Week 37

 

Return trip from Dokkum/Burgummermeer

About 0630hrs Monday. We left at 0700hrs - I love early starts. We were back in Heerenveen by 1200hrs.

The house remodelling starts soon, so I have to get the boat off my mind... It's gone into the shed early. I've allowed two weeks, but I hope to get it done by the end of next weekend.

I got a head start on Sunday, so with my helper we should get all the sanding and preparation done by Thursday...

Totally discouraged by the way the old filler gets rust under it...so the two worst are going to be left as "damage" and painted over (at Janny's suggestion). I'll try (yet again) to fill the 2 comparitvely shallow patches...

...and none of them were caused by me! The boat was first painted professionally and they were nowhere in sight - so at least we had a good run for the best part of 9 years.

I'll probably only get 5 hours a day in - which is not bad - to allow drying times...not to mention fatigue :)

And then to preparation for the building works - first have to empty everything and then set up camp in one of the apartments.

The main reason for our remodelling actually came from the need to do something about our energy bill...we've done the walls and the windows - now comes the floor with insulation and floor heating...and heat pumps... Ours will probably be the hybrid variety.

...and a new kitchen. We've already started the mind-numbing exercise of looking at kitchen showrooms.

Soaring gas prices in the last 12 months have triggered a surge of interest in switching to heat pumps, according to figures from installation specialists Techniek Nederland.
So far this year 110,000 installations have been fitted in Dutch homes, almost as many as in the whole of 2022.

Techniek Nederland expects the number to hit 170,000 by the end of the year, including 120,000 in existing homes. It would be the first time that the number of homes switching to heat pumps exceeds the number installed in newbuild houses.
Hybrid heat pumps – which combine a heat pump with a central heating boiler – are the most popular type, as they cut gas use by around 60%.

From 2026 households will be required by law to install a hybrid pump when they replace their boiler.

Last year, the waiting time for heat pumps and associated equipment was 12 months - now about 5 months says our builder.