Overheating and other teething troubles

[lizzie]

So we are in but not 'finished'.  The last few days the house has been almost uninhabitable in the heat.  The first few days we were freezing then weather changed now I am getting readings of 33 in my bedroom at 7pm at night. Living areas 30 degrees positively cool by comparison.  It is far hotter inside than out.  I have temp blinds at the windows and they must be helping. The glass is red hot.

 

They MVHR has not been commissioned yet it is just running on a temp auto setting so I dont know if that makes a difference. It does have summer bypass facility but I dont know if that is operational on this temp auto setting.

 

The boiler seemed to be permanently on (may account for the £300+ gas bill I have just received for the 3 months Jan-Mar when uf heat was put on low to cure the slab - nothing else but ufh and hot water runs on gas). I found the manual and have turned the boiler to summer setting, hot water only on a timer and so boiler is off now, the boiler was telling me water temp was 78F  I turned it down to 65 maybe very high temp is why it hasn't fired up and  heated any water since I turned it down, it was scalding coming out of taps before. Probably just diluting down to 65 now.

 

The plant room/utility temp has dropped from 35 to 27 since I got the boiler off.

 

I have problems with data cab so no phone and I have had to remove router and plug into bt master socket to get internet, it is very precariously balanced on top of the hot water tank.

 

All this in a super insulated airtight MBC house, how I wish for the leaky 30 year old rental house where at least we could control things and actually live in it....oh and just to add joy to the day I find my very expensive white silicone render on the back of the house spattered with dark grey masonry paint where it must have splashed when they painted the back wall......and my 20 year old olive tree looks like its dying.......

 

Please tell me things can only get better....2 years of absolute hell to get here and the two weeks we have been in have been very difficult in an awful lot of ways.  Yes never again is on my lips!

[Oz07]

Checked in tonight expecting to see one of these threads. Wasn't suprised! I think you have to posses a good understanding of how your system works to control the houses temperature. There's a few in here that have cracked it sure they will be along to help. Bit of experimentation and you should find a way.

[epsilonGreedy]

Just ask Mo Farah to jog around your house.

 

https://goo.gl/images/4CfKiE

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

Turning the heating off was obviously a good place to start!! 

Find the instructions for your MVHR, google it if you have to. Set it to summer bypass asap, and use boost when its super warm.

If you've moved in and its unbearable, hire an air-con unit for the moment because no sleep = lady go crazy. Is this news to you, as in how has the house been performing up to you moving in?

[lizzie]

5 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

Turning the heating off was obviously a good place to start!! 

Find the instructions for your MVHR, google it if you have to. Set it to summer bypass asap, and use boost when its super warm.

If you've moved in and its unbearable, hire an air-con unit for the moment because no sleep = lady go crazy. Is this news to you, as in how has the house been performing up to you moving in?

Thanks Nick I will have a go at mvhr in the morning.

 

Its all news to me...no clue as to how the house performs the  mvhr was not switched on until the day I moved in. When he came to set it up a few weeks before I moved in there was no internet so he just tested it and left it off to return when electrician had sorted it. ditto with how rest of plant room works. When I told him a few weeks later I was moving in and had to have some ventilation he told me just to switch on at the spur and let it run on auto until he came back. must chase him up again I had hoped he would have come back by now. 

 

Once again your help much appreciated.

[newhome]

Totally non technical temporary solution. Can you run a fan with a bowl of ice in front of it to help cool the air for now? 

 

[Nickfromwales]

Save the ice for the G&T

[lizzie]

9 minutes ago, newhome said:

Totally non technical temporary solution. Can you run a fan with a bowl of ice in front of it to help cool the air for now? 

 

Got the dyson fans on for last 2 days....not done the ice though.  Have found bypass and switched on.....fingers crossed. My poor dog is nearly 16 and is really struggling, fans are on him.

[newhome]

1 minute ago, lizzie said:

Got the dyson fans on for last 2 days....not done the ice though.  Have found bypass and switched on.....fingers crossed. My poor dog is nearly 16 and is really struggling, fans are on him.

 

The ice generally provides some relief to the person (dog) directly in front of the fan but doesn't particularly help to lower the room temperature. You could try wetting a towel with cold water and placing it under / over him and then run the fan on him. Poor dog . 

 

Fingers crossed the bypass works. 

[jamiehamy]

Do you know what the external air temperature has been day and night @lizzie? In hot weather, particularly sunny days, it will be very easy for things to get out if hand. There is nothing wrong with opening windows, particularly at night and let air flow up, through and out the house and the cool air circulate. If the air temperature is high however then there is little you can do. If it's solar gain but less extreme air temperature, then blinds will help, but also leave that window open to let the heat out rather than into the room. I've been watching our house the last few days where it has been very sunny. Doing okay, but will need careful management. If it gets too warm, plan will be to open two windows upstairs and one down to let warm air out and cool air in. Looking at graphs, we might need to start doing that soon. Overall air trips are fine with no heating input but likely to trend up at which point proactive e management is required. (btw, kitchen is south facing with 2m2 window and 2m2 Skylight both with solar glazing. Living room is actually bedroom which faces west (8m2 window) and North (1.5m2)). You can see how much our bedroom heats up when sun gets round in evening). 

