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Appeal successful. I need to sit down for a while 😁

This is reassuring. The logical part of my brain always assumed that any objection would have established planning principles applied to it, perhaps precedents etc then just dismissed if it was merely a case of "I don't like the way it looks when I'm going on a walk". The other part of me was concerned they would deal with it like the police sometimes do, assume the complainant is automatically in the right and try to stop someone doing a lawful activity.

I suspect I am not alone here, but why do people put in public objections for a property that does not impact them in anyway. We have just received our first public objection (currently, cannot read the comment) from someone who lives 200 metres down the lane, and only comes past our plot when they walk their dog up the no through lane. So it can only be a "I don't like it as it changes the appearance of the lane", when in fact, it's that he wants to walk his dog along the lane without anyone being able to look out a window and see him. Just reinforces my view, that there are some very sad and bitter individuals out there!

I agree especially when she actually told me I would more than likely win at appeal 🤷‍♂️ . They can be “fined” (financial compensation) if they have lied or similar but they argued it was about interpretation of rules and policies. I did consider taking them on but frankly I was so relieved to get planning I just wanted to crack on and not spend /waste more time fighting them.

Got ya ! Been there and won - it becomes a full time ‘job’ …

And that’s because as a self builder you are not running a business, it’s to be your home for you and your family, so it is personal, yes there are rules of engagement which are set out beforehand (planning rules and policies) and we should get to understand those before we even start the process. It’s the lack of knowledge of their own policies and through no fault of their own no time to deal with issues in a timely manner because of lack of staff and funding. In my case an authoritarian dictator of a planning officer with no interpersonal skills whatsoever. BUT revenge was sweet when I won and the LPA lambasted for not following their own policies 👍

Hi, here's the update. We cut the H pipework out, releasing it on the top side of the pump inlet valve. Popped a hosepipe below the cold feed isolating valve and emptied and cleared the header. There was plenty of gunk just in that, obviously most sitting on the bottom and sides under the water level. The inlet side of the pump was choked though. I don't have a pic of the H pipe as I was in the loft but that did have residue on the pipe walls. After this was re-instated the partial refill that was needed seemed to go better than previosuly and there was no pump-over at PP2 pump setting but still a little at full bore. So I asked plumber to lift the vent which he did. I'd already told him that I didn't want to retro-fit a pressurisation vessel. There was no pump-over after that at CC3 but in fact I left it at PP2 and all was well. The header had got some brown water in again from that brief pump-over and so I'm resigned to another full drain and flush/fill - but not until the summer. It has some Fernox P3 in for now. I need to leave it and give my parents relief from the to-ing and fro-ing. Thanks again guys for your sage advice and comments. It has been very helpful and gave me confidence to stand my ground and not do the pressurisation and certainly not rip the whole lot out and replace for £5k

Massively. It has added a 7 month delay. We are lucky in that we are at my in laws, the house is spacious so we have no real issues.

Because they are (expletive deleted) and object to anything . Don’t like change , don’t like you . (expletive deleted) ‘em that’s what you do

Why on Earth are your architects planning guy not attending what the bloody hell are you paying them for. as I said mine had an argument for every thing the council guy mentioned she didn’t say much, but every word was absolutely glorious, she countered everything the council guy said to the point that by the end of the meeting the council guy just said put everything you have just said in writing to me and I will pass it. There is a saying get your ducks in a row. this is exactly what you need to do, you will only get one chance.

But how many of these objections are valid? Don’t give up, I didn’t and got EXACTLY what I wanted in the first place. NIMBY,s the lot of them.

MCS is the root of the problem, I am sure many agree. Their heat loss calculations often come up with silly answers and result in an over large heat pump, particularly for new builds, and their pricing structure seems to end up with a very large figure, even after deducting the £7500 grant, leading many to conclude the only person benefiting from the grant is the installers who pocket a very large sum for the install. A TOTAL re think is needed. Zero VAT on heat pumps even to retail customers would be a good start. Get rid of the MCS monopoly. Allow anyone to install them, and then submit their invoice for parts, labour and material to receive some of the cost back as a grant. Make fitting of ASHP's permitted development under planning. Of course it won't happen, too many vested interests. Ask Norway how they do it? I bet they don't have anything like MCS? First thing is ensure from NOW (not some date in the future) all new builds have a heat pump for heating. Just write it into building regs. No heat pump, no completion certificate. No bureaucracy, simple. Or just make a properly calculated SAP EPC A mandatory for new builds. Same for at least some PV on the roof. Swapping out boilers for heat pumps is not proving value for money under the current schemes, concentrate on new builds first then find a better way to encourage heat pumps in existing houses.

This is how mine works - completely separate from heat pump and controls. I never use it though😬

I believe that most LPAs ignore local objections unless there's a dozen or so. They assume a few people will always object and most of the 'objections' are not on planning grounds so they are ignored. I'm amazed that even 'nice, kind, worldly neighbours' often can't see beyond they're own petty interests - a lot 'want more houses to be built'. Yeah but not next to them.

