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I've refitted our WC after flooring went down, all good no leaks but I feel like some bolt accessories where missing. Should some sort of washer be fitted between the wc pan and bolt/screw connecting it to the floor? Or is the metal on porcelain ok? I've re-used what the plumber put in place.

Can you cut a much bigger hatch and trim out the ceiling joists? A drop down hatch and a proper ladder will make regular inspection and maintenance easier. I think the MVHR units normally have a condense trap that needs to be fed into a drain. Was a PIV unit ruled out? They are a simple install.

Yes we will do that, I am just waiting to hear from them is this will be acceptable, which is proving more difficult then it should! Wish I had taken the warranty from the BCO and I would have had this all done last year.

I fitted a PIV unit centrally in the house (4 bed over two floors) as a result of humidity levels spiking after I insulated under my suspended ground floor (great idea from a heat loss perspective but it had clearly been a major contributor of uncontrolled air ingress) Within a few days the PIV unit had brought the house into a level of control initially on a higher flow setting but now it's on a timed schedule (midnight to 6.00 am and 8.30 am to 3.00 pm as this works for our occupancy routine. I did buy one with a heater but 400W consumption can rapidly increase electricity usage when it cuts in so I've got it turned off. I do have trickle vents in a few windows (not all because most predate the requirement) but a fair percentage of the air pushed into the house is ventilated out via bathrooms fan extracts even when the fans are off. (this is exactly what I need as dry air expels the warm wet air in bathrooms) Overall it works well for us

Recommend in bathrooms, electric UFH and electric towel radiators with accessible timers. We have wet UFH elsewhere but not used in the first floor bedrooms since moving in. Cooling must be considered. I plumbed for independent AC (Not implemented yet). As above keep it simple.

We are in a bungalow so not comparable. I would recommend electric towel rails on a timer . Ours are on 3 hours a day, at cheap rate, hour and a half morning and night. Towels always dry. Our towel rails have timer built in to element , but wish we had put the timer in the wiring circuit, probably back in plant room. We have wet UFH which is on 9 months of the year but we have 90mm screed and tiles, with a different, warmer surface, might not need it. The floor and stone effect shower tray do dry quickly after a shower. Not had any heat on in bedrooms through the two winters we have been here. We put a high level wire connection to take an infrared heater or similar if required but not needed it yet, but its there for when I am 90 if needed. Both our neighbours in new builds, both with heat pumps and MVHR, talk about over heating far more than heating, but both have a lot of glass. Overheating not been an issue for us but we have a lot less glass, and high level Velux windows we can leave open at night when warm.

As an afterthought, our stairwell is very open and this allows heat from downstairs to make its way into the upstairs rooms, we have to keep the bedroom doors closed to keep them cool. If your stairwell is very narrow then there is a possibility that the heat from downstairs won’t be able to make its way upstairs, it’s worth thinking about.

But it's not supporting all of it, there is a gap not supported by this wall yet managing to stay up. What was further to the right in that shot?

We have wet UFH downstairs and wet UFH upstairs only in the bathrooms. We like a cool bedroom 17-18C is fine. Most of the year to keep the bedroom that cool we need to keep the door shut. In the cold weather we have been having for the last few weeks, we occasionally have to open the bedroom door to let a bit of heat up the stairwell in. I fitted an electric point on the wall of each bedroom to fit an electric panel heater should it be required. None have ever been needed.

We have wet ufh downstairs and electric towel rads and electric ufh in the bathrooms. our heating backup is our AC. Not needed it to heat yet at all. BUT…..we use the AC all the time in the summer. We have external blinds to keep the heat of the sun out but it’s nice to be able to look out of the windows so AC is essential. Plus as we use it in the summer it’s run off the solar so is effectively free to run. obviously, @JohnMo’s suggestion of fan coils would work but we decided to keep our systems separate which has advantages in my opinion. Plus a ducted AC system is extremely quiet and unobtrusive. Only thing I’d do differently if I was doing it again is install ducted AC everywhere rather than having wall units downstairs. Give serious consideration to keeping the house cool.

https://coolenergyshop.com/collections/radiators-fan-coils?srsltid=AfmBOoo2Jwpa28-xTPSwQCmxyskK6onq3GBoEW004T_AV7JvfWtJQvZo Here are a couple of photos of ours which heats a summer house (a Myson unit). First is the unit without the cover installed, controller is on the right, a finned radiator panel behind the sheet metal and a linear fan below it. It basically modulates the fan speed to maintain a a set room temp. Way smaller than an equivalent radiator.

We did do a lot of thinking around this early on (pre-detailed SAP and modelled part O calcs). I think we’re good, but I’m going to look into this as what you’ve described is new to me - can you point to a couple of links of what you’re describing please?

Thank you!

With it being upstairs and if doors are open you are likely to have warmer bedrooms, like it not, I would keep it simple. Just install panel heaters in bedrooms or the provision for them, keep the electric UFH in bathrooms. But if you are going for a grant (I just wouldn't bother) they will require all heating by ASHP. But to mess your head up more, are you likely to need cooling upstairs? If so just do fan coils for heating and cooling in bedrooms and bathrooms. Cool Energy do bathroom fan coil towel rails. Do mild cooling keep the water flow above dew point then no need for drains to be added.

Our self build is heading towards passiv haus, wall u value=0.15, roof=0.1, windows/doors=1.0, MVHR etc etc. We heat the house with UFH downstairs into a very thick slab, we have no heating whatsoever upstairs. if we built again, we would do the same, there is absolutely no need unless you want a very warm bathroom - we don’t.

