Recent content by turpis

It's a good suggestion to insulate over them and I would be tempted but they're in such an awkward position - right at the point the rear extension joins to the house. To get at them for maintenance / repairs I've got to squeeze between about a 300mm space between two rafters, and even then one...

Sorry, there's a lot of similar terms that are easy to confuse for the layman - feed tank, expansion tank, header tank, cold cistern is a new one. I know the tank and vent pipe you mean though, and I don't plan on valving it & turning it into an unvented system!

Ah I see, so that bend should be 150mm + 40mm/m above the feed / expansion tank level? Thanks

Thanks very much @trojanhawrs this is just the info I needed. Could you clarify a few things? Is the pump head the distance from the pump to the lowest point of the heating system i.e. bottom of lowest rad? You lost me here, what's the cold cistern vent - you mean the overflow on the HW feed...

Like I say, all HW in the house comes from an electric pump

My house has a very typical setup: airing cupboard in bathroom with the unvented vented cylinder in, two tanks in the loft for the CH and HW systems. I want to add more insulation in the loft space but the tanks are in the way. Thought about raising them up on boards but would be a right pain...

You've misunderstood my concern - if a push fit joint in the central heating plumbing pops apart the feed tank will empty, the float valve will open and the mains water will top it back up, meaning that faulty joint will keep leaking forever and flood the house. If I turn off the supply to the...

In an unpressurised system with a feed tank in the loft, is it safe to turn off the supply of cold water to the feed tank once the system is filled & bled? I've got a niggling anxiety that if a joint or fitting goes, the feed tank will keep being supplied from the mains and could flood the...

I think you're jumping to the conclusion that the damp is a result of poor ventilation. How old is the extension? Many old concrete slabs (and probably a fair few modern ones) have an improperly installed DPC. Prior to lifting floorboards were there any visible issues? If not, there is always...

What's it for I wonder, doorbell? Outdoor light? For joints within plaster I believe heatshrinked crimps are a regs-compliant solution. I was rewiring a bedroom just last week. Turned the breaker for the ring main off, put it my earphones and got to work clearing out the old cable. Quickly...

I'd be tempted to let it dry out and see how bad it is. If it's green then it's moisture resistant and may survive.

Yeah I've heard this line of thinking. I don't agree with it because, in my old house at least, the space between floors is fairly draughty + any heat escaping up will be absorbed by the floorboards / carpet rather than actually heating the room. Building regs for new builds also says any CH...

Just wanted to check I'm not missing something before I go and swap my copper pipes for plastic. Say you want to run 15mm copper heating pipes perpendicular to joists and use foam insulation which is typically 13mm. Because it's copper you need to notch the joists rather than hole them. The...

I wouldn't overthink it. A few normal screws straight into the stud aren't going to make a spot of difference to the insulation's effectiveness. That's what the manufacturers recommend. Mitre / foam depends how much time you've got on your hands!

In terms of effectiveness, PIR is king (U value ~.022), then Rockwool SLABS (~.038) then standard loft insulation roll (~.044). In terms of budget it's as you'd expect, PIR is the most expensive, insulation roll is the least. And in terms of installation PIR is the most tricky to install (need...