Have you looked at the MCS scheme where you get to choose (to certain extent) and install. Umbrella scheme is what to look for. Cool Energy do it and many others. They design, supply the kit of parts to you, up to you it's installed and they commission.

SMRs are not going to be commercially available for a long time yet. There are numerous designs in development but only one has been licensed for commercial operation (see earlier posts in this thread). That design estimates an electricity cost of $0.089 /kWh but on past experience with nuclear, you can be sure that the price will rise a lot, and not just for inflation. So more expensive than renewables. None have been built. For sure they will be part of the long term solution but not in time for net zero 2050. The risk though is that people use the hope of non-available technologies like SMRs to delay getting on with implementing the available ones like insulating our homes and electrification of heating and transportation. Yes there are challenges with electrification, like grid capacity, but we just need to get on and do it.

Oh you are so right, however any objection has to be valid. Our neighbour who objected on many grounds were told that their objections were not valid and ignored. So don’t despair. Just look forward to being able to wave good morning every day from your new house in the future 🤣

Would give zero insulation value unless installed with air gap either side and allowed to fully expand. Do PIR insulation of same thickness

Not buying it as the 'ultimate' option. Spark ignition CHP running on methane from the cow shed / naerobic digestion plant plus syngas from wood gasification. LPG as your easily stored "pilot light" fuel for starting it up. PV for offsetting demand for fuel entirely. Screw *buying* in diesel. Cheating; more reliant on others outside your borders; easier to pinch in bulk than slurry/wood/LPG?

Ahh, thousands more to be spent on "consultants". Another band wagon for them to jump on. Or, dont fit any outside lighting. Wait until everyone has lost interest, fit it later. Whos going to know or care? Even if they do, whats the likely enforcement. Lighting is penuts, so could be removed if it had to be.

+1

I would NOT trade a UVC for a combi. If you have a defective UVC change it for a new, better make of UVC. Who is offering this combi and why?

Well done. As above, get a magnetic filter on there assuming there isn’t already!

Scrap MCS - period. Scrap BUS and do not introduce any other form of market skewing grant or subsidy system. Maybe the only concession I would have is that OFGEM force all suppliers to offer a ToU tarrif to incentivize adoption. Make @Jeremy Harris's heat loss calculator freely and widely available (assuming he is happy for it to open sourced). Let market economics take over. I predict that more properly sized heat pump installations will take place and prices will fall as uptake rise due to the reduction of the negative stories about cost of installation, cost of running and poor CoP. It may take a few/several years but this is the way to do it.

Then Parish Council’s wouldn’t have any work to do at their monthly meetings 😉

I don't know why there's such a fixation on the heating system for new build. If they were built properly it really wouldn't make much difference because the heat demand would be so low. It would be better to just fix the problem at source.

Relevant sections: 12. One of the closing paragraphs of the TAN deals with the planning balance in the determination of planning applications. In this case I have found that in terms of the main issue that most of No 37’s external areas would not lack acceptable outlook or be dominated or suffer adverse visual impact if the proposed new house were built. The same would apply to the large room served by the French doors. I find differently in respect of the bedroom. However, having regard to the many factors in the development’s favour, this is insufficient reason, in itself, to refuse permission. 13. In conclusion, I find, on balance, the proposed development would not unacceptably harm the living conditions of No 37’s future residents. Accordingly, I find that no significant conflict arises with those provisions of Policy PSP8 of the South Gloucestershire Local Plan Policies, Sites and Places Plan directed to ensure that new development should not have an unacceptable impact on the residential amenity of occupiers of nearby property. At some point I will drop in my appeal document. It is hefty, but I tried to leave no stone unturned.

I think what you have to remember ( forgive negativity ) . LPA don’t want it to pass , locals ( or nowhere near ! ) don’t want it to pass . So when the council gets so much ‘refuse permission’ kick back it’s FAR less hassle to go that route . It took me 5 yrs to get planning . LPA were against it all the way . My 23 opposing neighbors ( aka (expletive deleted) ) worked together to form as many objections as possible . Again , remember , valid objections can override hundreds of other objections. Overwhelm the LPA and they’ll win . I went to a LPA meeting with 130 reasons to reject ( council and neighbors ) . Hours later that was whittled down to 3 valid I.e planning reasons . Record all conversations is a MUST ( recording pen is good as you’ll be expected to turn your phone off ) .

They should be fined for wasting people's time and money

Just get one with a big coil, external expansion. I have an Ideal no issues.

This is true . But it FEELS personal - so ( not to repeat ) (expletive deleted) ‘em

Baxi, current one baffle broken down and loud noises coming from cylinder. Yes on a DIY group but not exactly the same question, rather about whether a Combi would be a suitable replacement.

