Leaderboard

@jack i agree with everything you say about this model, i have been putting it through some big jobs with no bother, yes it's heavy and i expect most of this extra weight is due to its very good masonry hammer drill function.

eps 70 has a 1% compressive strength of about 20kPa, 150mm of concrete exerts a force of about 0.150*2500*9.81=3.7kPa so as long as nothing else involved its O.K. KayMetzler EPS.pdf

No, I've never noticed this with ours.

If there is 'cross-talk' between exiting air and fresh air input then either there is a leak within the unit or exhaust and intake are too close together on the outside of the building.

Yes we have experienced something similar, but it has been intermittment nd I suspect that one source of the "cross-talk" is the external inlet and outlets. In our case they are both on the same external wall about 2.5m apart. Also the MVHR does not seal 100% - I think some of the manufacturers publish figures about this, I recall seeing figures in the upper 90% for sealing against cross flows.

There is a rule that should be observed when placing terminals, in that you should aim to make the air travel as far as possible from the point where fresh air comes in (usually a fresh air terminal) to the point where air leaves the room (often the gap under a door that then leads to an extract terminal in another room). I have pretty much all ours arranged on a diagonal, for example, the bedroom doors are close to one corner, the fresh air feeds are diagonally opposite, on the low wall at the eaves. The idea is to allow maximum time for fresh air to diffuse with room air, as it very slowly moves across the room, and to try and avoid any dead spots, where air can bypass across one side of a room, for example, leaving much of the room as "dead" space.

Nylon absorbs moisture and expands and contracts, plus it tends to discolour. I'd be inclined to use PVC if it we me. PVC is also a lot easier to machine than nylon, as a general rule.

Do you get that many flying insects in the winter? The MHRV is unlikely to be on in the summer so it's only going to be a problem for a couple of months a year. MHRV is worth it.

If I was there with my digger I could find that pipe in two minutes flat????

Internorm do fixed, turn, sliding and pull down bug screens!

Assuming your build is, like most self builders, a one-off design, you might have to pioneer a solution and I think the ultimate answer will be 'wherever it fits'! Shouldn't make any difference whether its in or out of the airtight envelope; just seal the membrane to the ceiling terminals and/or ducting as appropriate. I think insulation is important though; where my ducting is outside of the airtight layer (and therefore the 'warm bit') I'm trying to ensure it's got plenty of insulation around it. Probably best to extract from high level vents, but supply could be low level if it makes it easier to run ducts.

This is a useful point, and one that came close to causing me pain and grief. I was very lucky, in that our planning officer wrote the Decision Notice (it didn't go to committee in the end) a few days before Christmas, but the senior planning officer who had to sign it off was on holiday and wouldn't be back for two weeks. This would have meant that their target for dealing with the application would have been missed, so the planning officer emailed me an unofficial copy of the Decision Notice, assuring me that he'd spoken with his boss before he went on leave and that there would be no problem with it just being signed and released. The unofficial copy of the Decision Notice had clearly been edited from one of the many previous Decision Notices for this site, and still contained a condition removing PD rights. I couldn't see how the reasons stated for this still applied, as they were based on the developed footprint area of the site, something we had significantly reduced by reducing the house footprint by around 20% (and making it 1 1/2 storey) and getting rid of a very large secure motorhome parking area. I rang the planning officer, explained that I didn't think it was fair to leave the removal of PD rights condition in and he agreed and removed it. Had we not had the good fortune of the Christmas holiday being in the way, plus the senior planning officer being away on holiday, we would never have seen this condition until the Decision Notice had been signed and issued. By then we would have had to do as you did, and apply retrospectively to have the condition removed. It's only pure luck, and the thoughtfulness of the planning officer, who felt we would like to know the outcome of our application before Christmas, that gave us warning of this condition. Most would be completely unaware of such a think, as you were with yours. Perhaps there should be a change to the process, so that the draft Decision Notice is released to the applicant before it is signed off. It seems clear that they don't write these things from scratch, but just cut and paste them together (at least our local authority seem to). As a consequence, it seems fairly common to have conditions that are either no really valid, or that are contradictory. One I didn't spot until after we'd built the house and were putting in the drive was that the conditions from the highways department on the drive gradient was incompatible with the condition from the Environment Agency on the finished drive level. The planners just blithely cut and pasted the text from these consultees into the Decision Notice without looking at the site plan at all...........................

