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We're nearing the end of a heat pump installation. We've had UFH downstairs and radiators upstairs, all new. They switched it on for the first time on Wednesday (upstairs only) to test it. The sound of water running through pipes is loud. Like keep you awake at night loud. When the...

The walls in our house were originally painted then had blown vinyl wallpaper over the top. I've stripped the paper off the walls which pulled off some of the paint, and scraped away at the remainder to remove everything that is loose. Lastly, I power sanded it but there is still a lot of...

I'm having an air source heat pump fitted with underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs. I noticed today that there are no TRVs on the rads. It's not going to work for us. My son wants his radiator off except during very cold weather. We need the bedrooms at different...

Part of me wants to tell them that with quite some force. The trouble with administrators is that you need to persuade them to let you through the gate.

What is a typical specification for a domestic drive? Our new house is in an area covered by a conservation trust. It is in the "modern zone" rather than in the conservation area but we still have to apply for all changes. We want to widen the drive and have submitted an application with...

I've found slightly different figures on line for the various elements. They give a U value for the walls between 0.37 and 0.40 - not awful, not great. My calcs take the concrete floors to be U 0.8, the walls to be 0.4, the roof to be 0.13 and the windows to be 1.6 (or 1.0 where the orangary...

We're going for a heat pump. Gas is on its way out and installing a new system seems short sighted. Heat pumps work best at low water temperatures which is why I'm looking at replacing what's there already. By my calcs, with loft insulation upgraded to a U value of 0.13 and with the rear...

Nu-heat phoned today to follow up on a few things. They explained that UFH needs heating controls per room to comply with regs, like radiators have TRVs. They offered to supply neoStats for the minor rooms gratis so that they can comply with regulations but not at our expense. The guy also...

They say they're geared up to supply DIYers and plumbers who don't know UFH. They send installation instructions aimed at the DIYer, including the exact layout of the pipes. I'd lift the floors upstairs, fit the plastic pipe throughout. We'll be having a heat pump at the same time, so I'll...

I had a quote from Nu Heat for a supply only UFH system. There's 78m2 of castellated trays, pipes and screed for down stairs, 60m2 of polystyrene under floor trays and pipes for upstairs. Manifolds, wiring centres, the whole thing. The first red flag is that they've quoted for 12 thermostats...

I'm thinking of buying a table saw and the Evolution Rage5-s seems to fit my balance of performance vs price. Shopping around I see that the same few designs are sold by different brands, no doubt with a few changes to specification here and there. I see this is the case with the Rage5-s -...

I've just run the numbers. 5mm of XPS would reduce the U value of a solid concrete floor from 0.80 to 0.49, which sounds like a lot. Over a six month heating season, it would save about £120. So it would pay for itself in about 2 years. Well worth it unless 5mm of head height is going to...

I've found some of their videos on YouTube. They stick the self adhesive castelated mat straight to the concrete. I agree, I'd rather see some insulation under there. They seem not to bother. I guess you're heating the sub soil under the slab. The middle bit might be OK after a while, but a...

Nu Heat claim their underfloor heating can be laid on uninsulated concrete floors without the need for insulation. Is that right? Now I get that the floor will be equally uninsulated with radiators or any other form of heating. I'm willing to believe that if a room needs 1000W of radiator...

50mm only because that's probably what is in there and probably what I'd fit on the inside. 50mm because that's a standard size.

The comment on radiator sizes is a good one though. I'll have to check that one out.

3.75kW is just through the fabric of the building, not account for air changes or leakage. The cavities are filled already. IWE is to improve on that. There is close to zero chance of us getting permission for external insulation.

We're going for low carbon rather than lowest cost. The solar panels will cover the first part of the heating cost. Electricity would have to be 4 times the cost of gas to make it cost more overall.

The first 50mm of insulation does the most work. It is diminishing returns from there on. We're going to see the house again next week to measure up. I'll see if I can accurately measure the thickness of the wall to gauge the thickness of the cavity. I can redo the calculations then. I...

3 of the windows are the original metal framed with the thinnest of thin sealed units retrofitted. They'll be replaced with UPVC to match the rest of the house. Thanks for the tip about the plaster. That sounds like a lot of work for a few millimetres of room. The floor is solid concrete. I...