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Climate Change

Rorschach said:
As I was saying you can turn off the limiter. It is cleverly disguised as the Eco setting as it saves your battery but it just limits the acceleration. Me though I drive like a granny. I'll get there when I get there.
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A discussion with my neighbour when he had one led me to check the specs on the Leaf. IIRC it was more than 7s to 60 and topped out below 100mph.

It's quick for an environmentally efficient car, but I wouldn't want to be trying to sneak up the wrong lane (no, not that way Chich) at a set of lights with that pace, nor would I be overly confident overtaking a lorry on an A road.

The reason I ask is that I'm not sure what the limiting factor is there - is it the torque from the battery or the ability of the car to translate that through the tyres?
 
scaramanga said:
A discussion with my neighbour when he had one led me to check the specs on the Leaf. IIRC it was more than 7s to 60 and topped out below 100mph.

It's quick for an environmentally efficient car, but I wouldn't want to be trying to sneak up the wrong lane (no, not that way Chich) at a set of lights with that pace, nor would I be overly confident overtaking a lorry on an A road.

The reason I ask is that I'm not sure what the limiting factor is there - is it the torque from the battery or the ability of the car to translate that through the tyres?
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Well, it is not a performance car but it is fast. I'd imagine all the family-oriented EVs are similar enough on that front. Anyway, that is missing the point in buying one I would suggest. If it is breakneck acceleration you are after you are into iPace or Tesla land.
 
The speed of an electric is you don’t need to drop a gear to say overtake, the acceleration is there all the time. That saves a couple of seconds in most real world situations where you need to floor it.

The problem is still the charging for me. If you don’t have a garage, it’s just not practical.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
 
SpurMeUp said:
Funnily enough no. Will run the plans past a couple though. Have a structual engineer on board and the Mrs likes designing, taught herself how to draw up full plans in autocad. We did one project like this previously - much simpler - an office fit out from a concrete shell. Just got planning permission for a extension. Still have a lot of design work to do. Was about to read about boilers...
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If you are upping your green credentials then you should be considering an air source heat pump rather than a boiler. It is not suitable for all applications, you need a bit more space too, and is quite a bit more expensive. Your whole house must be energy efficient to a certain standard or it just won't function efficiently either. But if you are flush and you are also upgrading the rest of the house (not just the new extension) then it is worth considering.
 
Rorschach said:
If you are upping your green credentials then you should be considering an air source heat pump rather than a boiler. It is not suitable for all applications, you need a bit more space too, and is quite a bit more expensive. Your whole house must be energy efficient to a certain standard or it just won't function efficiently either. But if you are flush and you are also upgrading the rest of the house (not just the new extension) then it is worth considering.
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Right. And you need bigger radiators? It’s an old house and not well insulated. Will try to improve that but never going to be as well insulted as a new build.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
 
SpurMeUp said:
The speed of an electric is you don’t need to drop a gear to say overtake, the acceleration is there all the time. That saves a couple of seconds in most real world situations where you need to floor it.

The problem is still the charging for me. If you don’t have a garage, it’s just not practical.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
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It takes me significantly less than a couple of seconds to flick my left little finger. That's if I even need to shift down to get some torque.

No advantage there that I can see.
 
SpurMeUp said:
Right. And you need bigger radiators? It’s an old house and not well insulated. Will try to improve that but never going to be as well insulted as a new build.


Sitting on my porcelain throne using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app
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The heat pump works best with underfloor as that is a low temp system rather than rads which need the water to be quite hot, The heat pump can't get the water up hot enough really. Sounds like this is a definite no for your project.

Whatever boiler you go for you can check out the seasonal efficiency here -> https://www.ncm-pcdb.org.uk/sap/searchpod.jsp?id=17
You should not be getting anything under 90% efficient really. Pay close attention to the heating controls as that is what saves you the real money in the end.
 
@Rorschach can we talk Heat Pumps! Seriously considering one, as it can provide cooling as well heating and its more environmental than a boiler?

While we're at it, I've never liked cooking on electric, but that is a must too these days?
 
SpurMeUp said:
@Rorschach can we talk Heat Pumps! Seriously considering one, as it can provide cooling as well heating and its more environmental than a boiler?

