Hagg Leys Farm

Month: February 2014 (Page 2 of 4)

Light sensor

February 18, 2014 /

We now have a light sensor connected to the lighting computer.  This means that we can programme the lights so that they come on after dark and turn off during the day.

It is another relatively cost effective piece of kit from Loxone.  The main issue was climbing on the roof to fix it in position.  We have sited it on the small apex at the rear of the property (away from any street lighting or security floodlights).

It is connected to the Loxone kit using Cat5e cable.  One pair of wires is used to supply it with 24v.  Another pair of wires send back data on the light level (as a 0-10v signal).  This is then connected to one of the Loxone’s analogue inputs.

The sensor is positioned high up on the small gable end in the extension. This is away from any light from street lighting or from the security light at the front of the building.

The sensor is positioned high up on the small gable end in the extension. This is away from any light from street lighting or from the security light at the front of the building.

Inside the lux sensor. Orange and orange/white used to supply 24v and green and green/white for data. It then simply supplies a 0-10v signal to the Loxone kit based on the amount of light outside. The dip switches can be used to adjust it's sensitivity.

Inside the lux sensor. Orange and orange/white used to supply 24v and green and green/white for data. It then simply supplies a 0-10v signal to the Loxone kit based on the amount of light outside. The dip switches can be used to adjust it’s sensitivity.

 

Update on the outside of the property

February 13, 2014 /

The builders left site this week since the external shell work has now been completed.  We are now concentrating on the plastering, decorating, plumbing and electrics.

With the majority of the building work now complete, hopefully, the noisy/dusty/muddy part of the build is complete.  We still have the top soil to be put back down in the back field, but we are going to wait until the weather improves.

In between the storms today, I took some photos of the outside of the property.

This is the view of the renovated cottages and the new extension. We still have the gardens wall to finish, but this is going to have to wait until it gets a little warmer!

This is the view of the renovated cottages and the new extension. We still have the gardens wall to finish, but this is going to have to wait until it gets a little warmer!

The sunken garden has still to be finished. However, we have decided to concentrate on getting the inside of the property finished first. The wall in the garden still needs to be finished off when the weather improves.

The sunken garden has still to be finished. However, we have decided to concentrate on getting the inside of the property finished first. The wall in the garden still needs to be finished off when the weather improves.

The bi-folding doors in the new extension, and the double doors in the older part of the property, all open out onto a two level terrace. There are stones steps up to the bi-folding doors in the lounge and timber steps up to the upper terrace outside the master bedroom (the set of bi-folding doors to the right in the new extension).

The bi-folding doors in the new extension, and the double doors in the older part of the property, all open out onto a two level terrace. There are stones steps up to the bi-folding doors in the lounge and timber steps up to the upper terrace outside the master bedroom (the set of bi-folding doors to the right in the new extension).

In between the storms, we have had some sunny weather. This is the back of the building and there are only the last remanants of the builders left behind.

In between the storms, we have had some sunny weather. This is the back of the building and there are only the last remanants of the builders left behind.

Two out of the three external doors fitted

February 13, 2014 /

The second of three external doors was fitted today.  They are Suffolk oak doors from XL Joinery.  They were one of the few suppliers that had these types of doors in correct height.

It takes longer to install external doors rather than internal doors.  While we can probably fitted 2 internal doors in a day, we only get 1 external door fitted in a day.

The study (that used to be the old coal hole) now has a new exterior door. Zep is very proud of his work - he is the only Lurcher that has learnt to hang an external door!

The study (that used to be the old coal hole) now has a new exterior door. Zep is very proud of his work – he is the only Lurcher that has learnt to hang an external door!

 

The ground source heat pump is still working!!

February 13, 2014 /

As well as generating heat for the house, we also now have a full tank of hot water.

Although it is going to take a few days to get the property up to full temperature, we haven’t done too badly in the last 20 hours or so.  Below is an update on the internal temperature graph from our weather station.

Inside temperature after the ground source heat pump was turned on about 4pm yesterday afternoon.

Inside temperature after the ground source heat pump was turned on about 4pm yesterday afternoon.

