The Guns of August is really good around the start of the war.  Only covers the first few but it’s really well written and engaging.

My top tip for self levelling – don’t start with a bucket with a hole in it.  Queue lots of running around for gaffa tape, clearing the patio afterwards etc…

Depends if it’s asbestos or not…

I’m thinking the repair piece I buy from the shop hopefully won’t be ;-)

Next question then – how do I cut under cloaking board?!

Wow – under cloaking. Who knew that’s what it was called. Every day is a school day

No not a conservation area.  If you apply retrospectively they charge double, apparently.  I think you get a building regs completion certificate separately anyway.

It’s got spots at the moment…Gu10. Albeit they are in the wrong place, but I would agree with the harsh shadows comment.  Quite like the idea of the light from an LED baton.  A bit more diffuse.   But doesn’t it make the place look a bit industrial / hospital / school?

I would like to add… Marmalade

Just in case anyone was desparately hanging on to this, or more likely searches and finds it…the answer was inline duct silencer.  Made a MASSIVE difference.  Can barely hear the fan running now.  Amazing!

Not related to bangernomics but I do like how some forumites are so regular they have their own TLA…

TG had a test sandero with a similar damp issue… I see yours is a much older model but still

Dacia Sandero – long term review – Report No:6 2024 | Top Gear

Ooh.  Fluelass gas fire.  Another option to consider.  Sounds like another thread coming on.

Fashion and style is intersting though, isnt’ it?  What looks great and bang up to date now is likely to look pretty naff in 10 years time. And who wants to redecorate every 10 years…

🤣🤣🤣 quite a damning review…

Alas, not as simple as I’d hoped…

@goldfish24 – how rude. This was the peak of style when the house was built in 1995. But it is on the list to replace when we get round to doing the lounge. Bit of a way off though.

We have had the heating with new rads etc so the lounge is pretty cozy. Just put the fire on occasionally when OH wants to be specially toasty.

@spooky_b329 – just been looking up ethanol fireplaces. Could be a fuss free option. I see a new thread coming on. Could go for an electric fire but the one in our old house was really noisy. Just a fan heater with a lame “flame” effect

I know the answer to this one!
Insulated airing cupboard+ dehumidifier+ fan to move air around+ shoe dryer. A bit of work but brilliantly effective.
I always find the tumble dryer takes an age to dry – this works amazingly

Sofa beds – you either get a choice of a comfy sofa, or a comfy bed.  But you don’t seem to be able to get both…So decide if you or your guests are more important.

Have you thought about a day bed?  They seem a bit better at both

Got luck trying to find one without a poo shelf for examination though… they all seem to have them now

Thanks all.  Sounds like a trip to the loft to check things out a bit more closely… to answer your questions:

• It’s round, rigid ducting, straight run from vent to fan (About 3m)
• The ducting runs under the loft insulation, which should damp a bit of vibration
• The joints are duct taped together.  But not too hard to separate to install a silencer.
• The motor has 3 speeds – it’s currently on the lowest speed which has reduced the sound quite a lot.

My hunch is that it’s the air resonating in the duct, like an organ pipe, rather than the pipe itself.  That combined with, as you say @solarider – air entering a narrow opening causing flow noise.

I just wanted some thoughts before I bite the bullet and get a silencer.  They look like £30-£50, so more than just a try-it-and-see kind of thing:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blauberg-UK-Solid-Circular-Silencer/dp/B06XWCZ7TD

Hmm. Thanks for your thoughts.  They are hard fixed to the joists, so I could try some isolation feet.  However, it definitely sounds like most of the noise is airflow.

It is rigid ducts.  I think this might make it worse than flexible?   Flexible can absorb sound whereas it’s a long straight, slightly inclined run of rigid (about 2m to the fan and 2m beyond the fan).  It runs to the gable wall.  I feel like this might set up resonance inside the duct making the noise, hence wondering about silencer…

+1 for the heat pump manufacturers proprietary controls.  They really need to modulate properly to get the best out of them:

Choosing the Best Smart Thermostat!

One important thing – make sure you check what size wheels you are buying.  My experience as a passenger is that too big wheels (often ordered) ruin the ride… Stick to smaller ones if it’s an option

Some good ideas here. (Apart from the Rover coupe 😬)
I’d thought all TT were 2 seats only, but that’s just the roadsters. Could be a good shout. And a Celica as well… A bit less obvious than a TT.

Not too much if a mechanic though so probably not the brera.

Can’t be too showy or big, which probably rules out BMW or Merc…

Winner of the best suggestion so far:

Separate thermostat set to 19 from 9 til 9, like @dangeourbrain says, but leave the old one in place (disconnected) to give people the illusion of control.

