MikeSharp01 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Went today - not sure I got value for my time and the £20 parking fee - I know I should have taken public transport but for reasons I will keep to myself I was not able to do this although I did set out to use it. Loads to see but mostly vanity show casing of products which the likes of most of us probably won't need. I think it is instructive to see who exhibits at these events and you can spot the sales patter of the organisers at work when you see who is there and who is not. Some excellent talks though and if you are wanting to build in straw bales there is stand showing it off and delightfully passionate they are about it. Did see some great little plate heat exchangers from ZILMET which I can find a use for I am sure. Windows for domestic projects had only a couple of offerings INTERNORM and DAKO where all I spotted. The 'alternative technologies zone' was well supported although again its interesting to see how the ideas they were pushing 20 years back have become mainstream and perhaps a bit too commercial in terms of bells and whistles. The controls and instrumentation stands all look to be doing good business as did the solar heating (PV and ST) but the GSHPs may have passed their sell by! Interestingly not much MVHR stuff to see - unless you are on an industrial scale. There was also the Kitchen and Bathroom showcase but that was a big let down I am afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 I think the trouble is most of us on this forum know 1000% more than the average punter about ecobuilding and the kit behind it. Personally I would rather ask advise on here from people in the know than be sold something by a rep with a vested interest in their product. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Yes I tend to agree and find exhibitions as opportunities to see what is out there and ask particular questions but I think I had hoped that there would be more of the small scale stuff on view today. Rather I felt it was aimed at the commercial (Industrial and Office block) builders rather than the house builders and very little of it was applicable directly to self builders. That said its all grist to the mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Ecobuild is a trade show at the end of the day, not a consumer show. I got a quote last year for micro inverters at about £32 each with a 15 year warranty and they looked great - until I had to buy a minimum of 36..! Only interesting conversations I really had were with Sunamp and Quinn's who seemed to have aimed squarely at the energy saving market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Alas Ecobuild as a show is a 'dead duck' even for the trade. Before it was sold to UBM it had become the go to event but the Goliath that is UBM pretty much destroyed it within a couple of years and lost all their money in the process!! Hopefully the management that have bought it will do what they say and return it to the excellent show it once was. http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/02/22/ecobuild-show-sold-for-nominal-sum/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 11 hours ago, joe90 said: I think the trouble is most of us on this forum know 1000% more than the average punter about ecobuilding and the kit behind it. Personally I would rather ask advise on here from people in the know than be sold something by a rep with a vested interest in their product. If you (we) are prepared to put the time in (reading like a demented bookworm) then it's almost all here. Wot I need now is a personal master switch that enables OFF to be selected for an hour or so in the evenings and every other weekend. Does ECObuild sell those? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 6 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: Does ECObuild sell those? No, but your local off licence/drug deal does Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, recoveringacademic said: Wot I need now is a personal master switch that enables OFF to be selected for an hour or so in the evenings and every other weekend. Does ECObuild sell those? Ive not found one but I find this: Ingredient 1 mixed with this Ingredient 2 in suitable quantity does help. You must though add this: Ingredient 3 As an aside a lovely young girl serving in the bar I was in last night told me very proudly that she was very experienced with handling cucumbers. Edited March 9, 2017 by Barney12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Yes, I need an off switch. It was about 3am this morning that I concluded I needed to redesign the roof ( again), I just need to ring the builder to find out how high the block work is?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted March 9, 2017 Author Share Posted March 9, 2017 Yes I was awake at 2:00 AM wondering about concrete polishing - its all booked for next Thursday - I hope I have all the sums right! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Yep - 4am thoughts about how much less volume I need in concrete for using plastic trays for the UFH.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlewhouse Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) I think for shows the House Building & Renovating shows can't be beat. At the very start of the process 3 years ago we went down to the Birmingham NEC one which was huge. We spent 2 days and were still finding stuff to look at as we left. At that point of course we were looking at absolute *everything* from our build method, heating methods, materials and so on. The seminars running the entire time were worth the entrance fee alone. (though free as we subscribed to the magazine at that time, & I've always managed to find free tickets online since) . Everything there including all the green/renewable stuff. The 2nd year a day was long enough as we'd settled a lot of things. Now we are building there's probably no point in us going, but we learned absolute masses there over 2 years and refined our plans through all the seminars/sales stands and bags and bags of brochures. Edited March 22, 2017 by curlewhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeSharp01 Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) On Thursday, March 09, 2017 at 13:38, MikeSharp01 said: Yes I was awake at 2:00 AM wondering about concrete polishing - its all booked for next Thursday - I hope I have all the sums right! On the day all went well including the power floating that I was not looking forward to. Was right on concrete volume - over ordered by 0.2m3 - nothing on the scale of things.@oranjeboom came over and lent a big hand. The shower tray & wet room former/ mould / pattern worked very well but concrete didn't get fully under it - suspected that was where the excess concrete came from - but removed mould yesterday and only needed 2 buckets of mix to fill the gaps. I learned loads will put that in a blog entry. Images of the main area finished and final power floating of studio space. Edited March 22, 2017 by MikeSharp01 Image titles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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