Japanese electricity

Electricity and Voltage

In Japan, the voltage supply is uniformly 100 volts throughout the country, but two frequencies are used. In the eastern half of Japan (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, etc.), the frequency is 50 hertz, and in the western half (Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, etc.) it is 60 hertz.

Electrical appliances such as hair dryers, travel irons, and electric shavers that can change voltages are convenient. For those that cannot, a step-down voltage converter is recommended.

In the UK the voltage supply ranges from 200-240V (officially 230) the frequency is a uniform 50HZ i.e. the same as Eastern Japan (where I live).

Electrical Plugs
Japan

UK


a good site

So in order for us to have japanese plugs we will need some form of step down voltage and a few (say 4) plug outlets that I will buy in Japan and ship home.

wind turbines

following my previous post about wind speeds in Portobello I was surprised when checking the HHF site near Inverness that the wind speed was so low.

The HHF site near Inverness:


So I did some research on known windy places.
North Uist in the Outer Hebrides:


Stornoway in Shetland:


The summit of Cairngorm:


Near Lake Windermere in the Northern Penines:

SIPS contractors

dowloaded from Kingspan TEK website

Building with SIPS

Sips animation by Hebridean Homes.

Timber Frames

8 companies selected by me from a list provided by the search facility at the UK Timber Frame Association In no particular order


http://www.scotframe.co.uk/web/site/Company/ContactUs/MoiraNicholson.asp

Timber Frameworks Ltd
Westwood Estate
West Calder
Livingston
EH55 8PW
Tel: 01506 870101
Fax: 01506 870055
Email: info@timberframeworks.com
Website: www.timberframeworks.com

Walker Timber Ltd
Carriden Sawmills
Bo'ness
EH51 9SQ
Tel: 01506 823331
Fax: 01506 822590
Email: mail@walkertimber.com
Website: www.walkertimber.com

Strathclyde Timber Systems Ltd
Castlecary
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G68 0DT
Tel: 01324 840909
Fax: 01324 840907
Email: sales@strathclydehomes.com
Website: www.strathclydetimbersystems.com


Dan-wood House
36 d/3 Murrayfield Road
Edinburgh
EH12 6ER
Tel: 07917 163731
Email: sales@dan-wood.com
Website: www.dan-wood.com

Avonhill Timber Frame Ltd
1 Warren Road
Hamilton
ML3 7QJ
Tel: 01698 459777
Fax: 01698 459877
Email: sales@avonhill.ltd.uk
Website: www.avonhill.ltd.uk

Drumbow Timber Frame Ltd
Drumbow Farm
Caldercruix
ML6 7RX
Tel: 01236 842296
Fax: 01236 843539
Website: www.drumbowhomes.co.uk

Rob Roy Homes (Crieff) Ltd
Dalchonzie Business Park
By Comrie
By Crieff
PH6 2LB
Tel: 01764 670424
Fax: 01764 670419
Email: mail@robroyhomes.co.uk
NO WEB ADDRESS

Robertson Timberkit
10 Perimeter Road
Pinefield Industrial Estate
Elgin
IV30 6AE
Tel: 01343 549786
Fax: 01343 552546
Email: info@timberkit.co.uk
Website: www.timberkit.co.uk

Wood burning stoves

Wamsler Pluto
927x557x407mm 566pounds sterling inc VAT



Villager Duo

480x451x334mm 465pounds sterling inc VAT (multi stove)

Both are 5kw. At 1kw per 25m3 (see below) that will heat 145m3. My main living/ktchen/reading space is xm3

Sizing it properly:

Calculating room size and heat demand

1 kW of heating output will approximately heat
25m3 good insulated area
15m3 average insulated area
10m3 poor insulated area

The heating capacity is with an estimated outside temperature of -1°C. For accurate assessment of heating requirements a full heat loss calculation must be completed before installation of any appliance.


Example of calculating your room size.

Measure the width length and height of your room.
Calculate the three measurements together.
I.E width 4 meters x length 7 meters x height 2.4 meters = 67.2 m3

Advice for unusual shaped rooms.
If the room is shaped in an L configeration calculate the sections as two separate rooms then add together.
If the room has a pitched ceiling calculate the height of the room as half the height of the pitch for a guide. For a more accurate calculation we offer additional assistance. Click here

Insulation assessment
This is probably the most difficult assessment to make without a full heat loss calculation.
Essentials to keep in mind.
Number of outside walls:- The outside walls the greater the heat loss.
Number of windows. (Single glazed, double glazed).
Type of floor:- Suspended, solid, vented.
Insulation:- Cavity wall insulation, roof insulation.
Age of property:- Modern houses are far better insulated than traditional older Property.
Number of doors:- Are there doors to other rooms or to the outside.
Any other forms of heat:- Existing radiators, stoves or range style cookers in joining rooms.
House location:- Exposed or windy site, north side rather than southern aspect.

