Kelvin

We’re definitely all different as I wouldn’t sell a known faulty item to some unwitting buyer. TVs are hard to sell second hand anyway. I can’t even give away a couple of small that I have and charity shops don’t want electrical stuff. I also have a Panasonic plasma TV that has an excellent picture quality in the garage gathering dust. Had it over 14 years but we are a one TV household nowadays so no need for it. Can’t sell it and loathed to take it to the recycling centre.

The Ultra HD Blu-Ray player of choice is the Panasonic DP-UB820. Has all the performance of its much more expensive big brother but less than half the price. Costs £349 but is occasionally on sale. I got mine for £290. Second hand around £250. Peter Tyson is often very competitively priced for most stuff. It’s where I got my Denon Amp.

Modern AV amps are a breeze to setup. The Denon has a setup ‘Wizard’ you follow that once and it’s done. Setting the sound balance for the room acoustics is a bit more involved but worth doing. Mine has Audyssey MultEQ XT32 built in and comes with a microphone but the process is relatively straightforward. I have one remote to rule them all so that’s not a big deal either.

It will with the caveat that it really depends on the source material. Only some of the streaming services do Atmos and even the ones that do the quality is mixed. The difference between an Ultra HD disc with an Atmos mix compared to the same thing streamed is significant in my experience. I also noticed that some streamed content that claims to be Atmos doesn’t trigger Atmos in the amp. Therefore I’d look at the streaming services you use to see if they have much Atmos content and if it costs extra. Consequently I have started collecting Ultra HD Blu-Rays. It also makes birthdays and Xmas presents easy for everyone now as I just give them a list of films to buy me. There are also loads for sale second hand albeit many Ultra HD discs are collectible so command dearer prices second hand. Probably the best comparison is Bladerunner 2049. It really shows off Atmos (or directional sound) and the difference between the disc and the streamed version is huge. When I first set the system up and was just watching streamed stuff I was actually a bit disappointed with Atmos until I added the Blu-Ray player and bought a few discs. I have the 50th collectors edition of The Dark Side of the Moon which has an Atmos mix and it’s incredible. I went all in with the home cinema in terms of sound anyway and have a 9.1.4 system driven by a Denon XA8500H AVR and a Musical Fidelity MS6si to drive my front main speakers (well I had that anyway for my Hi-Fi so just integrated it) In conclusion if I was only using streaming services I don’t think I’d bother and just stick with a good soundbar and sub.

That’s a dear outside tap. I fitted one of these to our retaining wall piped from the garage rather than attached to the house. Bit more industrial looking especially given the 32mm MDPE is just clipped to the wall rather than the clean look you’re going for. I might eventually box it in but probably won’t. It’s frost resistant but I don’t trust any of them even the ones that claim to be frost proof so I shut the water off to it in the winter. https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/SHYNE/page/2A393583-03D4-4B3F-9164-5CD61D7831D0?lp_asin=B0CWPPPXRL&ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_ast_store_CFBWW5N3VZ2EC4JVYDEE&store_ref=bl_ast_dp_brandLogo_sto

The panel was built and wired by @Rob99 on here which I collected from him. I fixed it in the plant room and did all the tree wiring in CAT6A throughout the house and wired up the panel and all the Loxone switches, lights, dimmers etc The electrician then did all the electrical work so main power to the panel, circuit protection, electrical connections for lights, towel rails, UFH mat, curtains, electric gate etc it’s this last bit your electrician will likely want to sign off. Mine was very thorough though as he checked all my CAT6A wiring and he also helped me with fault finding on the wiring as I had made one mistake that I couldn’t find and we had a screw through a wire. It will very much depend on your electrician. Mine didn’t want me to connect any of the wiring in the panel at first as he said he would only sign off the panel wiring if he did it all. However he watched me do some of it and was happy with my efforts. 😂 It’s a conversation to be had with your sparky. Most will never have done a home automation panel before so they might be interested in getting involved for their own benefit.

Mine added it to his checklist sign off certificate

Good 😂 Ours came out at £31/m2 and I used your £30-£40 as a guide as you’d posted it before. I’ve just checked back and it was 164m2 for the main floor as I forgot I added the TV Room on as we’d over ordered the floor tiles and it saved us putting a carpet in as planned.

For our job?

That’s dear. We paid £7000 for 145m2 floor tiles, a utility room and two bathrooms. Including ditra and everything else.

The 16kWh SigEnergy system he’s likely looking at is made up of 2 x 8kWh batteries. A single battery outputs at half its capacity but it doubles up with each battery so in this case it will be 8kW. Their inverter system (which they call the Energy Controller) is very flexible and for 3 phase can go up to 30kW but this is all DNO dependent. In my case I’m going with the single phase 8kW unit. Unlike the Tesla PW3 you have to buy the specific Energy Controller to match the system rather than set it in software. Therefore if the DNO upgraded the infrastructure later you’d need to buy an upgraded EC to take advantage of it. The SigenEnergy system is very flexible, modular and compact. They also have a 12.5kW and 25kW DC bi-directional charger that supports V2L/H/G. It’s not cheap at around £4000 (for the 25kW unit) and they are waiting on the regulator approving it for home use. The downside is they only formed in 2022 so are a relatively new company so there’s an element of risk there.

We are also going SigEnergy with 24kWh of battery storage. With your demand wouldn’t you better going slightly larger on battery storage? The Sig battery system is very flexible so easy enough to add more later. Adding the extra 8kWh cost £2300. I put single phase in because it was a few hundred pounds compared to 3 phase which was several thousand. To some extent going 3 phase might have been better but several thousand buys a lot of electricity and the single phase supply seems adequate for our needs. With your likely future demand going 3 phase will be more flexible but don’t underestimate the cost. Get an estimate from your DNO asap.

