Green Building Forum - Products

Skirting radiators

szimbler — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:31:48 +0000

I am based in Italy and am looking at using skirting-based radiator system here (as an alternative to UFH)...they seem to be quite popular here. Does anyone have any experience of using them, especially as the rooms we will be putting them in are quite high (between 3 and 6 m) and large (up to 60m2)?

GSHP - definition of...

GBP-Keith — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:00:12 +0000

I think we should redefine the glossary term for GSHP to be 'Grid Source Heat Pump' as the source for powering the unit (in almost every case) is from the national grid!

What do others think?

Completely airtight buildings with exterior sealed construction method

James Norton — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:21:50 +0000

Is it possible...?
Is it desirable...?
If so why...?
How is it possible...?

See also:
http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1102&page=1#Item_3
http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1044
http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=846

Naffness of block paving

tony — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:48:12 +0000

Block paving has been popular for the last few decades and we now seeing some of the greener aspects of it

Moss, grass, weeds, vegetation all causing slow decay processes to speed up.

It all looks great the day it goes down but after a while with mo maintenance nature Creeps in round the edges and starts it work.

Regular maintenance seem no to happen very much on private driveways.

Why doesn't this seem to happen in town centre locations? do they treat it with weed killers?

Window Insulation Film- Help!!!

johnwoods — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 22:40:26 +0000

Please Help!!!!
I have just purchased a house and its freezing!!
The heating seems to warm the place- only to go cold again within minutes of turning it off.
I checked the problem out and its the windows!
I came across this site www.window-insulation.co.uk
I have ordered four packs- has anyone used this item?
How effective is it??
Would appreciate any help at all!!
Cheers
John.

Fire retardant free sofas?

aviatrix — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:21:10 +0000

Hello, Does anyone know where sofas that have not been treated with fire-retardants can be found?

cellotex vs kingspan when insulating skeilings

mzthomps — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:22:17 +0000

Following other threads on this forum I am planning to insulate some skeilings in my house using 50mm air gap/50mm polyurethene ridged type insulation between the rafters (e.g. Kingspan K7 or Cellotex GA3000)/ 50 - 75mm polyurethene backed plasterboard (e.g. Kingspan K18).

Looking at the various products wondered if anyone could tell me the difference between Cellotex GA3000 and Kingspan K7 or Kingspan Thermapitch. The Cellotex appears to be about third of the price of the Kingspan.

Thanks.

Cavity wall insulation

spah — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:46:07 +0000

We have been considering cavity wall insulation for our semi-detached edwardian house. It has some insulation where we have had extension work but there is a large expose flank wall and rear wall.

We have talked to local installers who use foam or fibre but we have been advised by a local surveyor architect to look for perlite or silalite beads. This was partly because we do have a problem of rats in the locality and they cannot burrow through theis loose bead insulation. Thus wool fibre etc will not be any good.

However finding a contractor seems more difficult. we live in Southampton and wondered whether anyone had suggestions for local contractors who install loose bead insulation.

Insulation and air sealing of suspended timber floors

tony — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 08:11:21 +0000

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/uploads/documents/housingbuildings/CE184%20-%20practical%20refurbishment%20of%20solid-walled%20houses.pdf

pages 7&8

1) I dont agree with the notion that replacing floor boards with chipboard or laying hardboard will stop draughts both ideas are wasteful of materials and only address a small part of the draught problem.

2) No attempt has been made to include a vapour barrier on the warm side of the new insulation indeed they say one should not be used!

3) no air sealing barrier. No advice on sealing between floor and skirtings -- this is very important

4) It is prety good othersise with some nice pictures

Is this the worlds most inefficient heating appliance?

nigel — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:06:04 +0000

A mere 21% efficient. Does anyone know of anything worse?

http://www.dovre.co.uk/html/canopy-2700-gas.html

Heat Pumps- 3 out : 1 in : 3 out

ally.gill — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:11:29 +0000

I'm producing a uni paper on env design and want to consider the incorporation of heat pumps to achieve csh. i'm not content with the concept of 3 parts energy to 1 part electric feed to 3 parts heat. i cant see the benefit especially with the reliance on energy security through centralised supply. So,
1. How often would the pump need power and to what quantity?
2. Can rooftop supply (pv array/turbines) provide the electrical energy required at reasonable cost/payback? (based on avge uk wind and solar figures)
3. Could a 100 dwelling development provide localised renewable heat and energy within achievable cost parameters to omit reliance on gas and centralsied power, provide an oversupply of electric feeding the grid to fund maintenance costs, and provide affordable homes with the required level of profit margin to satisfy shareholders.

