Early February

A dozen workmen on site this week (and they were all men).

• Loft insulation trebled from about 100mm to ~300mm
• Air Source Heat Pump central heating & hot water system
• radiators installed throughout upstairs
• connected to the underfloor heating downstairs
• Solar PV on the roof: front and rear faces – which face east and west, so will generate electricity in the morning and afternoon
• positive air ventilation system to the landing

Amazingly, all through a council scheme.  For free.  Mainly because the house had no central heating and such a poor environmental performance rating + health issues which would be exasperated by a cold, damp house.

In Greater Manchester?  You can check if you qualify here.

Radiators!

In the front bedroom I will insulate the front wall soon.  Soon-ish.  In a few months, after we’ve moved in.

But the radiator was being installed now.

So I made a temporary hollow wall from plywood, for the radiator now, in the place where the insulation will be when it is done.  So don’t have to move the pipes later.

This scheme includes radiators, but not underfloor heating – but as we had already installed underfloor heating downstairs they were able to connect straight to it.

I am delighted (and relieved) to report that the underfloor heating that we installed over Christmas, with no previous experience … works!

Plant Room

We now have a plant room. Also know as ‘the loft’.

A hot water cylinder means warm water at the ready, at a steady temperature.  Putting it in the loft saves valuable space in the house.

The hot water tank is in the middle.

To the right of it, the smaller tank is a buffer tank for the central heating circuit.  It expands the volume of water circulating, so the heat pump can work more steadily, instead of cycling on and off.  This should be more efficient later, when the house is really well insulated, and needs little heating.

On the left is the solar PV inverter, converting the DC electricity from the solar panels above into AC electricty for the mains.

And the blue thing with a trunk?

Pros

• Fast.  Whole install completed in just a few weeks, from first contact to completion.
• Free
• Free.  Worth repeating.
• Free.  Yes, really.  Completely.
• Works well.  The outside heat pump unit is really quiet.  The brand is Vaillant.  I will look out for Quiet Mark on other products.
• They designed the system to fit with my whole house plan, as much as they could within the scheme

Cons

• The scheme had rigid constraints, so there were limits to what was available and possible.  Some things didn’t fit with the whole house plan, but it was all or nothing.  No contest.
• No choice of installer.  I could not use my own installer as planned, who had already designed everything, and I was in the process of booking.  I had to use the single installer appointed by the council.
• Rushed.  Lack of detailed planning.  No plans shared in advance, to consider and feedback.  e.g. some pipework is now in the way of the location of the planned ventilation ducting, so this will have to be re-designed.
• 3 serious errors.  Repeated visits required to correct / finish the job properly.  One of the errors could have damaged the heating system.  Seems we got away with it though.