What @Onoff said. These things are pennies so why even waste the time. If you can't turn the supply off just put some shorts and a T-shirt on and get in there. I changed an outside tap the other day with the mains stopcock nowhere to be found. I just reached around the corner of the building and started to loosen it out of the backplate. A few turns later the thing shoots across the back garden and it's like Niagra falls. I had the new tap PTFE'd ready to turn into the empty backplate but JESUS it was a battle. Have a swift pint and then get in there . A video of you changing it live would be priceless educational.

Cr@p photo there Dave! Is it one of these: http://www.toiletspares.co.uk/compact-inlet-valve.html

Okay then, it's a common misspelling.

It has been a while since I posted and things are progressing, so expect a flurry of posts in the next few months as things are decided before we go to contract, however I have been working on some minor detailing. I have decided that I want to extract toilet smells directly from the pan (see JSHarris blog part 32) I have 6 toilets in the house, in 3 pairs (see the plans on blog 02-The Planning Saga) so can use 3 extract runs, one to each pair, the simple bit. I then need to work out how to connect to the MVHR system and the toilet cistern. The MVHR ducting will be Hybalans+, thought the design/supply/install is still be to sorted out. So I have 3 issues to work out: 1 connecting to the cistern, 2 connecting to the MVHR, 3 connecting the two together. Connecting to the cistern. After much research looking at low flush toilets and attempting to get information from suppliers (as soon as you go for non-standard ideas they all clam up) I discovered the Geberit Duofresh with build in odour extraction and started enquiring with Geberit about getting the connecting pipe from cistern to pan and using it on a standard cistern. Trying to get this bit. The issue being that the bit I want is not available as a part and is solvent welded to the cistern, however after much toing and froing of e-mails and finally a call from the technical department it was agreed that by using the Duofresh cistern (available without the filter and fan unit) I could cut through the pipe and connect it to the MVHR system. The plan is to cut the vent pipe (it is 50mm) and put on a solvent weld joint with reducer and 40mm push fit adaptor (reason for 40mm push fit later). I was also planning to seal up the feed into the cistern (vertical pipe) however this is square post the transition bend so not going to be so easy (can’t use a 50mm plug) so I may end up just filling it with expanding foam to seal it. I have decided on the Geberit cistern as the ability to service them once installed appeals and the Duofresh cistern is only about £10 dearer than the standard cistern. Connecting to the MVHR. I then needed to work out how to connect the pipe to the MVHR system, the pipe coming from the manifold will be either 92/75 or 75/62 (external/internal dimension) and connect it to two 40mm pipes. I then realised that soil pipes are 110mm standard and the vent terminals are between 100 &125mm so there was some potential there. My solution (still to be tested) is to use a vent terminal adaptor onto a solvent weld pipe, my reasoning as follows: The 110mm soil pipe has an outside diameter of approximately 110mm and the solvent weld socket has an outside diameter of 121mm. The straight vent connector has a diameter of 125mm, the 900 one 118mm, however the vent inserts show a diameter of 114mm, so I suspect the 125mm is an external and the 118mm internal. The straight vent connector has a diameter of 125mm, the 900 one 118mm, however the vent inserts show a diameter of 114mm, so I suspect the 125mm is an external and the 118mm internal. I should be able to connect the vent terminal adaptor over the plain pipe with a push fit sealing ring on it and solvent weld a plug into the other end. Then insert two 40mm push fit boss adaptors into the bosses on the pipe. I should now have an adaptor that connects the 92/75 MVHR pipe to (1-4) 40mm push fit waste pipes. Connect the MVHR adaptor to the cistern connector. With 40mm push fit sockets on both ends it is a simple job to connect up the two ends either with flexible 40mm pipe or rigid with a length of flexible 40mm pipe at each end: So now I have a plan to connect the toilets to the MVHR. The Geberit parts number is: 111.353.00.5 (Geberit Duofix frame for wall-hung WC, 112 cm, with Sigma concealed cistern 12 cm, for odour extraction with recirculating air) The normal cistern is: 111.383.005 (Geberit Duofix frame for wall-hung WC, 112 cm, with Sigma concealed cistern 12 cm, wall anchoring and connection bend)