[dpmiller]

like @jamiehamy says, do the windows not open?

[lizzie]

Yes windows on east and north side open. It was reading 30+ on terrace outside south and west where all the big sliders are even so i kept some open in shaded area to encourage through draught. I’m afraid nothing worked.  However @Nickfromwales advice to adjust mvhr has had an impact this morning with living area readings at 24 and bedroom at 26 which is positively arctic compared to last few days.

 

 

[lizzie]

 

@jamiehamy that is really useful info. I hope I might get some sort of similar data when they come back to set everything up at the moment I only have the room thermostats for ufh giving air temp plus my own stand alone weatherstations from previous house. Both have been giving the same temps so look accurate.  Thank you for the advice.

[Nickfromwales]

Getting there then.   Have you had it on boost?

[NSS]

11 hours ago, lizzie said:

Please tell me things can only get better....2 years of absolute hell to get here and the two weeks we have been in have been very difficult in an awful lot of ways.  Yes never again is on my lips!

Hang in there @lizzie and keep your eye on the prize. It will be worth it.

[lizzie]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Getting there then.   Have you had it on boost?

I cant find a boost setting on manual open and closed and auto. I have it on manual open at the mo

[Nickfromwales]

3 minutes ago, lizzie said:

I cant find a boost setting on manual open and closed and auto. I have it on manual open at the mo

You may find an option for fan speed. If so, crank it up.  

[SteamyTea]

what I would give for a bit more warmth

 

[Ferdinand]

Quote

Dog

 

Would a garden pond help as a dog-wallow here? Perhaps under a gazebo or canopy if it is a High Status dog ?.

 

One of my dog-tenants has a former shower tray, and the dogs love it in the summer when she fills it with water while hosing the paving.

Ferdinand

 

[newhome]

3 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

 

Would a garden pond help as a dog-wallow here? Perhaps under a gazebo or canopy if it is a High Status dog ?.

 

One of my dog-tenants has a former shower tray, and the dogs love it in the summer when she fills it with water while hosing the paving.

 

 

Depends on the dog. One of mine loves water outside, another is a princess and won’t go near it. There are lots of options to keep dogs cool though and a big market in cooling coats that use evaporative cooling. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog+cooling+coats&index=aps&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_8wci33odcd_e&adgrpid=59991066464&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=259126741668&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9387560495376396925&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046877&hvtargid=kwd-302987024306

 

 

[Ferdinand]

3 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Depends on the dog. One of mine loves water outside, another is a princess and won’t go near it. There are lots of options to keep dogs cool though and a big market in cooling coats that use evaporative cooling. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog+cooling+coats&index=aps&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_8wci33odcd_e&adgrpid=59991066464&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=259126741668&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9387560495376396925&hvqmt=e&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046877&hvtargid=kwd-302987024306

 

 

 

True. Surely the dog has its own evaporative cooling coat of sorts ... you spray it with the hose, and the water then evaporates and the dog cools ? .

 

F

Edited May 8, 2018 by Ferdinand

[newhome]

These are really for when you are out and about and a hose is not an option I guess. But an absorbent coat will hold more water than dog fur. I have friends whose dogs have wardrobes of dog coats lol. They easily spend 50-100 on a dog coat without even blinking lol. 

[vivienz]

1 hour ago, newhome said:

These are really for when you are out and about and a hose is not an option I guess. But an absorbent coat will hold more water than dog fur. I have friends whose dogs have wardrobes of dog coats lol. They easily spend 50-100 on a dog coat without even blinking lol. 

 Wow! I never knew you could spend that much on a coat for a pooch!  And I grumble about buying something more than the base brand of food for 2 cats.

[newhome]

22 minutes ago, vivienz said:

 Wow! I never knew you could spend that much on a coat for a pooch!  And I grumble about buying something more than the base brand of food for 2 cats.

 

Hurrta and Ruffwear are the ‘North Face’ equivalent for dogs. Coats for every season and weather condition! Mine only wear a coat (Equafleece) if we are going somewhere muddy but given that I live next to the beach 99% of the time they don’t wear them. They do however have their own freezer for their relatively expensive food  

 

 

[lizzie]

My dog is is almost 16 and blind. He is a cocker Spaniel but hates water, I trained him to hate it because we had open water in our last garden and I didn't want a dog in the river every day, now he wont even step in a puddle. He is old and frail and every day with him now is a bonus, he is not quite ready to leave us but I fear it wont be too long and something like the heat he has had to endure may just tip the balance.  He is asleep in the cooling fan air and mvhr adjustment has reduced house temp hugely, still too warm at 26 but much better than the weekend.