And as an aside if we are in an energy crisis can the government introduce a power ban (similar to a hosepipe ban) to prevent this ridiculous waste of electricity on christmas lights outside peoples houses?

LED lighting performance

Chris Wardle — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:01:15 +0000

I have some flats fitted out with 50W halogen bulbs all through (ceiling fittings with 3 bulbs to each fitting). They are GU10 bulbs. Will I get enough light if I swap these for their LED equivalents?

I've just been pricing them up and one site I looked at said they weren't suitable for main lighting in a room. Aside from the energy saving angle, the flats have 11ft ceilings and the tenants will need steps to change the bulbs. As LEDs are supposed to last much longer I thought I might not bother providing steps and just change the bulbs myself between lets.

Would appreciate some advice if anyone has any experience of using LED lighting.

Timber frame design products

Jomi — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:42:28 +0000

I'm not sure how to word this request properly as I cannot mention trade names etc, but I will do my best. The computer aided design package that most designers use has a few associated products / add-ons and the like. One of them is used for designing timber framed buildings, with features to make this easier (tools for drawing panels, floor cassettes etc). After some time working independantly in the traditional build sector I have accepted a position as a designer of timber frame buildings, and I use this package. I haven't been properly trained in this software, it is quite easy and instinctive, but there are still a lot of things that I haven't worked out as of yet, and the literature provided isn't very helpful. I have been assured that I will be placed on a 5wk user programme sometime down the line, but I want to learn as much as possible before then. Is there anywhere on the 'net where I can find tutorials / guidance? I have searched a few times but so far I haven't been successful. Feel free to message me for specifics if you are unsure of the design package that I'm using, thanks.

Under tile roof insulation

ckemp982@btinternet. — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:21:42 +0000

I have had Renotherm install polyurethane under tile insulation put into my roof space. It is 85 mm thick. To date I have had no problems although I cannot really tell if there is any difference in the insulation properties. Can any one let me know if they have had any problems with this system and whether you can get a retrospective grant from the council for this?
Chris

Beading for retrofitting dg sealed units to timber doors

jons — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:20:20 +0100

Can anyone point me to an off-the-peg supplier of beading suitable for retro-fitting double glazed units into a timber external door? Tried a google search with little success. Needs to be available in small quanities and presumably L-shaped in cross section. It must surely be a better option than replacing a well fitting 80-year old M&T door in excellent condition.

Thanks

Jon

Solar Aga: a feasible idea or sheer madness ?!

EdK — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:40:35 +0000

Hi one and all,
There didn't seem to be a section for ridiculous ideas so I am guessing that this is an ok place to mention this.

I live in Guernsey and it is pretty damp here the whole time. Alot of the houses are old granite ones and the traditional approach was to have an Aga running to keep the perceived moisture levels down. I grew up with them and love them...

However, I guess that they are the car equivalent of a 4x4, guzzling oil like nobodies business.

My gran has an electric one (Economy 10 or something) which is a more indirect way of using fossil fuels (no direct personal combustion), but still pretty bad for the environment. I think that the local electric company is looking at a tidal solution but that will be a while away.

Anyway, it got me thinking. My gran's Aga is much like a very large night storage heater - a bunch of bricks that heat up and store energy and then release it for cooking.

Surely there must be a way to heat up that amount of bricks (or whatever the material inside is) to the correct temperature by solar energy? Would PV panels work or would you need to use some kind of evacuated tube/water solution?

As you can see I am blissfully unaware of all the details but hoping to find out alot more about solar power in general (will post another thread on that). So if you are more practical in this area please let me know if this exists or is possible or even is desirable.

Cheers
Ed

What size boiler do I really need?

William — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:34:54 +0000

My plumber tells me I need a 28kw boiler for my 100 square metre new build , 2 bedroomed detached hoose.
Thing is, a few on-line calculators say I only need 14Kw. What am I missing , should I spend the extra £300 on capacity I don't need and waste energy too?

