Mr Blobby

Your pic above is very neat. Two of these (intake and exhaust) in each room would be great as an alternative to a pelmet, but how did you connect this grill(s) to the plenum? Do you have any pics of the ducting in the loft? Did you buy all the ducting and grills from ductstore.co.uk?

I think that's actually the right way up, the intake sucks air in at the bottom and spits it out the front. Not much, but hopefully better than just slab cooling, esp in bedrooms with solar gain and carpets on the floor. And we are in Northern Ireland where it rarely gets above 23C on a summers day. I'm getting the impression that pelmet is the way to go here 🤪

Yes, warm airtight loft. Plenty of room to install a pair of these in the eaves, one over each SW facing bedroom that are most likely to overheat. I think taking the intake air from the loft will be ok, as it would mean only one grill in the ceiling, and easy access to change filters. The supplier tells me the FCU in the above image can only be installed horizontally because of condensate tray (although I would be running above dew point). I don't really want to build a bulkhead like a premier inn bedroom. I would prefer a single exhaust grill in the ceiling facing downwards. This would leave the FCU higher in the loft which would also make for an easy connection from FCU condensate drain to the pipe connected to the condensate drain in the MVHR, leaving the option to run below dew point, should I ever wish to do so. This is a good point, the air in the loft being potentially warmer than the target bedroom. This is not really to cool the whole house as we have cooling in the slabs and some external blind and solar glazing. But I am concerned about two SW bedrooms that may be at risk of solar gain overheating. Maybe building a bulkhead is easiest. Otherwise the challenge is connecting ducting from hotizontal FCU in loft to a single grill in the ceiling. It would be a 90 degree angle and about less than 1 metre length. Has anyone done this or similar?

Has anyone on here actually installed an FCU like this (or similar unit) in the loft, for cooling, connected to an ASHP and with the exhaust grill in the ceiling? If so then please tell me more about the install and what is needed. How is the FCU ducted to the exhaust vent? Did you install it vertically? Did you use ducting from the FCU to the grill in the ceiling? Some pictures would be lovely.

One more thing to consider is the width between seams. Standard is 600, but we chose to have 400 centres. Looks better and possibly less canning with 400 centres because we have only one panel with signs of canning. More expensive of course, but not a massive difference.

We have prefa aluminium, which is ok, but the ridge detail could have been better, something I didn't think about at the time. Confirm the details like this before install. Roof buildup is also important. There are standard guidelines for metal roofing with vented timber under the standing seam. We used sarking board instead of ply, and I think it's better for not much extra cost.

I like the German kitchens. Another German brand, brigitte, is the cheapest I think. That's what we are getting. German kickboards are smaller, which look a bit nicer. That's probably the main difference 🫤

Is your pump that runs 247 external to the heat pump? Or inside the HP? I think Panasonic has an internal pump and (I assume from being unable to see anything in the user manual) that this water pump only runs when there is a call for heat. Running the pump all the time to distribute heat makes a lot of sense. Add an additional water pump to do this?

Do you do this with a pump on the manifold, or with the pump in the heatpump? If the latter, then is this a common feature of heatpumps, that the HP pump runs, or can be set to run all the time, even when the thermostat temperature set point is reached? If the thermostat set point is reached and there is no call for heat, then the pump still runs and pumps water round the loops?

It looks like Sto Limited, the UK and Ireland distributors for Sto rend, and owned and controlled by Sto Germany, have gone bust. Which is not good. I tried to contact their support people today but have been informed that Sto Ltd is no longer answering support questions and the insolvency practitioners have installed new managers. Sounds like its not a happy arrangement 😕 and the workers have downed tools. It looks like other Sto resellers all go through Sto Ltd, so this is likely going to impact supply and support. Does anyone have any further info on this? Is this the end for Sto, or just the UK operation? If not Sto, then what other product should I use? KRend or Weber?

The problem is the windows are actually in place so cutting the outer leaf risks damaging the windows. I reckon I could cut a hole carefully with a grinder but perhaps the builder knows the bricklayer won't have my patience and will hack it with a stihl saw without much care for my windows. Also the windows are on first floor with rubber roofed porch underneath so more scope for damage from falling masonry. (I know, its a crap place to end up in but I can't turn the clock back😕) I'm also told that if we did insert a lintel and a course of block then the render would still be at risk of cracking anyway because its new block against old block (although I'm pretty sure this would be more stable than a timber stud bolted into the hole). Thank you @nod for your sage advice. So for a silicone based breathable waterproof render like sto, we should cover the front and underside of the timber stud with render board. Then do block wall render buildup as below, with reinforcement mesh across the join from timber to blockwork. Should I do anything else with the timber stud, like bitumin paint, or wrap in breather membrane? Would I need to leave a ventilation gap underneath like a timber frame build?

For reasons that make me use bad language, our block build house has a couple of window openings that need to be made smaller, but only on the outer leaf of a block cavity build. Window height must be reduced by about 300mm. The obvious thing to do is to insert a intel and a course of blocks, but that may be a little too destructive. Builder and joiners are suggesting a timber stud, to be built with ply across the face and then steel mesh across the front to render the timber stud to the blockwork. My concern here is the timber getting wet and rotting/warping and then render cracking. Breather membrane and bitumin paint on the ply has been suggested. What's the best approach here? Does the timber need to be ventilated? Would render board at the front be better than ply? Can mesh be nailed to render board?

I don't want to close the hole complete, there are cables to run through it. But if i chased the cables into the wall instead of coming all the way out, could I then cap the end of the hole somehow? I can see I'm not explaining this very well 🤦

We have a 2-inch pipe and a 4-inch pipe being used as conduit to run cables from house to attached garage. The cables emerge below the ceiling on the garage side, like this, the 2-inch pipe: We'll be putting scratch-coat onto the walls of the garage and all the cables are chased into the walls as on the picture. How do I finsh the open end of the pipe here? Do I stops the conduit 20mm below the blockwork and then exit cables out the side of the hole and chase into the wall up to the ceiling void? If so then how do I plaster over the hole? Some mesh over the end of the hole and then plaster over?

If you mean make it one big window and no opener (I don't think you do, but just in case), don't forget you need an opener for building regs requirement for fire escape.