WiFi throughout the building

February 13, 2014 /

tp-link

There are wired Ethernet sockets in all of the rooms throughout the property.  The home network is provided by two Netgear Gigabit switches (one in the old part of the property and one in the plant room in the new extension connected via a CAT6 cable).  These are then connected to the Internet via a BT Home Hub 4.  Longer term, we will probably replace this with something more sophisticated. Since we are in a rural area our broadband is not the fast – 13Mbps download and around 1Mbps upload.  It works fine for us – just as well since there isn’t much we can do about it.

Additionally, the BT Home Hub 4 provides WiFi access (both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz) in the older part of the property.  However, this quickly drops off once you get to the new extension.

The answer is to install a second WiFi access point in the new part of the building and to use a wired connection to connect the access point to the internal network.  If you set up a second access point with the same SSID and password (and security settings), client devices (e.g. iPads, laptops, etc) will connect to the home network using whichever access point is providing the strongest signal.  Furthermore, if you connect via one access point and then move to a part of the building where the signal from another access point is better, the client device should change access points (and without dropping the connection).  To test this out, I stream BBC2 to my iPad in the old part of the property (using the BT Home Hub WiFi) and then walked to the furthest part of the new extension.  The iPad swapped from one access point to the other and didn’t drop a single frame.  There is a good article here that summarises how this works.

So what did we use for the second WiFi access point? I have been looking for attractive looking access points, but haven’t had a lot of success.  So in the interim, I decided to buy a TP-Link TL-WA801ND.  The reviews looked good and at under £30 it doesn’t matter if we replace it with something more attractive later.

The TP-Link access point is a reasonable piece of kit, particularly for the price.  However, the process for setting it up is a bit convoluted.  It defaults to an IP address of 192.168.0.254.  This isn’t really too much of an issue, except that the BT Home Hub defaults to setting up a 192.168.1.* network.  So none of my devices that were connected to the BT Home Hub could connect to the TP-Link device at the same time.

To get it to work:

  • I turned off the BT Home Hub.  You could alternatively turn off the WiFi on the Home Hub;
  • I then connected to the TP-link access point using the 192.168.0.254 IP address;
  • I logged in and set up the device as an access point.  This involves entering the SSID, password, and security settings so that they were the same as the Home Hub (you might want to write these down before starting this process);
  • Do not reboot the device until you have changed it’s IP address to something in the 192.168.1.* range.  This means that it can be seen at the same time as the Home Hub.  In my case, I changed it to 192.168.1.252.  My Home Hub is set up for 192.168.1.254 (the default).
  • I left all the other settings on the network tab the same.  DHCP needs to be turned off on the Access Point, but this is the default anyway.
  • Save and reboot the access point.  You are done.  You should be able to access the TP-Link device using 192.168.1.252 (or whatever IP address you entered).  This will then provide you with the login page. You can access your Home Hub via 192.168.1.254.

If you leave the TP-Link device on the default IP address and set up the access point with the same SSID/password, you will get a DNS error when a device logs into the access point – it will connect to the WiFi network, but will not connect to the Internet.

Update on the ground source heat pump

February 12, 2014 /

nibe logo

It looks as if the problem with the ground source heat pump has finally been fixed (although it would appear that there was no problem to be fixed).  It is going to take a few days for the house to get up to temperature, but at least it is a start.

The heat pump has been throwing LP (Low Pressure) alerts for the past couple of weeks.  The ground loops were flushed.  But there was no air in the system.  All of the strainers on the ground loops were checked.  Again, no problem.  The circulation pump for the ground loops was replaced.  But the same problem persisted.  The software on the heat pump was updated.  No difference.

The Nibe engineer spent 5 hours on site and finally struck on the idea that the temperature of internal underfloor heating was too low.  Apparently, there needs to be a significant temperature difference between the ground loops and the underfloor heating otherwise the low temperature in the underfloor heating will reduce the temperature (and thus the pressure) on the ground loops.

The answer appears to be to use the internal immersion heater to raise the temperature of the underfloor heating.  Then the ground source heat pump could be engaged and, voila, it all works as it should.

We restarted the heat pump about 6 hours ago (around 4pm this afternoon) after engaging the immersion heater for a while.  The good news is that it is still running (and generating heat).  Fingers crossed.