PS: Ive got 280m of UFH pipe

ASHP control - how is it done

andytk — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:50:10 +0000

Hi, I’m new to the forum. Excellent forum btw.

Does anyone know how the control on heat pumps work. In particular air source heat pumps.

I’ve been looking into buying a house and many of the properties I’ve looked at only have access to electric heating. Pretty much without exception these have been storage heaters. I ripped out the storage heaters in my last house and replaced them with normal convection electric heaters. This was much more comfortable and user friendly and didn’t cost too much as the house was unheated during the day and was very small <45m2.

This time round the house will be bigger so I’d rather go down the ASHP path, but am wondering how it all integrates into the house.

I was planning to run a 8kW ASHP against a thermal store with a heat exchanger for direct potable hot water, and use the water in the thermal store itself for the wet radiator based CH system. I know the radiators will have to be oversized but this isn’t a problem as new rads would be needed anyway.

My question is, how does the ASHP know what level of heat to deliver to the thermal store. In summer it runs on a timer and senses tank temperature and runs as needed within its time window. In winter you’d need it to run at roughly the same heat output as the heating system is withdrawing from the thermal store. Is the ASHP a “dumb” system. Can it only fire up based on thermal store temp (as this seems to be its only input to its controller).

If so wouldn’t it run cyclically? If I’m drawing 4kW off with the CH system, then won’t it wait until it sees the tank temp dip and then fire up at 8kW (with a lousy COP) until the system is back to temp.

I’m looking at the Trianco range of heat pumps but haven’t contacted them yet as I don’t yet have a house to design a system for. I was just wondering if anyone knew how it was done. I know that heat pumps off all verities prefer to operate with large water tanks as heat loads. ASHP work with much higher COP when operating at part load (ie. 3kW from a 8kW system)

Also how would the system know what the heat loading from the CH system is? Essentially this is a system of two halves with the thermal store in the centre acting as a boiler/thermal dump.

I was hoping to fit up the system myself as with a vented thermal store self fit is possible.

Any help much appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

SAP Software

OJ — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:33:35 +0000

Does anyone know of U-value calculation software or SAP analysis software which will run on a Mac?
Thanks, OJ

Natural Insulation

ewanogilvie — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 18:58:10 +0000

I am currently undertaking Honours Year of an M/Arch BSc Hons Architecture degree. The topic I have chosen for my dissertation is sustainability, specifically looking at natural sources of insulation.

My research so far has been very difficult as there appears to be very little information available other than that of retailers trying to sell their product.

Are there any journals with particularly good articles on these insulations?

If anyone has any information or advice on where to find information it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Ewan Ogilvie

Foam Insulation and Halo-Carbon Green House Gas Emissions

Mark Siddall — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:16:44 +0100

“Net climatic impact of solid foam insulation produced with halocarbon and non-halocarbon blowing agents” by L.D. Harvey is a study that examines the embodied energy and emissions payback for insulation. In particular polyurethane insulation using either HCFC 141b, HCFC 365mfc or n-pentane as blowing agents are considered. The study is based on a climate with 4000 degree days (and a range of other assumptions to numerous to mention here) are considered. Two performance levels of insulation are considered RSI 3.0 and RSI 10.0. Conclusions are that: -

· The emissions payback for RSIs ranging from 3.0 to 6.5 and blowing agents HCFC 141b and HCFC 365mfc are between 22 and 39 years respectively.
· For an RSI of 6.5 payback are in excess of 40 years and an RSI 10.0 marginal payback times are in excess of 100 years!!!
· n-pentane (Global Warming Potential of 7) has marginal payback for RSI 10.0 of 25 years.
· Harvey notes that the embodied energy payback for foam insulation with an RSI of 6.5 is 8years and for an RSI of 10.0 is 11 years.

Referring to the above data, given that an RSI of 3.0 is a U-value of 0.30, if you ensure than the GWP is less than 7 it is bordering on acceptability i.e. CO2 equivalent emissions are likely to be recovered within its life span.