Good idea of a thermostat with an upper limit though, thanks @simon_g

@dangeourbrain: Sounds like you’ve concluded best option is heating on all the time during the day.  Keeps the fabric warm and means not cycling hot /cold.  But this would depend on how much the halls are used.  Ours seem to be used about half the time (including evenings)  so maybe not the most efficient as we’d be quite often heating and empty building.  How much are your halls used?

Nest could be an option, but I don’t think there’s wifi.  And I don’t think the lovely caretaker is a fan of technology, so anything too complex is out…

@mert

Yes, we had one at a place i used to use, and we have similar in some of our older meeting rooms/buildings at work.

set at (say) 16 when the button isn’t pressed and 19 when it is. And a two hour timer.

Sounds like it could be ideal – any chance you remember what brand it was or what it was called so I could look it up?

Hold up a minute. How has it got this far without someone pointing out that squeezing your tea bags makes your tea taste disgusting?

Never squeeze.

So…just to close this off. The vodafone router worked after a fashion, but was pretty flakey. I looked around for an access point. But for 802.11ac they seemed pretty expensive. So in the end, I ordered another cheapy talktalk router. Plug in. Switch on. Works.

Moral of the story… if it works. Copy it.

Update: Thanks to all of you very helpful people, it does seem to be working… I’m going to try it a bit more and see how stable it is…but good so far. Woot. £4 well spent.

Did think about a typewriter actually…bit awkward for editing later though.

Tried the settings as per the suggestions…it worked for about 2 minutes. I got very excited. Then sulked again.

SO…I think I need an access point. But thought I’d check before I buy the wrong thing again:

– Anything special I need to look out for. I guess make sure it’s 2.4ghz and 5ghz at least? And one with external power supply rather than power over ethernet?

– This will definitely enable me to have a separate wifi network rather than simply extend my home wifi?

Thanks!

It’s annoying though. It means another bit of kit going to landfill rather than repurposed.

I need something like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204182952710?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=cOPoETN-RHe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=fT4TyhfNQcW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

He’s already got enough self-restraint not to just connect to the Router 1 wifi network

Yeah – I don’t know wifi 1 password off the top of my head and it’s not saved on the laptop

I just looked up what an access point is. I think that is indeed what I need. And it looks like that will be pretty cheap second hand. Presume that will allow me to have a second wifi network as I want? (Rather than just extend the first)

I see how the internet has rapidly figured out I’m
a) weird
b) tight

Are you trying to say you spend too much time on this forum, and you are trying to stop yourself whilst working ?

That’s about right!

Work is writing, mostly. So anything is a distraction!

I don’t think there’s even any other devices, just the laptop!

Correct.
Network 1, router 1 = rest of the house and all devices
Network 2, router 2 = Office laptop only

Powerline adaptors would work, get your internet through those, turn one off when you want to be disconnected

Yes, that makes sense.
BUT

Hard to get a pair for £4 though.

Which port have you plugged the ethernet into on router 2?

The WAN port – that was what worked on my previous talktalk model.

I am pretty sure that virtually any other router except the Voda one would Just Work.

Sounds like my easiest option might be to spend another £4 on another old router, that’s not a vodafone one. Just my luck that my random selection of cheapo old router didn’t work…

think it’s just the voda router (2) that’s your problem

That would make sense – why the talktalk one just worked but the voda one doesn’t. Shame – I spent £4 on it.

Unless there’s some kind of setting on router 2 I could change?

Yeah, I realise it’s a pretty weird thing to want to do… Hence not finding an obvious answer!

Perhaps I should reframe the question:
I want some way to switch off internet to only one laptop in my house. The switch must be physically separate from the laptop. The rest of the house internet must continue to work.

If there’s an easier way to do that…?

I don’t think vodafone ones have a bridge mode, sadly. Also, won’t that simply extend my first wifi rather than creating a second?

Yep – valid questions. I like to be able to work without distractions. Internet = distraction. But sometimes I need it. The faff of having to traipse downstairs to turn on another router means I only do it when I need it, and I can turn it off when I don’t. I realise I can turn wifi off on the laptop, but that doesn’t have the same faff factor to stop me doing it.

And as the others have said, check the condensor for lint blockages

It would be a bit odd for a condensor to “not work”. There’s not much to go wrong – it’s just plates that let air flow and water condense. I’d be checking to see if there was any blockage in any of the hoses to stop warm wet air moving onto the condensor. Also checking to see if the fan is turning ok and actually moving air through the machine. It’s usually down the bottom connected to the motor.

Great, thanks everyone – it’s easy access via a short flat driveway, so fingers crossed :-)

How have we got this far and no-one has mentioned “perfect storm”?

(Has anyone mentioned perfect storm?)