Search found 1872 matches

by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:33 pm
Forum: Cafe
Topic: Where am I ?
Replies: 142
Views: 46017

Re: Where am I ?

Today I was walking around some rocks on the beach and I found a self filling and emptying rock pool which was connected to the sea via a hole in the bottom of it. The gentle waves were causing it to fill and empty every few seconds. I reckon something like that could easily be scaled up and taken ...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:09 pm
Forum: Photovoltaic
Topic: Shedhenge
Replies: 122
Views: 20597

Re: Shedhenge

My preferred cable jointing is twisting the conductors together, then soldering and then fitting two layers of the shrink sleeving that has the hot melt glue. Makes a pretty much 100% reliable joint, and is the way I joined the short cable from our submersible well pump to the long cable that comes ...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:03 pm
Forum: Cafe
Topic: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)
Replies: 58
Views: 10532

Re: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)

Time for some divination of the water. get yer wee flags out! Divining for water here would be hilarious! The stuff is everywhere at this time of year, with goodness knows how many springs flowing like billy oh over the other side of the lane. Much further up the valley, towards the chalk escarpmen...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 4:38 pm
Forum: Energy efficiency
Topic: Loft Insulation
Replies: 7
Views: 5325

Re: Loft Insulation

Should make a significant difference. at our old place I found that just sealing up all the places where there were draughts made a heck of a difference. I rigged up an old electric car radiator fan in a bit of ply and taped it to an open widow, so I could try and feel where the worst air leaks were...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 4:31 pm
Forum: Energy storage, batteries, energy tariffs
Topic: Anyone else had a bill for the recent cold snap?
Replies: 85
Views: 13667

Re: Anyone else had a bill for the recent cold snap?

What's the betting we see a rise in the price of insulation? Spoke to the chap that runs our parish council just before Christmas and he was complaining about not being able to find anyone to give him a quote to add insulation to his old house. Apparently the insulation companies are now getting rus...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:24 pm
Forum: Cafe
Topic: Where am I ?
Replies: 142
Views: 46017

Re: Where am I ?

I spent a week in Spain learning to fly a paramotor years ago. A few of us used to meet up locally and fly around the local area, but my left knee gave out, and I just couldn't run to launch any more, so sold it and gave up. Great fun, though.
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 12:20 pm
Forum: Spaceheating
Topic: Storage Heaters
Replies: 395
Views: 59085

Re: Storage Heaters

We have 300mm of insulation under our concrete slab (which I know is a bit OTT) but we still lose around 10% or more of the heat we put into the slab down through the insulation to the cooler ground beneath. Doesn't this even out a bit over time? In the past I read about only insulating the perimet...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 10:31 am
Forum: Spaceheating
Topic: Storage Heaters
Replies: 395
Views: 59085

Re: Storage Heaters

You want the UFH beneath the slab... Surely having the UFH pipes on the lower side rather than in the centre or closer to the upper surface increases the heat losses downwards, doesn't it? We have 300mm of insulation under our concrete slab (which I know is a bit OTT) but we still lose around 10% o...
by Oldgreybeard
Thu Dec 29, 2022 8:55 am
Forum: Cafe
Topic: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)
Replies: 58
Views: 10532

Re: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)

Few things that are bothering me with some of the assumptions OGB - If the leak had become larger, wouldn’t this have had a significant impact on domestic water pressure in those homes fed by the pipe ? I know when we had our leak, water pressure was the first indicator - at its worst, we had virtu...
by Oldgreybeard
Wed Dec 28, 2022 10:26 pm
Forum: Cafe
Topic: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)
Replies: 58
Views: 10532

Re: Am I being unreasonable to feel a bit annoyed? (a long tale)

I think you mentioned a stop valve at the top of the lane... Is it possible that after the "repairs" it's now only cracked open so the audible leak has disappeared? This would allow them to claim that they have completed the job - until the people on the main start to complain of loss of ...