Referring to the EE of cellulose and low-density mineral fibre the author’s graphs show payback within 0.25-2years. You will note that this payback is substantially less than the CO2 payback for the foamed insulation i.e. the difference is >22years at an RSI of 10....or U-value of 0.1. So, from a holistic environmental stance Harvey concludes that foam insulation in high performance low-energy houses is counterproductive.

This noble conclusion is obviously is easier said than done. The use of foam insulations in low-energy homes is almost a requirement for technical reasons if no other i.e. to support floor slabs etc. In this light a balanced approach is surely the most reasonable. Minimise the use of foam insulations wherever possible.

It is very clear that the GWP of the blowing agent should be <5 (as BREEAM/ECO-Homes requirements.) Some manufactures now claim to use such blowing agents with a GWP of 3. Ideally a GWP of <1 should be specified (but I'm not sure whether that is technically possible at this stage.)

The EE payback for High Density Mineral is circa 20 years. In this light the gap between foam (
For your own copy of these findings please follow this link:
http://www.geog.utoronto.ca/info/facweb/Harvey/Harvey/aspapers/Harvey%20(2007d,%20ClimateTradeoffs_Insulation).pdf

In a nutshell I guess the deeper lesson, beyond GWP, is that low-density insulation is best....all this kind of suggest that SIP Systems have a major hurdle to cross....

Mark

100% Airtight passive house – insulation, windows etc. advice needed!

steveleigh — Mon, 28 May 2007 11:35:38 +0100

District heating pipes - beware

GBP-Keith — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:54:28 +0100

Anyone planning on using some district heating between buildings beware of the systems that use pulled through insulation. I think they must stretch it with the pulling process as I've just been servicing the entry/exits of the piping and have discovered that the internal insulation has completely vanished down inside the ducting!

If you are going to use this type then I suggest that you extend the tails so you can shorten the ducting and bend the insulation out over the tail and clamp it on with jubilee clips.

In the picture you can see that the one on the left is devoid of inner insulation. A tape measure pushed down the pipe revealed 4mm and probably still shrinking. All I can do now is restrain the outer one as suggested above and pour something like polystyrene beads down to hopefully fill the void.

Thermoplastic roofing membranes

Mike George — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 21:11:12 +0100

I am overseeing an extension which requires a flat roof. The above has been suggested to me. The problem is that I know nothing about it. Anyone help? Is it good bad or ugly? Is there a better solution? Roofcrete? Fibreglass?

Retailer wanted for quality wooden roofshingles in GB

sindelkatus — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:20:20 +0100

Hello

We produce wooden roofshingles from quality pine and spruce and we are looking for a retailer in GB in long run. The agent/partner would have some experience and knowledge in roofing. In case You or perhaps Your friend would be such person, we would be very glad for being contacted to vihmand@hot.ee
Our production capacity is at the moment 120 000 shingels per month which equals at least 1600 square meters of fine-tuned roof.
Conditions flexible.

Which Gas Boiler?

Mike George — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 07:47:48 +0100

Anyone recommend a very high efficiency Combi Gas Boiler that has a long manufacturers Warranty? Love to go for something greener but finances will not allow. Thanks.
Mike

LWA's (Light Weight Aggregates) for insulation?

Johan — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:48:15 +0100

Has anyone got any experience with using LWA's (Max-It, MillCell, Misaphor, etc.) for ground floor insulation? Max-It (also known as LECA) has been around for 30 odd years, so should be fairly tried and tested by now! The other ones seem like a really nice way of recycling old glass bottles! :smile:

They look like a very nice product to me. Needs to be a slab type floor though, but for a new build that's not really an issue.

I'm considering using one of them so I'd appreciate any input.

Water Efficient Loo

Neil K — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:13:16 +0100

This is not a post to read when you are about to eat. You have been warned!

I am looking to source 3 toilets for a new build and obviously they will need to be dual flush and preferably with low overall water requirements, but this leaves a problem... or more accurately I don't want them to. i.e I want a low flush loo that clears the toilet bowl properly.

I am in a rented house at the moment and it would probably win an award (if someone was sad enough to invent one) for the worst flushing toilet in the world. I am keen to avoid buying the latest version of this turd stirrer, hence this post. The problem with it being that I don't want to have a toilet that uses less water per flush, but has to be flushed twice to clear!

