We have achieved several major steps forward in the past week:
On Tuesday 13 December, Andy and Lewis from Total Home Environment commissioned the MVHR (HPV2) and the hot water (HPW300). We could not have chosen a colder day with temperatures of -7 degrees overnight which made it hard work for the 2 air source heat pumps (ASHP), one in the MVHR and one in the hot water cylinder. The MVHR is connected to a heated terminal in the basement hall and an 8m2 (1.2kW) strip of electric underfloor heating mat in front of the top windows. The ASHP struggled to gain traction when the outside temperature was below zero; however, as soon as the temperature picked up, the internal temperatures quickly rose to the target of 20 degrees C.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Steve of Smart Control Technologies have been busy installing the Niko home control system, the Ajax security system and the Hik-vision CCTV along with passive infra-red sensors (PIR) around the house. This allows ll of the lights and security to be controlled centrally as well as from an app on a phone from anywhere in the world! The system is part commissioned so that we have the security plus some lights in all areas but we are still awaiting several lights around the house.
Over the past week, we have also been tackling the engineered oak flooring on the top floor. This was definitely a first for us as we have never attempted anything like it. The first section was slightly complicated as it involved installing the underfloor hearting mat under 15mm planks and then moving onto the 21mm planks for the remainder of the floor. Inevitably, the 2 tongues and grooves did not marry up. Trial and error with the router achieved a join with a 1mm difference, which we can live with. The flooring was supplied by East Bros Timber of Salisbury and the Elastilon Basic 3mm underlay was supplied by JFJ Wood Flooring. The underlay made laying the floor relatively straightforward and we completed the job by 8pm on Sunday night.
The deadline was very finite as our removals turned up at 9am on Monday morning. The majority of our kit has been in storage with Ollands since we moved from Norfolk in April 2019 so there were several surprises as various items which we either thought we had sold or had not seem for years came off the truck! The team of Deon and Nick made short work of getting everything offloaded and were clear by 3.30pm.
Throughout this, Graham, our electrician, has been working away at numerous connections and our plumbers, Harry and Harry, have been busy connecting taps and waste pipes.
The house is now starting to look like a home as there is furniture and belongings in it for the first time. There will now be a break for all of the trades over Christmas and New Year. Thereafter, we need to work out how we are going to install the stairs with the long stringers weighing over 100kg each but that’s one for next year!
Happy Christmas!