Recent content by mattnotfat

Hi. I've taken off layers of peeling old paint from a bath stone window sill. Without the paint there's now a gap at the bottom of the window. Should I seal this or leave it open? Thanks

Thanks for all your input folks. I googled whether to cut power to an AC in the winter and this https://structuretech.com/ac-breaker-off/ basically answers the question. The consumption will be the crankcase heater and not all ACs have them. If it does, it may or may not be a good idea to cut...

Well, the back-up heater was something I knew about when I opted for a heat pump. Overall the heat pump cost to run for the 3 years has been similar to a modern gas boiler, with a SCOP of 3.5. In the coldest weather I get a COP of around 2.2, some of which might be from the back-up heater. But...

I have an air conditioning question, and it seems like most of the air con questions are in this forum? I was thinking of fitting an Electriq Easy Fit split air con system, to cool the upstairs of the house. It uses R290 (propane) refrigerant and so can be DIY fitted. The main thing that has...

Ok, thanks. Possibly I didn't make the joints properly, but I did both ends in the same way, about 5 turns of ptfe in the correct direction. But both rads leak from the left end and not the right. I've fixed it now by using the insert from the old radiator instead of the screwfix one. The...

Hi, I've got two new screwfix Kudox radiators the same size, both are leaking from the threaded insert where it joins the casting. I installed with ptfe tape, and used the same amount on the other end. Both rads are leaking from one end, not the other which suggests it wasn't a great batch. Is...

Ok, thanks. I didn't know about TRV heads. Generally I've not considered programming heating, I only switch my CH on and off manually. When I had it on the timer one winter my bills went up by about a third. For a Victorian 3 bed terrace my total gas consumption was about 9000kwh last year...

Right, so maybe this is where I'm calculating it wrong? This is how I've got these figures. The radiator in the back bedroom is a one fin 1m x 0.5m. The closest I can find is this 1m x 0.6m radiator, https://www.directheatingsupplies.co.uk/stelrad-elite-radiator-p-600-x-1000 rated at 1400w on...

To be clear about how I arrived at that "1/4 kwh compared to gas" figure. Last year my gas consumption was 8900kwh, of which I reckon 8000kwh was CH. The total wattage of radiators in this house is about 6kwh. 6kwh x 6 hours a day for 6 months of the year x 33% of the time is 2162kwh. Close to...

Hmm. Some angry people on a forum after posting a simple wiring query. I have no idea what I'm supposed to be in denial about. If you want to know my reasons for considering infrared heating, it's in the posts above. You're welcome to disagree. But there's no point in getting insulting.

No. To be clear I'm not suggesting a 1kw of infrared heat will majically raise the average measured air temp in the room any more than a 1kw oil rad or 1kw convector. What matters is how warm does the person in the room feel? Like I said before - on a sunny day go from the shade into the sun and...

They do cover this on their site, "Most of other forms of heaters are convection heaters which primarily heat volumes of air, which then has to transfer its heat to the building in order to warm the thermal mass. The problem is that hot air rises to the ceiling (where you don’t want it) and...

Ok, maybe the way to do it. I think I'll have to get the electrician involved, which is a shame if he can't do it soon I won't be able to get a proper comparison with Dec/Jan usage.

The general rule I've read is that providing the infrared heaters aren't under-spec'd they should be 'on' one third of the time https://www.acchaus.com/blog/far-infrared-heating-its-heating-jim-but-not-as-we-know-it/ Requirements for the whole house is slightly less Kwh than total CH radiator...

I wouldn't say it's a lie. The point is a radiator warms the air, and people feel warm because the air around them is warm. But it takes more energy to warm the air enough to have the secondary benefit of making occupants feel warm. Infrared heat warms the objects in the room, including people...