I have a UK Cylinder and it's done the job fine. Have you posted about this somewhere else too, maybe a Facebook group? Sure I've read something similar recently, but I could also be going senile...

https://www.facebook.com/norfolkmountainrescue/?locale=en_GB

I meet with a group of "Car Guys" under the umbrella of Norfolk Mountain Rescue Club I think that sometimes people think we actually do mountain rescues - I have to explain that Norfolk is well flat (unless you are on a push bike) It's just an opportunity to share tools, knowledge and occasionally we have been known to hold a spanner party

Your neighbour's already given you a shopping list of changes the planners requested last time (to the original application) so they'll surely be raised by those same planners again (you might want to redact the neighbour's name here by the way). Definitely get your planning consultant or architect to attend as they're likely to be able to give much more policy driven 'clarification' as needed (read up on the protocol of site visits) Fortunately (for you and your future home) you're in an AONB, but unfortunately in planning terms there's more outstanding natural beauty without another house in it, unless of course it'll be your own! So you need to show how your design is exceptional (a very high bar) or do all you can to minimise harm. (You could for example suggest limited removal of permitted development rights to address concerns like building over the garage in future)

Who is offering you this combi replacement and why? Many of us here are happy with Telford stainless unvented cylinders.

Why can't you keep the megaflow?

How many objections are “valid” .?

See also: 'green' hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, biofuels.

Our house is similar size 250m2 - MCS insulated slab with UFH, timber frame, triple glazed, v good airtightness, MVHR, warm roof. All electric, it cost us £45/month last year for all electricity imported. That's hot water, heating, everything. But we do have 6.kWp of solar and 15kW of battery storage and we're on Oct Int G0, so try (successfully most of the time) to only use the 7p rate. We had the ASHP installed on the old BUS grant of £5k. It's a Cool Energy unit, similar to this one -> https://coolenergyshop.com/collections/air-source-heat-pumps/products/cool-energy-invertech-high-temp-air-source-heat-pump-ce-ivt9-evi so 9kW. Total cost to us, installed was £250 but we already had the cylinders in place for UFH buffer and DHW tank. We had a heat loss analysis from an M+E engineer and Cool Energy were more than happy to use this for the MCS calculations. Unless it's really cold outside, we only run the ASHP at night on the 7p rate - we don't use it for DHW, only for heating. This works fine and even on really cold days, if the sun shines (we get plenty of solar gain) then we don't need to boost the heating during the day. So 9kWs is fine for a house like ours and I'm guessing yours. Have a look at this deal -> https://coolenergyshop.com/collections/air-source-heat-pumps/products/free-heat-pump-kit-for-self-builds-renovations. You get all the kit for free if you qualify for the BUS grant. I wonder if you completed the heat loss spreadsheet that's on the forum and provided proof of the U values of your wall and windows etc, whether they would accept these in place of doing the heat loss calcs themselves - they're a small outfit, so it might be worth a try.

So the issue may not be anything to do with the UFH manifold / actuators. More on the call for heat or heating output from the boiler.

I would escalate this to a complaint to the CEO of Octopus. Have they explained what the problem is? I don't believe it is just because you are in rural Scotland though getting a smart meter to communicate may not be a trivial matter (but at least it would be a meter and you can get on)

Is this a light on the actuator or on the UFH control box? Post a picture of both the control box and the type of actuator you have so we know what you have please

Thanks for reading and all your replies. I just needed to offload my frustration. I had delved into the numbers, and I know what they have come up with is cr4p, but this is the only way you can get the BUS, unless you can find someone to "bend the rules" in your favour, and I have spent far too long trying to find a reasonably priced ASHP/HWC solution. I am going with what has been spec'd and then I will tweak it all myself once they have (expletive deleted) off my land. If we end up spending any more that £1000 on heating/HW I will be p1553d off. Heads up for anyone reading this in the distant future. I hope things have changed (but I doubt it). If you can DIY, then JFDI (just ** do it), it'll be cheaper and you'll get a reasonable sized system.

agree, I was just caught blind by my trusted builder who had an injury and had to back out the job a week before starting, he worked with my on my previous reno 8 years ago and all I needed to say was 4m extension with a pitched roof and it was done within weeks to a great standard. We've planned a lot out but I've lost a month and had to find 4 different people to cover my original builders scope so struggling to stay afloat let alone keep ontop of the details I expected the tradesmen to know and flag up. Luckily my electrician and plumber are top quality so that should ease my burden a bit

The Grant HPs are re-branded Chofu and IIRC the Chofu manuals online contain rather more detail. Not sure the temp sensors will be thermocouples, IME most seem to be negative coefficient thermistors (Vaillant, Vokera, Viessman). Yours may be different as Grant begins with G not V of course.

How about this and cut to size yourself https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145921349462?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=_jYh3d7qRwK&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=RFd2NvYhQZC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Do both, remove the bottom of the roof covering and and run the EWI over the top of the cavity to touch the loft insulation (assuming you have a cold roof). This also assumes enough overhang, but you can also kick out the bottom tiles to give you more space, and/or chamfer the top of the EWI. Remember you want that continuous insulation. Also consider plinth insulation. The only other thing you might consider is a different route to 'sticky and fixings' EWI and do something more like Larsen trussing, fixing an outer board and filling with loose fill instead. However this is much less done in the UK and will probably be consequently more expensive.

Not like that anymore.