I have been to my local builders merchant and they seem less than keen on letting me try the stock out (which I can understand!), but I am not sure if there is a standard for this sort of thing that I can seek to use in a spec. Clearly the industry standard isn't good enough because if it was good enough I wouldn't keep seeing turds left behind!

Any ideas?
:confused:

Airtight cat flap

Neil K — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:46:33 +0100

I never thought I'd need to put up a post about this, but since my wife came supplied complete with an attached cat I am having to get used to the joys of having one about. (A cat that is)

We are planning our airtight house, so I am trying to source a cat flap that will be as airtight as the rest of the house. There are the usual flaps marketed as airtight, but as far as I can see they rely on a brush seal. My experience of these is that if the cat comes in on a windy day the flap does not lock shut, so the brushes don't have any effect. Heavier flaps seem to result in the cat struggling to open it against the weight (but it did look fitter for a while!)

Has anybody found a solution?

I have been thinking about some form of air lock with dual doors, long piped runs or even a fully electronically actuated solution..... I am resisting the cat/brick/sack/canal solution. :wink:

Glad of some input here.

Neil

Warm edge spacers - rip off prices?

Marc Palmer — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:05:30 +0100

Hi,

Our joiners have spoken to their glass supplier to get relative prices for SGG low-e glass vs SGG's warm edge spacer units and they have said there is approximately a four-fold increase in price.

How can this possibly be? Are they shafting the high-spec green market?

Also I read on a page about SuperSpacer that "once the outside temperature dips to -17.8C outdoors condensation will form on double-glazed glass even at only 15% humidity internally". If this is the "big sell" for warm edge, why am I even bothering? I don't see us having -17C in Gloucestershire for the next 10+yrs ... The Day After Tomorrow it isn't quite.

Can anyone explain this ludicrous pricing, explain whether I -really- would benefit from warm edge (timber frames with multiple small panes so a lot of edge). If they improve the efficiency significantly fine, but if they're only to stop theoretical condensation and silly low temperatures, surely there's no point especially given the apparently huge increase in cost.

Looking for an eco friendly clear woodstain thats uv resistant

simonzz — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:03:29 +0100

I've just put my money where my mouth is and splashed out considerable moolah on a solid cedar garage door. I was intent on treating it from the outset on an eco friendly natural woodstain. Unfortunately I have only come across natural woodstains with UV protection when they have some pigmentation added. It appear that clear woodstains do not offer this protection. I don't really want to add colour to the door since the cedar looks suprb as it is.
Does anyone know of a natural treatment that does offer UV protection? Otherwise I'll have to go down the Sadolin route.

Air Flow windows vs Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation

fostertom — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 12:59:24 +0100

Time I took the trouble to understand Air Flow windows - www.dwell-vent.co.uk with www.howarth-timber.co.uk. Can anyone explain?

Green Adhesive

MrT — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:01:43 +0100

I'm looking to use cork as internal wall insulation, it's cheaper then wood fibre. As cork looks nice I'm thinking of leaving it exposed and unsealed. This will mean using an adhesive to fix it to the walls and possibly some galvanized nails to improve stability. The supplier recommends using cold mastic to fix the boards to the wall but I'm wondering how green this stuff is. Auro produce a latex based adhesive which is expensive but may do the job.

What experience/advice have people got on green adhesives. One major benefit I can see is no drilling into my walls and improved air tightness/cold bridging.

I want a tap that turns itself off & doesn't brake after 3 months

Katymac — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:32:55 +0100

I'm on my third
I know they save water - unless they brake & then pour water down the sink until someone notices

Please can someone reccommend a good one that is indestructable

We are taking 2 & 3 yos here - so we do need very robust equipment:wink:

Multi fuel burner - external air feed

Neil K — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:28:49 +0100

We will be building a very airtight house with GSHP, mechanical heat recovery etc. I do, however, like the idea of a wood burner/multi fuel burner for occasional use.

Does anybody know of a suitable small unit that comes able to take air directly from outside the house, burn in it, and then put it out the flue? The idea being that the burner will not be using the air from the house which will then need to be replaced by air from the cold outside (i.e. needing to ventilate our nice airtight house)

Can anybody point me to a supplier.... or even warn me off following any problems/experiences with this?