While we're at it, I've never liked cooking on electric, but that is a must too these days?
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I would recommend electricity for everything now. As the grid moves to more renewable sources, which is inevitable really, then your own carbon footprint will drop along with it. I heard induction hobs are good for cooking on but I've not tried them yet.

I'll come back to you on heat pumps. The advice around that can get complicated.
 
Rorschach said:
I would recommend electricity for everything now. As the grid moves to more renewable sources, which is inevitable really, then your own carbon footprint will drop along with it. I heard induction hobs are good for cooking on but I've not tried them yet.

I'll come back to you on heat pumps. The advice around that can get complicated.
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You're the best.

Its an old house that will never be perfectly insulated, I may need a hybrid system? I think I would put in underfloor heating which is apparently a good fit. Any suggestions on which heat pump systems to use? In the UK I think the government give you around £800 pa for 7 years for using a Heat Pump.

Shame about giving up a gas cooker but will have to do it. Induction does look cool - faster than gas to boil water and other small advantages, as well as cutting carbon emissions. Heats using a magnate? Clever stuff.
 
SpurMeUp said:
You're the best.

Its an old house that will never be perfectly insulated, I may need a hybrid system? I think I would put in underfloor heating which is apparently a good fit. Any suggestions on which heat pump systems to use? In the UK I think the government give you around £800 pa for 7 years for using a Heat Pump.

Shame about giving up a gas cooker but will have to do it. Induction does look cool - faster than gas to boil water and other small advantages, as well as cutting carbon emissions. Heats using a magnate? Clever stuff.
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I'll leave the financials to one side. I presume you know how much you can spend or not.

Generally speaking, heat pumps are very efficient (4 units of heat for 1 unit of electricity is a rule of thumb) in a moderate climate like the UK. Once the weather gets more extreme then the compressor doesn't work as efficiently and that is where a hybrid system switches to gas or whatever. At a colder temperature gas becomes financially better to use and the system does that calculation based on the price per unit of each (gas or elec). Hybrid systems are even more expensive though so you should have a look at the literature and see if it is entirely necessary you go this way. You are of course in the weather predicting game here too. If you think the UK weather is likely to tend towards colder winters with climate change then a hybrid system sounds a good (if expensive) fit. On the other hand, burning gas is something we should be stopping!!!

Also generally speaking heat pumps don't work that well in older houses. Your house is mix of old and new so you really need to retrofit, insulation and air-tightness, as best you can in the older part. Otherwise the heat pump will have to work too hard and will be a lot more expensive to run. There are calculations you can do to see if the heat pump is suitable for your house, but they are rather complicated and involve a survey. It might be worthwhile investigating this.

Underfloor with a multiple zone manifold is the ideal way to go. Lots of independent heating circuits rather than one or two big circuits. Retrofitting underfloor in a older house can be tricky and messy. Imagine raising all the floors and all that needs to happen with the doors, skirting boards, kitchen units, etc. Generally speaking it might be better to stay with rads in the older house ( and underfloor in the extension. There are rads designed for the underfloor/low temp feeds so investigate those.

I'll come back to you on the cooling aspect as I'm a not 100% convinced how effective this is.
 
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Cheers!

It's a shame - the existing pine floor boards in the old part of the house have to come up anyway as there is no insulation. With full gas heating on there is so much cold coming in through the victorian floor.

https://www.gov.uk/renewable-heat-incentive-calculator worth checking out for anyone fitting a new boiler.

Hopefully with this incentive it will take the edge off the extra expense. Being able to reverse the heat exchange to become a cooling airconditioner would be neat. But in the UK its only a handfull of days a year where it'd be used. I guess you would need a place where cooler air is dispensed? Need to do some more research.
 
SpurMeUp said:
Cheers!

It's a shame - the existing pine floor boards in the old part of the house have to come up anyway as there is no insulation. With full gas heating on there is so much cold coming in through the victorian floor.

https://www.gov.uk/renewable-heat-incentive-calculator worth checking out for anyone fitting a new boiler.

Hopefully with this incentive it will take the edge off the extra expense. Being able to reverse the heat exchange to become a cooling airconditioner would be neat. But in the UK its only a handfull of days a year where it'd be used. I guess you would need a place where cooler air is dispensed? Need to do some more research.
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You can get little V shape bits of plastic that stick in there and keep the draught out. We had them in one of our rooms above the cellar and they worked really well. Just bear in mind that they collect everything, so you(r cleaner) really need(s) to get the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner on them.

