How much can I practically/legally DIY, and other newb questions

[NikoV6]

It does and it will. Flexibility is a bit of a Grail place to be. My values used to be financial, then planet but tbh I'm now about as much independence as I can have in my power world. The first two reasons are still present but doing it for myself on as many of the 365 as I can is very important now. Almost a game but for real.

I agree, being as independent as possible is our goal too. We have no gas here so everything is electric! Keeping a leaky welsh cottage warm with an ASHP can have our 13.5Kw battery flat (bar 20% backup) by early afternoon on a poor day. We are toying with the idea of taking total battery capacity to around 27Kw to ensure we stay off peak rates as much as possible

Do everything you can to plug air leaks and insulate. There is absolutely no point in heating the world from your house. I say that tongue in cheek but it's the sort of thought I had when I got to grips with my own house and felt the cumulative difference of all the little works. Every little bit you can do in this regard matters..

Trying to find out how you insulate very wonky stone walls that are two feet thick! Dont want to do internal insulation, would rather do external but all the external insulation methods I have seen use nice smooth brick walls. Walls of our house are all over the place!

[Joeboy]

I agree, being as independent as possible is our goal too. We have no gas here so everything is electric! Keeping a leaky welsh cottage warm with an ASHP can have our 13.5Kw battery flat (bar 20% backup) by early afternoon on a poor day. We are toying with the idea of taking total battery capacity to around 27Kw to ensure we stay off peak rates as much as possible

Do everything you can to plug air leaks and insulate. There is absolutely no point in heating the world from your house. I say that tongue in cheek but it's the sort of thought I had when I got to grips with my own house and felt the cumulative difference of all the little works. Every little bit you can do in this regard matters..

Trying to find out how you insulate very wonky stone walls that are two feet thick! Dont want to do internal insulation, would rather do external but all the external insulation methods I have seen use nice smooth brick walls. Walls of our house are all over the place!

That's a hard one, I'd try to protect the thermal mass potential so would look at outside insulation but that could be heinous to the eye.

[AGT]

Yep, fully agree about the insulation,50 bucks in the orange shed last night for 2 rolls of 200mm thick insulation,
I just grab it while I’m passing, knowing I will need it later in the week..

[Stinsy]

Trying to find out how you insulate very wonky stone walls that are two feet thick! Dont want to do internal insulation, would rather do external but all the external insulation methods I have seen use nice smooth brick walls. Walls of our house are all over the place!

That is more of an astetic choice. If you have a beautiful stone cottage then EWI would ruin it. A friend of mine bought a pair of ex-council semis and converter them into a single house. He fitted EWI rendered in a modern cream and fitted grey-framed windows/doors and it looks fantastic.

[Joeboy]

Are there any clear spray on breathable matt coatings? External applied and at least the cooling process would slowed a bit, dry stone v's wet?

For the inside I'd be thinking of wallhangings on the North side of the building and these backed with the insulating roll of your choice & budget. (Welsh bayeux tapestry type deal, I'd go Turkish wall hangings myself).

Doors and windows I'd triple glaze. Roof and underfloor depending on budget and build.

Don't forget the pipe & cable entry's and similar into the building. They add up and a couple of tubes of silicone or aerosol of expanding foam are about as cheap an upgrade as can be found.

[AGT]

Just paid for my low e toughened glass 4/6/4 double glazed unit
Approx 1100x420mm. £60
2 week turnaround and then I have a bit of secondary glazing above the front door to fit.

[Joeboy]

Just paid for my low e toughened glass 4/6/4 double glazed unit
Approx 1100x420mm. £60
2 week turnaround and then I have a bit of secondary glazing above the front door to fit.

You'll feel the difference there. I blew a load of cellulose insulation into hard to access loft areas. Used a 2000W garden vacuum on blow mode, worked well but dusty to say the least. Mentioning in case it would be an.idea of use to.you?

[openspaceman]

For the inside I'd be thinking of wallhangings on the North side of the building and these backed with the insulating roll of your choice & budget. (Welsh bayeux tapestry type deal, I'd go Turkish wall hangings myself).

I asked about these wall hangings before, what effect do you think they have?

I wonder if the risk is they would pass water vapour and then the inside solid wall being cooler deposit it as moisture on the wall.

The thing is it is such a simple thing to try for effect, whereas knocking off plaster and fixing 50mm of celotex is a big and costly job.

[AGT]

Just paid for my low e toughened glass 4/6/4 double glazed unit
Approx 1100x420mm. £60
2 week turnaround and then I have a bit of secondary glazing above the front door to fit.

You'll feel the difference there. I blew a load of cellulose insulation into hard to access loft areas. Used a 2000W garden vacuum on blow mode, worked well but dusty to say the least. Mentioning in case it would be an.idea of use to.you?

Been doing the sniper crawl under the sarking near the wall plate, would have had to do the same if I was blowing to maintain the gap on the coomed ceiling but good idea, will file that away when the kids get houses.
Now liking the loft, uniform colour and thickness of insulation appealing to my OCD.

[Joeboy]

For the inside I'd be thinking of wallhangings on the North side of the building and these backed with the insulating roll of your choice & budget. (Welsh bayeux tapestry type deal, I'd go Turkish wall hangings myself).

I asked about these wall hangings before, what effect do you think they have?

I wonder if the risk is they would pass water vapour and then the inside solid wall being cooler deposit it as moisture on the wall.

The thing is it is such a simple thing to try for effect, whereas knocking off plaster and fixing 50mm of celotex is a big and costly job.

Keeping it very general. A wallhanging with an attached aircelled foil backed insulation would act as an excellent deflector of heat back into the room. Air would still circulate round the back and there would be losses but if the wish is to keep an old stone aesthetic I think there would feel able gains made at low to no risk of moisture build up?

Just remembered that SWMBO & I were at a wedding up on the black Isle a number of years ago. Swagged sari fabric was used across the beams of the village hall where the reception took place. It was a stunning effect. I'd head that way as I am not shy about bright colours and having knocked about markets in India know it would be a reasonably priced entry into large area coverage fabrics. Just a thought.