sagraiasolar's activity

 .... you'll never get this out of your head now. When on the bidet it is proper to sing...   "Ah bidets are here again... tra la la la la lah"

 funny you should say that Bunterboy. Having spent an unacceptable €36 on gas last month (too much cooking?) I'm just wiring up the (PV boosted) mains up to the immersion heater on the heat bank now. Sometime after lunch there will be a timed boost of the tank with a thermostat limiter... shouldn't use too much power as the wet solar panels kick in just after 8 on most days and do some of the work. With a big solarthermal array of at least 5 square metres you should get to be pretty much ZERO GAS all year round especially if you bias them towards the shoulder months with a 45 degree angle. I graphed gas consumption for a year without solar panels and now this last year with them has shown gas consumption almost eliminated - down by something like 70% and across the whole year. I think the immersion heater will prove to be the knockout blow. That's all possible and easily done too but I have to say that I'm putting my energy savings towards a heat pump as the next step in the quest for perfect heating. I'll be too old to lug logs one day and I already envy Badger with his GSHP. AS for wind turbines.  Don't get me started.

while your most informative discussion goes on may I presume to chip in a bit.  I've mentioned before that I'm testing PV solar panels with the aim of having a cost free heating system. So far on grey winter days the output of a 20 panel car port hovers just under 1kW but shoots up to 2.5kW if the sun comes out. In summer the max output should be 4.6kW.  I borrowed the money for the kit so there is no capital cost apart from the €!0,000 deposit the bank always seems to like on these things. Now for about €30,000 you can get more panels producing over 5kW and €5,000 worth of combined income/reductions a year. So if you were considering a modest heat pump you could run it on a low tarrif 2 phase supply and on balance it would cost you nothing to run... no brainer really. If say 11kW was not enough on a bitter winter night you could always light the stufa.

I hear you say "don't pay" but we have received a written demand for payments along with threats for fines.... to make it worse we bought 2 tellies so we are in the frame to pay twice! The moral here is: When you buy a TV give a false address.

 a year ago we bought a TV for watching DVDs on and we do not have a TV aerial. A large bill for a TV abonnement has arrived.... does anyone know if it has to be paid or as in UK can we opt out?

 I hate to see you worry about the beams still.  For instant peace of mind take a hand brace and auger bit and bore a series of diagonal holes down onto the beam... this will reveal the quality of the wood and leave you with some holes for squirting in some anti-tarlo to kill the bugs... you can plug the holes later if they are unsightly.

 Patrick, As I design the heating systems for restorations I see many projects under way and I've seen original quotes halved through understanding what is involved and conversely I've seen parts of projects doubled in cost through lack of detailed understanding.... so keep studying your way in until the clouds lift.  For example your beams and the floors coming out. After the earthquake proofing has been done your new reinforced concrete floors will be tied into the walls with re-bars and the beams underneath will be pretty much decorative rather than structural... for example we have one fragile but lovely beamed room with wooden slats and rotting beams - one broken and strapped.. all has been retained. You might have to support suspect beams with acrows while the pour is done.

 I have faced the same issues. I'm restoring a Landrover bought from my neighbour when it's timing belt broke- the car not the neighbour - ... anyway the silly regulations have this registered as a truck so I can't use the back seats, however I think I'm allowed to drive it as my UK driving licence has a C category on it. I must say this is an example of why the economy here will never take off. You can't do anything without filling in a form and paying up. I can't even put a tow ball on the back let alone fit a roll cage.

 I had a good chat with a gas expert last year and he made a couple of interesting points. The gas companies can vary the mixture of two gasses to make it cheaper (and worse), and - get this - they like to get it all shaken up going down your white road and pump it quickly while it is still aerated. I'm not sure if the latter is true but it could be so I like to chat to the man a bit to slow him down.

 Wow it's hard to get a thread started... I'll reply to my own title to get the message going... as below. Yet again we’ve had a spate of burglaries on our patch. The same thing happened last year for a while. Luckily someone has been caught and no doubt they will get a slapped wrist and carry on as before. What I’m wondering is whether large scale burglary is common across the country or are we having a bit of local bad luck. Maybe there are organised gangs that come to do an area and then move on when their truck is full of booty. Our particular lot had the same MO each time. The property was always on a proper road with easy escape routes… never down a white road. They worked at the dead of night and even when the owners and dogs were there. They seemed to like food and clothes and TV’s.