IR panels: update

Well! I wish I could say, after four days of having a workforce in my house, that the work is done. Unfortunately, it is not.

The idea was to put panels, in full working order, in my upstairs bedroom, at the top of the stairs, in the living room, in the landing, in the little hallway, in the master bedroom and in the storage space downstairs. And move any lights that needed moving to make space for the panels. And move my infrared mirror in the bathroom down.

When the men showed up on the first day they said that it was more work than the people planning this had anticipated. They said probably four days. But these are over now.

So what has actually happened? I have the agreed panels in the two bedrooms, in the hallway, and at the top of the stairs. They are wired in, but they don't have thermostats yet, so they don't yet work.

Living room: partial success

In the living room, I have two out of the intended three panels. Because of the Victorian ceiling beams, I need the smallest panels they sell for that room. They only had two of these. That also means that the landing has zero, as it needs the same size. The storage space doesn't have any but I'm not sure why.

In order to put the panels in, the wiring had to be put away. That generally meant: cutting into the plasterboard of the ceilings. And the installer has sort of stuck the bits he cut out back in, but it obviously doesn't look very good yet. That will require some serious working with filler, and painting over that. Or hiding it in different ways. And some of the lights could just be moved in such a way that I don't have to do anything with it anymore, but in some places I need to put a whole new light in. 

The ceiling in the landing

Master bedroom: partial success

I had told the installer I had an online meeting at 3 pm, so then I wouldn't be available for input. He didn't wait for me to end that meeting, and just left when he had done what he intended to do. So we couldn't have a handover.

He also left several panels in the conservatory. I suppose that is mainly some panels that were intended to replace the small panels, but I refused these. I had been quite specific about wanting the panels between the ceiling beams. And there seems to be a big one there as well. I'm not sure what that is doing there! I think only the two bedrooms were supposed to have big panels.

The installer had been hoovering fanatically before he left. It is true that he removed the vast majority of the mess he had made. But he had made so much! I knew I would have to mop the lounge, the landing, the hallway, and the bathroom in order to prevent walking the remainder of the dust through the entire house. I probably should do the stairs as well.

Signs of valiant hoovering, but I’ll have to redo it

Altogether, I had expected more result in less time. The lady with whom I had agreed this said it would take two days, maybe three, so that is what I had blocked out in my diary. But four days have passed, and the installer will have to be back for a fifth day. And that will only be for what can be done soon. I assume that involves the thermostats.

The small panels seem not to be in stock until December. So in winter, there will have to be another round, to finish off the job properly. I suppose that won't be as messy. The wires are already in position! I suppose fitting the actual panels wouldn't be that much of a job. So I think most of the disruption is behind me now. But two days and everything is done it's quite different from at least six days, spread out over at least five months. Oh well. Not much I can do! I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end…