Welcome to the forum, this might be somewhere to start. https://familyrollo.co.uk/rolled-mosquito-net?m=1709&c=135

Thanks for your replies - and happy new year! Things have moved VERY slowly, but these are a couple of pictures I managed to take yesterday in the loft during a visit. It definitely appears to be supporting the roof structure. I guess, the approach would be to get an RSJ along that length provided we can get padstones on some piers to support it? Anything else I'm missing?

Looking for advice on electric UFH pads/loose wire laid to a plan. We don’t believe we’ll need it much if at all, but we’ve not met or spoken to anyone who has used it - effectiveness, cost, installation. Here’s our situation and some questions. Our build will have a passivehaus level of thermal and airtightness. I’ve visited a similar size/build where they have wet UFH downstairs and only towel radiators in the bathroom upstairs; they have no issues with warmth upstairs. (Numbers for ease of reference / comment) Current thinking / starting point: Wet UFH downstairs Towel rails upstairs (electric) Electric UFH pads in bathrooms (electric) The back-up: Install electric UFH pads in the bedrooms (not covering the whole floor area) as a reserve for cold snaps and the ability to apply some heat to the bedrooms that could be relatively effective (i.e. you’d be walking on it and so the impact of turning it on would have some relative immediacy of effect). Alternatives we’re considering: 5. Install wet radiators (2 bathrooms) connected to the ASHP. 6. Would prefer not to install wet heating to the bedrooms (space, cost, don’t believe we’ll need it). Question about electric UFH: 7. I’ve had slightly confusing explanation from a UFH supply company (clearly in sales, not technical). They described the electric pad installs (for both under tile and under carpet) as: a) Tile backers required (are they essential). b) Electric heating pad, or loose heating wire that can be laid to one of their designs, which allows it to fit around items (beds/baths) easier. c) Self-levelling compound is mixed up to lay over the wire (as shallow as 10mm). We have a timber frame and timber first floor (Caberdek) and so I asked about this needing to be waterproofed - he didn’t have an answer. I appreciate that’s quite a download, any comments/sanity checks appreciated.

It’s a 2-storey house, the ring beam (containing beam & block floor) is suspended off the floor. Ground floor has high ceilings of 2910mm, posi joists are 425mm deep and my measurement of the first floor FFL is 4m from ground level. Because of the uneven ground, the required min 150mm air gap and SE adding another beam in under the floor (structural detail architect didn’t allow for) this is why the as-built was unable to be accurately reflected by the architects design drawings. Frustrating, yes. A reality of very uneven (by mm) ground that we couldn’t simply flatten because of tree root protection areas, also yes. Hope that helps explain / understand.

Atleast you've always got a back up if the immersion fail.

I started a DIY MVHR build as I wanted to make my house a bit more insulated, but already have condensation on windows and smells that linger for says, so it seemed like a sensible next step. My attic is cold, but the only place I really have space for a unit, and figured I could insulate the chimneys at the same time as passing MVHR pipes down them (after putting in a lintel) - 3 chimneys front and 3 at the back for a 3 story mid-terrace house of ~140sqm. The chimneys are pretty warm now I have insulated them at the attic (no external walls), and added small breather vents into the house. I have mostly insulated the ducting in the chimney and will of course do the same in the attic once I have finalised manifold locations, and probably the MVHR itself given it's a cold attic. There are some rooms I still need to work out the semi-rigid duct path (no chimney to use for several rooms), but Im starting to think about next steps and would love to hear your thoughts/concerns please? Im planning to put the MVHR in the middle of the chimneys, and the semi-rigid ducting can all meet at some manifolds there quite easily. Do you think it would be best to wall mount with some brackets, or just put some wooden joists to support its base? If I put the external vents through the chimney then there will be a lot of bends to deal with (around the roof supports and going down to the opening for the chimney before going up the chimney to some form of cowl). Would I need a drain point at the bottom of this ductwork, or is it generally ok so long as the ductwork is insulated? My alternative is to ask a roofer to cut a hole in my roof and put the external vents directly above the MVHR (and could then totally remove chimney at some point - given I think I can see water marks on the chimney above the lintel it presumably needs some work anyway). Is this worthwhile do you think? (shorter pipework but more invasive and risky to interfere with the roof, given somebody in the past made the strange decision to add planks added on the back of the roof) A Zehnder Q350 is an impossible squeeze through my roof hatch at present, but I may cut the hatch just to allow entry and then re-seal... Though definite effort! Alternative options with a width <510mm seem to sacrifice a fair bit. The Zehnder needs 160mm vents, but if I used 200mm vents could I use flexi pipework to make the routing easier (due to the above), or would I need more like 250mm to compensate for all the ridges....? (the chimneys are about 240mm wide, but quite sooty, so definitely needs lining) Any thoughts or feedback very much welcome, thanks in advance!

SAP (part L) is to do with energy efficiency. Part Q / Secure by Design is security. Part O is overheating.

It is always worth phoning if you need a decent amount. Bear in mind delivery costs can be high on insulation.

I'm just double checking my drawings and SAP calc prior to ordering my doors/windows. As expected the SAP calc provides information on the U and G values for the windows, doors and patio doors. However it also states the following:- Windows - Part O, M & Q Compliant) & Secure by Design Compliant Solid Doors - (Part Q & Secure by Design Compliant) Fully Glazed Patio Doors (Part Q & Secure by Design Compliant) My supplier has questioned some of the specification, that's only being driven by the SAP Assessor, for example 'Secure by Design'. Does this have any affect on the SAP calculation at all? I assume the Part O, M & Q are to keep me compliant with build regulations but happy to stand corrected. Kind regards, Jamie

Shouldn't be an issue regarding approval. All bungalows have been demolished and rebuilt. No grand design over sized mansion just a normal family home. The only difference is the additional local framework and criteria but looking at this and previous planning applications seems pretty straight forward. Had lots of recommendations for this architect just something doesn't feel quite right!