Nice people thread part 3- Nice as pie

treliac

lostinrates wrote: »

If we could find the camera we might be able to discover if I remember correctly that it was broken. I think it relatively safe to share internal plans...no view from the outside?

I hope it's safe.... I'd certainly be one nosy person who would love to see them.

lostinrates

RenovationMan wrote: »

We have a woodburner connected to a Heat Bank cylinder that supplies both our heating and hot water requirements. We had it installed recently and I'm really pleased with it. We have a large source of free wood from all the renovations we are doing, so our heating bills should be quite low this winter. If funds allow, we intend adding solar water heating into the loop which should supply enough hot water for all summer and a decent percentage in early autumn and late spring.

Have you looked at ground or air sourced heat pumps as an alternative to your oil fired central heating? They compare favourably with oil from what I've read, though as we have mains gas and an efficient condensing boiler the costs dont add up. SHame because our heatbank cylinder also allows connection to a GSHP.

Looking at all of this soon with our architect. Its all a bit confusing for me I'm afraid, but we do plan to be quite serious in energy production one way or another. we're also looking at all the options for other people using some of our roof space (we can't use the house roof but can use barn rooves for solar generation).

It did occure to me to wonder this last week what happens to solar/pv when covered in snow! Ground or air source is on our list for discussion. I really do not love our wood burner. I is not wildly efficient, I don't thnk, and last night, on the third re reading of the manual, I prepared it to go through the night, and half way through the night it was raging like an inferno. This morning only one lacklustre ember was left. The only other woodbuner I've had was much more user friendly I think. This is a bit like a rayburn I had that would only get up to temperature when the wind was blowing from the south or west, and refused to play ball with a NE wind..hovering at a simmer temp in the hot oven:rotfl:

Trel, we have a deal with the oil providers who provide my parents, so we get a goodish deal that way while we are still on oil, and the large regional company that provided them and us seem, with the repeat order discount to be as good a deal as we can get locally. Its just such a shock to have gone through so much so quickly! I'm actually already on the list for a delivery but when they called I went out with phone and told them how much we had and we agreed I;d be fine for a while! So I have to call on wednesday and tell them we underestimated the poor efficiency of the house pre renovation! I'mjust a bit concerned about waiting times..not for us so much as pipes. If we had all the cracks sealed and insulation in we'd be totally unphased.....but we don't!

Doozergirl

LIR, you should go and get your mattress and drag it into the sitting room. Proper cosy.

lostinrates

Doozergirl wrote: »

LIR, you should go and get your mattress and drag it into the sitting room. Proper cosy.

Urgh....TBH floor might be better than our mattress....something I should consider looking at in the sales. But we don't agree on mattresses and DH won't consider one that's different on either half (guess who hogs the middle ). But the spare room mattress is closer....good idea!

lostinrates

re cold.....it feels so much more bearable now that downstairs loo has thawed. Outside its a lot milder.

treliac

lostinrates wrote: »

Trel, we have a deal with the oil providers who provide my parents, so we get a goodish deal that way while we are still on oil, and the large regional company that provided them and us seem, with the repeat order discount to be as good a deal as we can get locally. Its just such a shock to have gone through so much so quickly! I'm actually already on the list for a delivery but when they called I went out with phone and told them how much we had and we agreed I;d be fine for a while! So I have to call on wednesday and tell them we underestimated the poor efficiency of the house pre renovation! I'mjust a bit concerned about waiting times..not for us so much as pipes. If we had all the cracks sealed and insulation in we'd be totally unphased.....but we don't!

You've taken on a huge project, haven't you?! Hang on to your vision of the end product. It's a pity we are having the coldest winter in living memory. Let's hope we go into an early spring.

I've got DD not long on the road and doing a lengthy and rural commute to uni. I've had my heart in my mouth many times already.... she's definitely cutting her teeth as a driver this winter.

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

Looking at all of this soon with our architect. Its all a bit confusing for me I'm afraid, but we do plan to be quite serious in energy production one way or another. we're also looking at all the options for other people using some of our roof space (we can't use the house roof but can use barn rooves for solar generation).

I thought barn roof initially, but now I'm not so sure. Who goes up there to check/clean it? (and take the snow off) Because of vertigo, I can't go up there myself, though I can clean out the gutters.

Now I'm considering ground-mounted. A bit ugly maybe, and we'd lose some hay, but the sheep could still graze underneath.

Doozergirl

If I were a horse, they'd have shot me by now.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

I thought barn roof initially, but now I'm not so sure. Who goes up there to check/clean it? (and take the snow off) Because of vertigo, I can't go up there myself, though I can clean out the gutters.

Now I'm considering ground-mounted. A bit ugly maybe, and we'd lose some hay, but the sheep could still graze underneath.

I guess they get fairly hot in sun and melt more quickly...but barn roof is what we are thinking...its something we are really not short on!

edit: DH is in the secret room now looking through boxes with a torch for a dvd to watch. It made me laugh that someone coming in would think I had a ghost in the ceiling petulantly saying ''I refuse to watch Ingmar Bergman''

dopester

lostinrates wrote: »

Its just such a shock to have gone through so much so quickly!

Don't really want to peek at the criminal mind in this thread, but just to remind people there have been some alerts this year warning about rural heating oil theft. People thinking there has been a leak only to find expensive theft, but I can believe it's just heavy use for you Lir with the weather.

I watched a Youtube video a while back on how to set up a woodburning stove safely and efficiently, but haven't been able to re-find it. There are similar videos but not as good.

The YouTube video was a USA lady who seemed to know a lot about the subject, explaining if you load the wood North and South, you get hotter and faster burn. Loading wood so it's East and West gives a slow and steady efficient burn, night and day. Does that make any sense to you? There was other things to it with oxygen levels, types of wood, and so on.... just made me realise if I ever had such a stove then I'd really have to learn how to get the best out of it, safely.

Trel; that really is good news for your household about the new permanent employment position. I'm happy you are happy about it.