Here's the graph for the internal temperature from our weather station. You can see where the heat pump was turned on around 4pm. Hopefully, the graph overnight will look just as good. Fingers crossed.

Here’s the graph for the internal temperature from our weather station. You can see where the heat pump was turned on around 4pm. Hopefully, the graph overnight will look just as good. Fingers crossed.

Kitchen ceiling painted

February 10, 2014 /

The decorators started last Friday and today they managed to get a couple of coats of paint on the kitchen ceiling.  They also managed to paint the ceilings in the hall and the snug as well as getting some of the woodwork prepped.  This is really starting to make a difference.

The kitchen ceiling has been painted today - two coats of white emulsion. I am amazed how quick one of the decorators has done this - it would have taken me ages and not nearly been half as good. The wire at the top of the picture is for the fire alarm - it seems to get into every shot!

The kitchen ceiling has been painted today – two coats of white emulsion. I am amazed how quick one of the decorators has done this – it would have taken me ages and not nearly been half as good. The wire at the top of the picture is for the fire alarm – it seems to get into every shot!

With the ceiling painted, the next job is to give the oak beams a second coat of Osmo PolyX. Then we can move onto painting the walls.

With the ceiling painted, the next job is to give the oak beams a second coat of Osmo PolyX. Then we can move onto painting the walls.

 

New fireplace plastered

February 10, 2014 /

The new fireplace (based on a Spartherm Arte 3RL 100H fire insert) was plastered last week.  The plaster has dried out over the weekend and we expect to get the lounge decorated this week (with a bit of luck).

We have had the fire on today as the ground source heat pump still isn’t working!  Nibe (the manufacturer of the heat pump) are due out on Wednesday, but in the meantime we have no heating or hot water.

New fireplace plastered Fireplace plastered

The front wall finished

February 10, 2014 /

The front wall and the flagstones were finished on Saturday morning.  All of the materials used (except the sand and cement) had been salvaged from elsewhere on site.  Most of the flagstones were from the kitchen in number 10.  It is good to see them being reused and not one bit out of place.

We have already laid the conduit and a set of cables for the lights that will light up the front of the house at night.  We should get around to this later this week, depending on the weather.

There are two steps up to a set of flagstones. All of the flagstones were had salvaged when renovating the property.

There are two steps up to a set of flagstones. All of the flagstones were had salvaged when renovating the property.

We had to remove the shoe off the bottom of the drain pipe to accommodate the new flagstones. We will cut the drainpipe and refit the shoe now that the flagstones are in place.

We had to remove the shoe off the bottom of the drain pipe to accommodate the new flagstones. We will cut the drainpipe and refit the shoe now that the flagstones are in place.

This old stone drain (and cast iron grate) was still in use when we bought the property. It was however elsewhere and we have relocated into the new flagstones in the front of the property.

This old stone drain (and cast iron grate) was still in use when we bought the property. It was however elsewhere and we have relocated into the new flagstones in the front of the property.

The decorators have arrived!

February 9, 2014 /

The first job is to clean up the new roof timbers.  These had been previously been coated with Osmo UV Protection oil.  This was necessary as the oak was exposed to the elements while the roof was being built.  If we had left it untreated, the mud and rain would have soaked into the wood and been very difficult to remove.

Cleaning up the oak involves softening up the previously applied Osmo with white spirit.  Then rubbed it down with wire wool, before finally wiping it down with a clean cloth and white spirit.  The more persistent marks will be sanded out.  Fortunately, there aren’t too many of these.  The final stage will be a second cost of Osmo (this time the internal PolyX version) to reseal the wood.

By the time we get to the end of the first day, the beams in the kitchen have been cleaned ready for a coat of Osmo next week.

These timbers had been previously coated with Osmo exterior wood finish. To get the dirt and finger marks off them, they are wiped down with a cloth dipped in white spirit, then rubbed with wire wool dipped in white spirit and then finally wiped down with a clean cloth (again dipped in white spirit).

These timbers had been previously coated with Osmo exterior wood finish. To get the dirt and finger marks off them, they are wiped down with a cloth dipped in white spirit, then rubbed with wire wool dipped in white spirit and then finally wiped down with a clean cloth (again dipped in white spirit).

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