since there is a leanto on the side, and a sun lounge at the back. Can anyone give me an indication of what the costs would be for this? I'm guessing I am looking at approx £750 and maybe 2-3 man days. Any thoughts are most welcome. I will be getting in a couple of quotes this week. Cheers F

I think I am declaring the benefits to be de minimis. Now, I have a confused but highly intelligent bee that needs convincing it can fly...

I usually do these by putting a knocker-post in, then trimming it off at the correct height, and putting in a hook to the gate. You need to make sure it prevents the gate swinging in a dangerous manner (eg over the road). The other item I have used to provide the hole for the monkey tail bolt to fix into is a normal brick with 3 holes set into the ground. May or may not work here. Ferdinand

Is it an acceptable strategy to raise the height of the house a foot or two to make it at the same level as Zone 1 50m away, if it is that close?

Does that mean that they want you to identify different places to build? @saveasteading it sounds from above as though the increased risk is de minimus. IIRC isn't @nod doing 2 houses? Like the traffic reports requested where the underlying assumption seems to be that adding 5 or 6 traffic movements per day to a road that has 200-300 already will cause the sky to fall in. How would I play it? Not sure. I think I would perhaps consider relying on the argument that this ship has now sailed, and that its not something for detailed stage (having looked at Appeal precedents first).

There are 18mm thick systems, but if you have no space for insulation you are probably better off with large radiators.

Eddi device? Now you've done it ? I know one of those.

It cuts the electricity usage by half, and gets me about £500 per year FITs, but more is possible. Hot water probably makes sense. And probably a reversible ashp for the summer.

Domestic wind turbines are generally not be to taken seriously, unless you have strong and steady winds nearby in an area controlled by you. You could do a "for but not with" in your kitchen provision ie fit the pipes for addition of a heat supply later. (See aircraft carriers and aircraft.) Fitting an electrical ufh system is questionable wrt solar panels as the heat will come in the summer when you don't need it. IMO direct electrical ufh is a bit of a red herring unless it is eg a bathroom for 1hr in the morning because the boss likes warm feet. But remember that ufh needs lots of insulation - really you want a floor u value of 0.13 or so. That is 150mm of Celotex or Kingspan. And to fit ducts where you may want to run electrical wires. For saving electricity bills perhaps a divert device to make sure you get all the solar energy, and something that can supply hot water or for another often available load. I have to think about this as I have a large solar array and no appropriate load. Cheers Ferdinand

Welcome to the site. Shouldn't you be renovating the kitchen in your current house? ? Very kind of you, though. (Runs and hides)

Quick question: If I get a review for an RHI grant, or for some other government programme, will an EPC report be done? I seem to recall that it was part of the review for the Green Housing Grant scheme, or if I have a subsidised new boiler etc. Does anyone have recent experience? Thanks

1 - Congratulations on getting an old house to a 78C. That is about half as much heating required as an E or an F, and is a good figure. 2 - How airtight is it? That could make quite a difference to your heat load as the commonplace is that 25% of heat is lost through air leakage. That may be a good route to reduce gas heating usage. Consider an air tightness test, and a hunt for draughts (see Smoke Pencils)? 3 - We have a heat model ss available on the forum. I strongly recommend that you consider doing your own to further build understanding. 4 - Don't neglect to think about controlled ventilation. Do you have trickle vents? If so, consider alternative strategies. 5 - How is your house humidity-wise? 6 - Can you use those single inlet single box heatpumps that just do one area to cover any gaps? 7 - As you say, don't neglect marginal gains - which is the agenda about LED lightbulbs, lo carbon appliances, low current standbys, washing lines and so on. Suspect you are on quite a lot of that. One option which some have found effective has been a Quooker type hot water setup vs a too-often used kettle. Personally I would consider it, but my insulated kettle is still going strong. 8 - Do you have space for more solar? 9 - Are you paying attention to water usage? 10 - Do you have a number for actual Annual Energy use per sqm of floor area? That is quite a useful comparator. Ferdinand

Lifespan would be +30 years if it wasn't stoodents ?. Don't ask me how I know. (Tip: Rent to 2nd years not 1st years.) As it happens I just hav to go and look at a tenant's chimney, who says that bits of brick are landing on her leanto roof and garden table. Been in place since 185x .

Time to think.

Neighbour in the know? (Discussing this with senior local politics type friends online low level corruption is fairly common, which may be things more like developers giving free labour and materials to Councillor's or Officer's homes to eg do a block paved drive. You don't have things like Poulson or the current Liverpool situation very often.)

This is what got me - my reading (I still have to check) is that those £74 payments are my monthly payments to them, so don't see why they are CRs. My original conversation when I found the overstated estimated amount I had allegedly used was somewhat tortured, so I did wonder if something had gone thr wrong way. Will have a check on the online bank accounts.

Is the general issue that they followed grants rather than Fabric First?

Have a (re-?)read of this thread, where we all talked about it. (Oh I see you did.).

'Ang on a minute, Corporal Jones ?. If you really want to pursue this then you can, but I think your advice is *very* questionable in being so decisive. Particularly from a spark, unless he has specific and deep relevant expertise. TBH it sounds as if he lived in a poor quality TF house, and has been scarred for life - did he have a family member who played the trombone? Either method can deliver a good quality, acoustically sound property. However you need to optimise for your goals. If you want quiet or silent TF, then you will look at things like cellulose insulation, triple glazing, and your floor joists being closer together, internal walls filled with soundproofing and so in. Something like an MBC Passive Kit will do it. Do a quick top-slice of advice, and your goals. I you may want to withdraw your Planning Application if you are seriously reconsidering, as you may end up with a redesign. It would useful if someone in planning or submitting planning apps ( @Temp?) could explain whether you lose your fees if you withdraw the planning app. On this thread you will have people explaining how both approaches have worked, which will hopefully give you a more rounded consideration. Ferdinand

I'd phone up the planner and find out how it is going and what his intentions are.

Energy News. North Sea link interconnector is now operational, which is 700 MW of power now, rising to 1.4 GW of hydro electricity from Norway by next March. Will have some impact, but not enough significantly to reduce use of gas in power stations on its own, I think. Water-based elec storage for the national grid by keeping Norway's lakes fuller. ? https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/01/north-sea-link-world-s-longest-undersea-power-cable-linking-norway-and-uk-is-now-operation When wind generation in the UK will be high but energy demand low, extra renewable power will be exported from the UK to Norway and conserve water in Norway's reservoirs, according to the statement. However, when demand is high in the UK but wind generation is low, hydropower from Norway will be imported. Cordi O'Hara, President of National Grid Ventures, said that it is "an exciting day for National Grid and an important step as we look to diversify and decarbonise the UK's electricity supply". "North Sea Link is a truly remarkable feat of engineering. We had to go through mountains, fjords and across the North Sea to make this happen. But as we look forward to COP26, Noth Sea Link is also a great example of two countries working together to maximise renewable energy resources for mutual benefit," he added.