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The bathroom extractor fan is a ceiling-mounted rectangular Greenwood Airvac, approx 23 years old (original). It still works but has always been quite noisy. It vents via flexible 100mm duct travelling through the loft space and out of a soffit vent with a gauze filter inside, also 100mm. I was...

Daughter's house has uPVC double-glazing throughout that's probably 10-15 years old (fitted for the previous owners, before they bought the house). Doesn't seem anything serious wrong with it, reasonably wide gap between panes, no internal condensation etc but it wasn't well finished by the...

Helping a friend add insulation to their loft. It's a 1995-built detached house in the South of England. It has ~ 100mm of the old style yellow insulation. Most of this is in good condition without signs of damp or dirt. I'm adding 200mm Knauf roll over it and boarding the middle section. A new...

This is our Fernox TF1, which was professionally installed for us a good few years ago. The plastic end cap is also intended to serve as a key for the brass drain valve. Space is very tight due to the position it's been installed, and the plastic thing is not easy to fit and turn with your...

Daughter has replaced most of the bulbs in their house with LEDs, initially cheap no-name ones from https://cpc.farnell.com/. Many of these are the "candle" style ones in fittings that take 3 bulbs. We saw a lot of early life failures. Thinking that "you get what you pay for" we've gradually...

Hi, We have two smoke alarms - one in the downstairs hallway, one on the upstairs landing. They were builder-installed when the house was new in 1999. They are on a linked system. Behind each alarm is a plasterboard-type wall box with a terminal strip. There are four connections to this: Earth...

We have a gas fireplace as shown. Recently got the chimney swept (there was a lot of sticks and birds-nest up there). Got a cowl fitted to stop them coming back. The sweep said it wasn't right that we had a void at the back of the fireplace (which was also full of sticks). A lot of awkward...

We've got an outside halogen security light that no longer works and is 5 yrs+ old. I think it's a 300W but won't know for sure until I borrow a ladder and have a look. I've got one of these to replace it: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2124157.pdf It's a sealed unit, with a L / N / E...

Hi, We have a similar fault to that described elsewhere. Checked inlet and drain hoses, and the sump area. Impeller under the non-return valve looks clean and turns with the expected quarter-turn magnetic lump. Impeller just visible in the slot at the back also turns freely and looks clean...

Salamander CT50, professionally fitted and wired in March 2011. Has worked fine since then. Noticed lots of water coming out (of the smoke alarm, in the downstairs hall!). Tracked it down to the flexible (anti-vibration) hoses. In particular it was the push-fit end onto 15mm copper pipe that...

We've got a problem with our CH/DHW which I think is likely to be a wiring issue. The system consists of an (original, 15 yrs old) timer-switch, original 15 yrs old thermostat, original wiring centre next to the (7 yr old) pump, and 6 year old Remeha Avanta 18v boiler. We found the CH to be OK...