Heat wave? Rain storm? What’s going on?!

The weather has been weird recently. It’s either torrential rain and flash flooding, or tree-splitting sun and blue skies. Summer is going out with a bang. We’ve spent the last week hanging out with family and friends

As a follow-up to the last conservatory DIY post, I’ve finished the shelf and filled out most of the space. The pipes have been successfully concealed with the addition of some snazzy trailing plants.

Magic Foam

Is there anything to be said for using some more expanding foam? I’ve been using the stuff around the house to tidy up areas which had pipes removed. The result isn’t perfect but it’s much faster and tidier than using loads of filler and can still be cut, sanded, and painted. I filled the gap around the outside tap which had been annoying me for several years (the previous owner wedged a series of sticks and stones in and around the pipe to stop it moving) and have filled some holes in the ensuite floor where radiator pipes were removed. It’s my intention to also block up the old dryer vent hole using foam, although bricks would be a better cosmetic result if I could get hold of some with a matching colour.

Heat Pump Challenges

Most of the work following the heat pump has been getting the place into order cosmetically as you can see above. Little bits and pieces, and things I had been putting off for a long time. The heat pump has been functioning as intended producing our hot water for the last few weeks, although it has been coming up with an error. Once a week the hot water tank needs to heat to 60 degrees Celcius to kill off any Legionella bacteria potentially lurking within. This cycle happens in the middle of the night and appears to have completed the following day, then after that an error appears on the controller and thermostat.

After discussing with our local Octopus engineer, we may have come up with a solution. At least one of our mixer taps are faulty, letting cold mains water into the warm supply. If this was just a trickle it wouldn’t be a major issue, but quite a lot is returning which is potentially diluting the hot water in the cylinder. If the tank is trying to get to 60 degrees then constantly cooled by incoming mains cold then that becomes a significant problem. The error doesn’t stop the pump working, although the cold-in-hot water scenario could be making our heat pump work and lot harder than necessary and lead to it being less efficient.

Most of the time the tank temperature should be at 48 degrees with the hot water schedule that’s set. The tank is so well insulated that it should only drop a degree or two in 24 hours if no water is used, and we’re not a massive household. The most we use is two showers and a small bath for Evie in the evenings.

The engineer devised a test. The first step was to isolate the hot water tank from the outlets and run a hot water schedule to see if it gets up to temperature. As you can see from the graph it took the temperature from 43 degrees to 48 degrees Celcius in an hour (although the target on this occasion was 50 degrees C). That suggests the pump is working as intended and heating up the water to close to target. After that we ran it as normal and the temperature dropped throughout the day. The graph is fairly crude and the time scale is not properly plotted but you get the jist. The following morning the temperature had dropped all the way to 41 degrees C and an hour of heating (tank not isolated, 48 degree C target) brought the temperature to 44 degrees. That’s a three degree rather than five degree rise. It doesn’t sound like much but you can feel the difference when you’re taking a shower.

The next step is to report back to the engineer who will try and devise a plan to get the system working more effectively. The solution may be to place non-return valves on the pipes running to the taps throughout the house.

Harvest Time

With an abundance of tomato plants outside (resulting from trench composting) we went from barely a ripe tomato to a glut of overripe cherries. I missed the boat and was too busy to get out pick them although there are plenty of ones that are ready to go still. There’s a combination of golden cherry tomatoes, regular cherry, and conventional varieties. I used a bunch to make shakshuka along with a leek from Riverford and half a pepper. The flavour was much more intense than using conventional tinned tomatoes, although peeling cherry tomatoes is a bit fiddly.

The beetroot is also ready to go (I’ve already pickled a couple of jars worth) and there are some impressive looking squash. It’s great having all of the produce ready but it all needs either eaten or processed relatively quickly. Fresh stuff doesn’t last.

Back into the garden for some final tomato picking and sun basking.