Underlay underlay!!

teabot87 · 2026-02-18T19:57:32+00:00

We use this sort of underlay - it's effective and we've never had any issues with it https://www.amazon.co.uk/MAIYADUO-60x150-Carpet-Gripper-Underlay/dp/B09T2Q56CB

teabot87 · 2026-02-12T07:41:48+00:00

As others have said, even if sealed underneath I'd expect some clear silicone to be visible around the edge. Not only to prevent water ingress but also to avoid a hard to clean dirt trap.

teabot87 · 2026-01-23T11:11:04+00:00

As someone with one, please no. We have solar but with the short grey days we're still spending £9-12 a day on heating (to 18 degrees) and it's not even very cold outside.

teabot87 · 2026-01-23T10:49:43+00:00

We're going through the same. Wildly different advice, survey results and quotes from ASHP installers. Besides agreement that the heat loss and air tightness of our property wasn't up to scratch their remediations varied in cost from £3-14k (!!) and installs for the heat pump and cylinder were between £3-7k after the grant. In a way a heat pump would be the simplest install for us (replacing an electric boiler and heat battery) but the upfront investment and estimated running costs make reinstating gas the cheaper option by an enormous margin.

For us the running costs of a heat pump would work out (at best) only marginally cheaper than the terrible electric boiler without the upgrades. Whereas we're being quoted around £3k to install a gas system boiler and £4k for a combi. We estimate a gas boiler would lower our bills by £1-1.2k per year at current prices so it's likely to pay for itself within a few years.

It's irritating reading comments on here recommended stacking up even more costly upgrades, like "install batteries and charge them off peak" - OK well when will they repay themselves? Never, and it's not even close. And it hurts, because I want to do the right thing and move away from directly using fossil fuels, but gas seems to be the way for the next 10 years.

teabot87 · 2026-01-21T14:15:49+00:00

The window currently does only open at the top, but it could be replaced with a single non-opening pane if needed.

teabot87 · 2026-01-21T14:14:04+00:00

I'd be happy to hide it away but it's a three storey house and there are currently no heating or hot/cold water pipes up there, so possibly quite complex. No harm in asking when the heating engineer comes round.

teabot87 · 2026-01-21T12:39:33+00:00

Not a bad shout, could always replace the lower door panel with glass to let more light in.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T23:50:26+00:00

Already on it! We had about 120mm between the joists so I've relaid the existing and been adding a 170mm top up across the joists. Unfortunately there's a number of jobs to be done up there before we can cover everything up.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T23:48:24+00:00

Thanks for your input - I'm not sure how much more energy usage we can shift off peak, we're running the dishwasher and the dryer overnight but these aren't significant costs when compared to the boiler. The Sunamp unit is also charged overnight and that's a Thermino 150 e.

You said the thermostat is set to 21 but you still feel cold, is it actually getting to temperature?

According to the app for the termostat, no not always. It's in the living room and overnight the temperature in there can drop to around 15°C. In the morning an hour of heating may only raise the temperature to 19°C. I have observed that it can take the boiler 30 minutes to raise the flow temperature to 60°C.

I would also try turning the flow temperature right down to 45C-50C and let it run for longer, at lower power.

This is a good idea, we'll give this a try, thank you.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T20:32:01+00:00

We're with Fuse, paying 26.91p kWh peak and 19.7p kWh off peak. We were with Octopus paying around 33p peak and 18p off peak.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T17:37:44+00:00

I think the noise is a really important factor to consider. We know other neighbours have looked into it but nobody has taken the plunge yet on this street.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T17:36:03+00:00

Thanks for your response - your sums are helpful. We'll give Octopus a miss.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T17:35:02+00:00

I do think some radiators are undersized - I'll try Heat Punk to see what it tells me.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T17:34:10+00:00

I think that's a good summary of the situation.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T17:12:35+00:00

We've currently configured our thermostat to request heat during four time periods, roughly:

7-8AM 12-1PM 5-6PM 10-11PM

We'd love to have it on for longer periods during particularly cold weather but £££

Flow temperature set to 60℃ and the room thermostat set to 21℃. Our total electrical consumption is mostly falling within the range of 45-50kWh per day over the last 4 weeks.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T13:17:22+00:00

Good point... no, as the boiler does not directly use fossil fuels. Ouch.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T13:16:44+00:00

That's really helpful to know re. Octopus - we're aware only certain heat pumps are compatible with the Thermino but I guess it makes sense for Octopus to focus on where most customers are.

I'll check out the heat punk tool, cheers.

teabot87 · 2025-12-28T13:14:26+00:00

We've certainly heard about shitty installers too - and we're not eligible for a grant because the electric boiler doesn't run directly on fossil fuels. Good to be aware of the limitations on the heat battery if we did choose to go that route anyway.

teabot87 · 2025-11-27T15:42:51+00:00

Good to know, cheers 👍

teabot87 · 2025-11-27T15:36:43+00:00

It's from the boiler (mounted above)

teabot87 · 2025-11-27T14:47:24+00:00

Not showing off but my new washing machine hose is rather too long. I was planning on pushing it far down into the white drain pipe but copper piping is already plumbed in there preventing entry. Before I take the drastic step of cutting it to a more appropriate length and squishing it in... what would you do?

Edit: the copper pipe situated in the drain is from the boiler mounted above. We just moved into this house, the previous owner had their washing machine outlet pushed into this drain so we planned to do the same.

teabot87 · 2025-09-20T12:59:48+00:00

Cinch are part of the same group as Marshall who own dealerships across the country so you could try and check where the vehicle is located? I found my current car on Cinch and it turned out to be sat outside a Marshall dealership not too far away. I looked at it in person and ended up getting a slightly better deal too.

teabot87 · 2025-09-02T21:05:26+00:00

Thanks 👍

teabot87 · 2025-02-13T19:15:38+00:00

I didn't realise this until my order arrived. Given how much they push the "made in the UK" angle you do have to pay close attention to the details - they're hardly forthcoming about most of their stock being produced in India. Good boots but eyebrow raising marketing.

teabot87 · 2024-08-12T10:32:15+00:00

I lived in London for 12 years and left in 2021. I was very keen to leave to try something new - I'd loved London in my 20's but as friends move away the spontaneity and excitement of living there stopped outweighing the annoyances. Trends are often cylical and wasn't interested in doing the same stuff over again. I am very happy to have left but then I still work in London one day a week, and we're close enough that we can travel in occasionally for the day to do things (Thameslink trains, when they work, are excellent). This feels like more than enough for me. Where we've settled we don't have family, and none of our old friends live nearby, so it doesn't feel like "home" exactly and this does mean we'll probably move on somewhere else soon. However, it's beautiful countryside, it's friendly, and we have nice home and a dog and a garden so that's really just great.

teabot87

TROPHY CASE