Edit: Found them - https://stopgaps.com/

Of course, if you have the time and inclination, a better solution is the more traditional one. Soak some string in glue and poke it into the larger gaps. Then on top (and in the smaller gaps) tip some glue-soaked sawdust. you can even stain it to match the boards then. I've heard of people using varnish to bind the sawdust but never tried it.
 
SpurMeUp said:
Cheers!

It's a shame - the existing pine floor boards in the old part of the house have to come up anyway as there is no insulation. With full gas heating on there is so much cold coming in through the victorian floor.

https://www.gov.uk/renewable-heat-incentive-calculator worth checking out for anyone fitting a new boiler.

Hopefully with this incentive it will take the edge off the extra expense. Being able to reverse the heat exchange to become a cooling airconditioner would be neat. But in the UK its only a handfull of days a year where it'd be used. I guess you would need a place where cooler air is dispensed? Need to do some more research.
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This is where I am struggling with the cooling feature, assuming you are opting for an air/water heat pump (which is the most common). There is no 'air conditioning' aspect to it. There is no air blowing or anything like that. The only way it can cool is pump cold water through the rads or the floor slab. Maybe a full floor slab would absorb ambient heat but I can't imagine rads would. Not sure how this would work to be honest but I might be missing something. Maybe take some further advice on this.

Air/air heat pump units are different altogether. This system has number of air blowing units up on the wall, one per room usually and they look a bit bricky to me. They won't look right in a Victorian style house. I imagine they can blow cold air as well as hot air by reversing the condenser unit.

My advice would be go with air/water and to install a separate air-con unit in the top floor hall ceiling that can be switched on as needed. Alternatively a roof window in your top hall ceiling (with a remote control) and also opening the windows on the ground floor will cause a passive stack effect.

As for your nice pine floors. They can be saved/reused with a bit of care. A good carpenter will get the boards up without damage or only damage the ends hidden under the skirting. The underfloor system sits down between the floor joists and the original floor can be relaid on top. The underfloor trays/insulation will block the air infiltration.

edit: the heat might warp the old timber. This might not work now that I think about it.

spreader-plate.jpg
 
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Thanks fellas.

We had the floors plugged and polished before we moved in. Its Baltic pine, apparently most British victorian foorboards are. You can see right under the floor from the basement - a good foot of air and then the damp basement foundations. It needs something like Rorshach posted above - a layer of insulation. I didn't want to, but the misses has convinced me we need to take it up (if there was more of a cavity below you could apply the insulation from beneath, but that's not possible).

When you take it up some of the boards won't make it, and it is probably cheaper to put down new boards. I'm a bit gutted but its probably pragmatic, so the new extension can have the same flooring.
 
Rorschach said:
This is where I am struggling with the cooling feature, assuming you are opting for an air/water heat pump (which is the most common). There is no 'air conditioning' aspect to it. There is no air blowing or anything like that. The only way it can cool is pump cold water through the rads or the floor slab. Maybe a full floor slab would absorb ambient heat but I can't imagine rads would. Not sure how this would work to be honest but I might be missing something. Maybe take some further advice on this.

Air/air heat pump units are different altogether. This system has number of air blowing units up on the wall, one per room usually and they look a bit bricky to me. They won't look right in a Victorian style house. I imagine they can blow cold air as well as hot air by reversing the condenser unit.

My advice would be go with air/water and to install a separate air-con unit in the top floor hall ceiling that can be switched on as needed. Alternatively a roof window in your top hall ceiling (with a remote control) and also opening the windows on the ground floor will cause a passive stack effect.

As for your nice pine floors. They can be saved/reused with a bit of care. A good carpenter will get the boards up without damage or only damage the ends hidden under the skirting. The underfloor system sits down between the floor joists and the original floor can be relaid on top. The underfloor trays/insulation will block the air infiltration.

edit: the heat might warp the old timber. This might not work now that I think about it.

spreader-plate.jpg
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If the boards are anything like in a Georgian era house, then they'd be so thick as to work as a fairly effective insulator too.
 
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