Thanks,

Neil

Petrochemical products

Mike George — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:53:21 +0100

I am starting this thread as the subject was beginning to hyjack the warmedge spacer thread.

My question is this? Which petrochemical products are acceptable for use in the building industry. In particular, is it okay to use insulation derived from oil while condemning the use of upvc windows? Are there other oil based products which are acceptable? Has anyone considered a ranking order of 'plastic' no-no's

My opinion is that I would much prefer to use naturally derived products, not oil based ones. However the reality is that these are often unaffordable or impractical in use. Hence, I use them.

Solar Slates

JennyField — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:26:28 +0100

Has anyone any experience of using solar slates or tiles as opposed to panels for hot water production? I have found one manufacturer/distributor on the internet with useful information - Solex Energy Ltd. The National Trust use solar slates but their projects will be considerably larger than ours. Help appreciated.

Insulated façade systems - Suppliers?

alexc — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:28:03 +0100

Hi,

I am interested in finding off-site constructed insulated façade systems for multi-storey buildings, such as Kingspan’s offsite system (http://www.kingspanoffsite.com/afs/index.html). Does anybody know any other suppliers?

Thanks

alex

underfloor heating and luquid screeds

andyowen — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:44:56 +0100

anyone out there with good or bad experiances after using these 2 products?
:cry::bigsmile:

How good is Thinsulex?

PDobson — Sun, 13 May 2007 12:23:03 +0100

Does anyone know how different/how much better Tri-Iso super 10 would be compared to Thinsulex used in combination with 70 to 90mm PU foam in a warm roof setup with 150mm rafters. Does anyone see a problem with the scenario shown on the Thinsulex web site with the Thinsulex directly trapped between the rafter and the plasterboard without the use of counter battens. This scenario seems to cut about 25mm from the roof depth – not much I know but every little bit helps.

If Tri-Iso 10 is much better and I am missing out by not using it perhaps I should ditch NHBC who wont let me use it. Does anyone know if Premier or Build Zone are more amenable to new materials?

Grey water- advice sought

Peter_Shield — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:13:13 +0100

I have an isolated property fed from a mountain source in Les Corbieres, Languedoc. The climate here is getting dryer, and hotter- indeed we have not had good long rain for nearly 14 months. With 200 olives, a young orchard and a small but thirsty vegetable garden, water is becoming a key issue. The first step is to fit guttering and water butts to collect what rain we do get, that is underway, the next point is what level of water can we recycle and how. We already use a basic system, a bucket, of using the kitchen water for the loo. However I need to do some plumbing work to get the back boiler and solar water heating systems installed, at the same time I would like to install a grey water capturing system on the kitchen sink, shower and bathroom basin- can someone point me in the right direction to find more information on how grey water works- because I have a septic tank there issues with what products we use in the kitchen and shower, we tend to only use ‘natural’ cleaning products, can grey water be used to irrigate an orchard or is purely for the loo?

Thanks for any ideas.

Peter

Water stain and Eco Paint

Paul_B — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:55:59 +0100

Morning all,

Firstly some practical help please. How can I cover a water stain in the ceiling so that I can overpaint with emulsion? I have purchased some Auro White Emulsion paint which goes on very well if a little smelly. However, the water stain is coming through, can someone recommend an green way of stopping this? Most suggestions I have read on Google suggest solvent / oil based solutions.

On a slightly broader topic what are peoples experience with so called "eco" paints? I have used Auro for emulsion and painting the shed which has stood up well over the winter and just looks like it needs a clean for spring. It certainly hasn't peeled like I have seen on the commercial shed / fence paints.

Finally, the white emulsion is quite smelly having quite a strong orange smell. I am going to try the onion and vinegar / bread trick for the second coat.

Rigid insulation offcuts

mook — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:16:51 +0100

Anybody got any good ideas how to use up offcuts from fitting rigid insulation. I insulated under my floor and I now have a large quantity of pieces about 1.2m long 20cm to 30 cm wide, Kingspan 75 mm thick.

I can use some to make a insulated lid for my compost heaps but unless I can think of something creative the rest seem destined for landfill.