Completion of example
The room size in this example was 67.3 m3. In this example the room is of average insulation.
By dividing the room volume by 15m3 (average insulation) the kW demand is 4.48kW.

Heating capacity estimated with an outside temperture of -1 deg c. For accurate assessment of heating requirements a full heat calculation must be completed before installation of any appliance.

site accommodation

Japanese style unit baths from technobath



Ebay for 750pounds

Research timber cladding

timber cladding in scotland Gokay Deveci
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/03/15098/8749

prototype sustainable housing 1999
http://www.archive2.official-documents.co.uk/document/deps/cs/shdg/cases/case02.html

Aberdeen University and Gokay Deveci - a step towards zero heating houses
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/subj/search/Research/SustainableHousing/Sust-H-Design/Publications/zeroleaflet.htm

John Gildert's Scottish case studies timber frame
www.johngilbert.co.uk/pdf_files/JGA_Scot_timber_case_studies.pdf

JJI Joists Scottish maufacturer of I-beams or I-joists
http://www.jji-joists.co.uk/

Timber Engineering in Scotland

Some useful links about timber construction in Scotland
www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/46910/0030658.pdf

Napier University
Pasted here is an undated document (but very well written) from Napier University which is developing some very interesting research under the guidance of Peter Wilson I think.

The Centre for Timber Engineering has been in existence at Edinburgh’s Napier University for a little less than thirty months, yet in that short time it has established its presence - and its value to the construction industry - in a number of ways. The Centre was founded initially with support from the forestry and timber sectors in response to two problems which prevented wider use of timber as a primary structural component in buildings - the limited knowledge of timber design among the country’s civil and structural engineers and the lack of training available in this particular field in any UK university engineering course. In addition to this, a profound ignorance existed amongst construction professionals of the properties of UK-grown timbers and the potential to use these materials in preference to imported products whose origins and credentials for sustainable design are often less than clear.

The Centre has addressed these challenges via the three-part route of education, research and knowledge transfer. In the area of education, new custom-designed training programmes have been put in place, and its undergraduate BSc in Timber Engineering is the only course of its type in the country. Two new Masters degrees have been created - an MSc in Timber Engineering for those who have a first degree in engineering, and an MSc in Timber Industry Management for professionals whose background is not in construction but who wish to develop their skills and career path within the forestry and timber sectors. Both of the Masters courses are available as part-time options, making them eminently suitable as Continuing Professional Development programmes leading to valuable qualifications. The Centre is currently developing all its degrees so that they can be accessed online, and this EU funded work is a key plank in fulfilling its remit to train more engineers in timber design.

In parallel with these initiatives are the Centre for TImber Engineering’s research activities - projects designed to aid understanding of different species of wood and to find better uses for them in construction. This work ranges from the world of wood science to exposure tests on differing types of timber cladding. One of the largest grants ever awarded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council was directed to a multi-institutional team led by the Centre for Timber Engineering to explore the properties of Sitka spruce as a first step towards identifying economically viable uses for the most sizeable part of the UK’s forest resource, and an important way, potentially, of reducing the huge amounts of softwood imported into the UK each year.
Much of the timber used in Scotland is hidden within domestic timber frame structures, but wood has become increasingly fashionable with designers for use as external cladding. Our weather is very different from other parts of the UK, and indeed is more akin to the maritime conditions to be found in British Columbia and Norway. Horizontally driven rain can have a significant deleterious effect on different types of timber cladding as well as on the longevity of the particular woods being used and the Centre for Timber Engineering is currently undertaking a number of site tests in extremely exposed locations around the west of Scotland. This work - which is due to be completed later this year - will for the first time produce the data and the details to help designers and contractors better understand the conditions necessary for timber cladding to work effectively and to build better as a result.

But it is not only timber’s scientific properties and its use in existing construction systems that is being researched at the Centre for Timber Engineering - new products for use in the building industry are also being developed, such as the new ‘Composite Insulated Beam’ which comprises timber flanges and double webs of OSB insulated with a rigid infill of urethane or expanded polystyrene in a sandwich construction. An important benefit of the product is its ability to make use of relatively low grade timber such as Sitka spruce to produce a highly engineered product in a section of the market currently restricted to imported materials.
Helping industry become more efficient and more profitable through access to academic knowledge and resources is the philosophy which underlies the DTI’s concept of ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’, and which provides around 60% financial support for suitable projects. Under the programme companies can secure up to 60% financial support for their project, and to date the Centre has collaborated with sawmilling operations, timber frame manufacturers and product suppliers on a range of projects designed to have substantial financial benefit to the companies involved.
A new director will shortly be appointed to lead the Centre for TImber Engineering into the next stage of its development, but its activities will remain firmly focused on responding to industry needs and in creating new markets for timber in construction.

Peter Wilson is Director of Business Development at the Centre for Timber Engineering

ARB

The ARB website my ARB number is 068292F.

Concrete Countertops and one other

All about how to do your own concrete countertops and a link to dignity village a homeless housing collective in the US