Not photography related

[Allan Bell]

unless you are stuck in a cold office processing images on a computer.

 

Brrr! It's flippin' cold today. Anyone put their central heating on yet?

 

Alamy staff can join in on this one as well.

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

If you want new windows and save money you could rip out all the windows yourself then get contractors to fit new ones. You would not have to pay for them ripping out too.😉

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

13 hours ago, Bryan said:

Reminds me of our previous house, built in the 1970s with a through lounge diner and floor to ceiling single glazed windows at each end. Combined with ducted air heating, the net effect was to provide stuffy heat at head level but very cold around the feet. Having secondary double glazing installed transformed the situation, giving us a comfortable living space and saving on the gas bill.

 

I hate ducted air heating. Rather have hot water radiators or even better underfloor heating. I also do not like the large glazed areas they put in houses these days. The builders are just cutting their costs. Cheaper to fit a glass wall.

 

Allan

 

[Bryan]

16 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I hate ducted air heating. Rather have hot water radiators or even better underfloor heating. I also do not like the large glazed areas they put in houses these days. The builders are just cutting their costs. Cheaper to fit a glass wall.

 

Allan

 

Ducted air has the merits of cheapness and simplicity, but I agree that the alternatives are better. From my limited experience of ducted air, all of the outlets have to come from within a single central vertical duct, which means that some rooms are not directly heated. In our house the bathroom was heated by a separate wall mounted electric device. 

 

Re glass walls, the building regulations have been progressively tightened with regard to insulation and you would not be able to get away with a single glazed wall of glass now. Indeed, even if you are modifying or extending an existing building you need to comply with the stricter standards, and this includes the situation where planning permission is not required. Our son has recently completed the renovation of a Victorian house, which did not involve any additional building work, but he had to insulate the existing external wall of the kitchen in order to comply with the regs, and the work had to be signed off by a council inspector.

[Allan Bell]

6 hours ago, Bryan said:

Ducted air has the merits of cheapness and simplicity, but I agree that the alternatives are better. From my limited experience of ducted air, all of the outlets have to come from within a single central vertical duct, which means that some rooms are not directly heated. In our house the bathroom was heated by a separate wall mounted electric device. 

 

Re glass walls, the building regulations have been progressively tightened with regard to insulation and you would not be able to get away with a single glazed wall of glass now. Indeed, even if you are modifying or extending an existing building you need to comply with the stricter standards, and this includes the situation where planning permission is not required. Our son has recently completed the renovation of a Victorian house, which did not involve any additional building work, but he had to insulate the existing external wall of the kitchen in order to comply with the regs, and the work had to be signed off by a council inspector.

 

True but even with the codes of practice having to be adhered to I believe it is still cheaper to fit large double or triple glazed windows than to have more bricks and labour and less window/door. Certainly quicker on site.

 

Allan

 

[DJ Myford]

I've fitted a new actuator head to the CH zone valve, so now the central heating is back in working order. Seems the old one stripped a gear, but the microswitch can be salvaged and perhaps the motor too if it can be separated from the gearbox.

[spacecadet]

38 minutes ago, DJ Myford said:

I've fitted a new actuator head to the CH zone valve, so now the central heating is back in working order. Seems the old one stripped a gear, but the microswitch can be salvaged and perhaps the motor too if it can be separated from the gearbox.

The motors are pretty inexpensive but they do fail. Worth salvaging (not hard to do) unless of course the stripped gear is the one pressed onto the motor shaft!

Edit: see what you mean, the gearbox is connected. Not sure if I've replaced just the motor.

Edited October 23, 2021 by spacecadet

[Allan Bell]

On 17/10/2021 at 21:27, Bryan said:

Reminds me of our previous house, built in the 1970s with a through lounge diner and floor to ceiling single glazed windows at each end. Combined with ducted air heating, the net effect was to provide stuffy heat at head level but very cold around the feet. Having secondary double glazing installed transformed the situation, giving us a comfortable living space and saving on the gas bill.

 

What you needed was one of those large diameter slow rotating ceiling fans to drive the hot air down to floor level.  That is if you had sufficient headroom.

 

Allan