Rape Seed Oil Boilers

Mike (Up North) — Mon, 07 May 2007 11:42:59 +0100

Hi, Has anybody looked at the Rape Seed oil burning condensing boiler from Atlantic. It was at Eco2007. Its bright yellow so hard to miss.
I’m familiar with the Atlantic R-22 series boilers, this is new from them and I hope to speak to Atlantic soon and would like to have some informed feedback.
Main concern would be the supply of Rape seed oil, and aside from turning the country side yellow any other problems. I’ve seen car conversuion kits which look like simply

Thanks for any comment

Mike (up north)

Mixing and matching insulation good or bad?

Mike George — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 19:14:36 +0100

Hi,

I have been debating this idea with a colleague and would like some other opinions:

Is it a bad idea to mix insulation such as mineral wool and PUR in a warm roof applicatIon. Specifically mineral wool between the rafters and t&g PUR over the top? I have always avoided this but I am being told that there is no problem, any thoughts?

Does Insulation Offgas?

ecopaddy — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:00:18 +0000

Hello.

I am looking to insulation a floor area that will have underfloor heating on top of it. I have read in a number of articles that synthetic insulation such as polyurethane, phenolic, polystyrene, etc offgas.

Is there actually any documented research on this area?

If so, I would like to know what type of substances they offgas and what the possible health implications are.

I would consider natural alternatives in the first place but based on the thermal conductivity, the natural insulations seem far less effective that the synthetic variety.

Thanks,
Paddy.

Timber flooring

Jason H — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:52:22 +0100

Old floorboards shrink, revealing gaps between them that get all gunked up. There are loads of nasty things to fill these gaps up- is there a green product like a wax that will harden?

Breather membranes

Julian — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:13:54 +0000

Timber frame extension: trusses at 600 centres, reclaimed concrete Double Roman 50's.

Is Tyvek really worth the extra money or are you simply paying for the DuPont brand? (The nice people who make the Teflon that's sprayed on my kids school uniforms). There's a range of prices for these membranes; are the cheaper ones less breathable than the Tyvek?

Julian

Eco-virtue through use of tiny amounts of oil

fostertom — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:49:12 +0100

From http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=15&page=4#Item_10 :
Insulation has a unique position, when considering its embodied energy/petrochemical content.
It's unique in that lighweightness is its essence, so in a way the less of the petrochemical stuff there is in it, the better it works. At any rate, accepting a relatively tiny amount of 'eco-nasty' petrochemical material as insulation can result in such enormously 'eco-virtuous' petrochemical in-use fuel savings, that the former is so vastly outweighed by the latter, that it's almost riduculous to insist on sheeps wool or something.
By all means, if sheeps wool etc does as well, then why not go for it - but on the whole the non-petrochemical alternatives
need greater thicknesses therefore more of other materials to create the necessary void space to fill
don't have fringe benefits like ease of ensuring no gaps, membranes/airtightness etc
cost more
are much more palaver generally.

Katymac said:
>Isn't Hi-tec expensive?<

Hi-tec can be ultra-cheap, when mass demand makes hi-tec robotised manufacture worthwhile; this phenomenon is well known in computer chips, computers as a whole and electronics in general - there seems no end to the freefall of their price:performance ratio.
In the past, materials (big quantities of), assembly (labour to be paid) and distribution dominated the price of goods. These costs were hard to reduce dramatically and still are, for traditional hardware, buildings etc; even for hi-tec engineered goods.
In a modern hi-tec (typically electronic) product, what you're buying is mainly the costs of design/R&D, marketing and distribution. Hardly at all material costs because so little is used, ever-reducing assembly costs because labour cost is replaced by the finance cost of buying sheds full of robots. That's when economies of scale and automation can really kick in.
Watch the same happen with PVs, which, being just big electronic components are ideally suited to the same.
Hi-tec isn't just electronics - it's anything where little material is used, and robotised production can be applied. E.g. insulation.

The advantages of using sheepswool - Heat of Sorption?

Mike George — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:21:31 +0100

I came across this term on another thread. If I have got this right It relates to the 'warming effect' of natural wool when it becomes wet. This does ring true in that I can remember many fishing trips when I got an old wooly jumper wet and still felt warm.

My question is this, Do we think this is a further advantage in using this kind of natural insulation?