Is the tank or pipe work out of it vented? It would be worth confirming the make and model and looking at the installation instructions. It’s unlikely to be a problem but at this point you are ruling things out. We have a very slight leak where the waste from the dog shower enters the sewerage pipe in the garage. It drips slightly when the water softener regenerates. However there’s no foul smell escaping from the it. Similarly at the opposite end where the vent pipe exits the treatment plant there’s no smell. Do you think you could have a slight blockage somewhere that might be clearing eventually but building up again? You might need to get the builder to get a proper leak company in with a camera to have a look inside the pipes? Have you run the sinks etc and opened up the manhole cover just before the treatment plant to check everything is running freely?

Our Nordan windows have been in 2 years and we’ve had no issues. There were some installation issues including them not doing deep enough cills for our construction so I had to get some made up but there was no impact to the warranty because of this, obviously if I make a claim that might be different. This did cause us some significant headaches and delays but it was down to Heb Homes as they ought to have detailed this ahead of the windows going in. That said I don’t know why Nordan don’t do deeper cills as I reckon a lot of the houses they go in will need them. Nordan also have very poor logistics when sending replacement long aluminium trims. I ended up with 4 faulty trims due to scratches and them getting bent in transit. I told them to use the strong cardboard tubes that tiling trim comes in. But no they send them wrapped to a bit of wood. We also had a few of the clip on internal seals come loose just after fitting. These were easy enough to fix. My only complaint is with the French door which isn’t as air tight at the top as I’d like on one of the doors. They are adjustable and I’ve yet to adjust it so I think I can probably fix that. Our air tightness score was 0.44 so it’s not having much impact.

Some insurance companies will have a definition of what they consider to be a flat roof based on pitch. Ours, for example, specifically defines a flat roof if the pitch is 10° or less. Therefore you could look to see if you can increase the pitch above 10°. It also notes what percentage of the overall roof is flat with the minimum point being 33% and the band is noted as between 33% and 50%. It doesn’t really explain the significance of being outside this band i.e. no loading below 33% or won’t insure/more loading above 50%. Therefore again what percentage of the overall roof will be flat. It also stipulates that the roof must be inspected every 10 years by a qualified roofer (doesn’t state what they mean by qualified). Our insurer is Home Protect underwritten by Axa. It’s quite dear but our house ticks all the wrong insurance boxes. I would ask the lenders and insurers for copies of their terms & conditions and see if there are some common dimensions/metrics and then look to fall outside of them if possible. Our last house had a large flat roof (more of a lean to) but the pitch was greater than 10° and it was 15% of the overall roof so it was never an issue.

Which treatment plant do you have? How long is the run to it from the house? With ours we had a fit a vent after the pipework exits the treatment plant. Our SVP is at the opposite end of the pipework exiting the garage roof. All we have in the house is an AAV in the roof void. I called the supplier to ask about the secondary vent after the treatment plant and they recommend to do it as best practice. It does sound like a leak somewhere though which an air test will find. However if it’s leaking enough for it to smell like this I doubt you’ll be able to pressurise it at all.

They are smart and also aggressive. We were climbing The Cuillin ridge two weeks ago and there are a few places where you leave your pack to summit the Munro and collect it on the way back. You need to place your bag in a way that makes getting into hard and also place a boulder on it. The Ravens can open your pack and pinch your food.

I’ve just agreed a contract to install the SigEnergy system. I like their system for a few reasons one of which is the ability to mix and match battery sizes which gives you a bit more flexibility later on. The downside is they are a relatively new company so they might not be around in 10 years time.

Some plumbers can self-certify the air test so building control accept what they send them (in Scotland anyway). In our case the BCO had to come and watch the test. You could cut a hole in the boxed in section to see if the smell is stronger.

We had this in a previous house with one bathroom. Turned out the pipe wasn't connected properly and it was leaking into the void behind the wall every time the loo was flushed. At first there was a musty damp smell which grew into a more sewerage smell generally in the room so also not coming from the sink, loo, or shower. We didn't use this bathroom much so it came and went. The smell also appeared in the cupboard above this bathroom as it was rising up the void in the internal wall. This was actually how I found it as I cut a hole in the wall in the cupboard and the smell was much stronger. I happened to have a bullet camera so made up some long cables and dropped it down the wall and could see it was soaking wet. Your problem doesn't sound the same type of problem but worth ruling it out.

No but I am currently getting quotes for the same system. I like the look of it. Very flexible, highly modularised, some very good options for future proofing. They also have multiple battery sizes to allow you to size the system to more closely match your needs. The Tesla PW3 and GivEnergy AiO have the same problem in that one battery is too small and two is a bit more than I need. I’m getting quotes for: PW3 GivEnergy Sigenergy Powervault Solar Edge Foxx This is largely down to what the local installers sell.

Exactly. My first Lotus Elise had this problem on the aluminium floor pan and the cars were all subject to a recall.

Yes this was the other system I looked at. I have one of the clamps somewhere and we tried it out on a mock up. You see PV panels on commercial metal roofs that must use similar clamping systems so clearly works.

This was exactly my concern. Three installers I spoke with had never actually installed onto a standing seam roof so I didn’t want to be the first. They suggested screwing through into the timbers but I didn’t want any penetrations through the metal roof either. Plus the standing seam roof is a nice looking thing and PV panels aren’t.

I looked at all of the above plus a different system (can’t find the details) and gave up in the end. We live atop a hill and I wasn’t confident the panels would last the test of time. Fortunately I have enough space for a ground mounted array but it needs to get over a burn and up a cliff face.