Recent content by jamespetts

Thank you for your reply. As to solar thermal, I presume that this would need an accumulator tank for maximum efficiency, as the sun does not shine 24 hours a day? From what I understand, solar thermal can provide a person's entire hot water needs throughout the day in the summer if a hot water...

Thank you: that is very helpful. Perhaps I was overcomplicating things rather: I just liked the idea of backups if there was any future issue with gas supply, but perhaps there won't be with the advent of UK hydraulic fracturing. These things are hard to predict. Could a gas/electric range...

Interesting perspective - thank you. It's a two bedroom terraced house. The reasoning for the solid fuel stove and solar thermal is that all the rooms bar the kitchen have backup heating capabilities (i.e., the original fireplace) in case of central heating failure. I am trying to decorate...

Yes, that was the reason that I was asking about this. I have some doubts that a Victorian attic was designed to take a tonne weight. If it can't go in the attic, it would probably have to go in the bathroom, which would take space there, which would potentially affect redecoration, which is why...

Ahh, I see, thank you. The Heat Genius system has individual remote controlled TRVs for each radiator, which link to the master controller, which, in turn, links to the boiler switch. I think that, if one of the radiators had a manual valve instead of a TRV and was putting out a lot of heat in...

Thank you very much for your reply; does this mean that I should not refurbish the bathroom until I am ready to install an accumulator tank, if that is what I decide to do?

Thank you: that is helpful. Does this mean that there needs to be one radiator somewhere that has a manual valve and is always on, as in a conventional installation, or is something more required? Does this mean that there is no way to have remote controlled and/or zoned heating in any...

Ahh, yes, that does make sense. How would the Z Wave controlled electronic switch for the gas boiler interact with an accumulator tank system with multiple heat sources? Indeed, how would an ordinary thermostatic switch for a gas boiler interact with such a system?

Splendid, thank you for your help. One further question - should one redecorate before or after changing the radiators?

Splendid, thank you, that's very helpful. I suppose that the central heating inlet can bypass the water softener? (Although, would this not have the central heating furring up with lime? Or do the inhibitors in the radiator circuit prevent that?) Out of interest, why the cold tap in the kitchen?

If one were to have installed a Heat Genius z-wave automated heating system (thermostat, boiler control, thermometers/motion sensors and electronic remote control TRVs) on an ordinary modern system with a gas combination boiler, then later add solar thermal panels and/or a solid fuel stove with...

If I were to refurbish a bathroom in which a reasonably modern combination boiler (in what I assume is a pressurised unvented system with no header tanks) were located and then, in a few months or a year or two in the future, have solar thermal panels and/or a solid fuel stove in the kitchen...

May I ask - if one is thinking of having cast iron radiators installed in place of ordinary flat panel radiators, is there any great advantage (for example, in terms of installation cost) to having them all done at once, or might it equally well be done room by room on different occasions...

Yes, I suppose that that is the danger of that model from the tradesperson's point of view, although that is what I saw advertised on a few websites. I suppose that one way of combating that would be to charge for it, but waive that charge if the customer has more than a certain value of work...

Do you provide central heating elves that turn the boiler and radiators on and off when required, fix any faults that may develop and make the tea in the morning? If so, perhaps...