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Hey everyone! I’m in the process of buying a ~10 acre plot in Scotland, c/w a very small and very wrecked listed building, and full planning permission for a partially underground house that I plan to completely redesign to suit my needs. I’m a big petrol head, so my build will likely be 60/40 house to garage, possibly even 50/50, but we’ll see how the basement costs stack up. Basic premise is to use the tiny listed building as an entrance down into the new house which will be underneath, helped by the topography of the site. My aim is to completely hide the main house from sight when approaching from the rear so all that can be seen is the tiny listed building, providing a bit of theatre as it opens up when you descend into it. From the garden side, the house will be floor to ceiling glass looking into the surrounding woods, which provide the site with good shelter. I expect the livable area to be 250-300m2. If I can justify the expense of a full-size (or nearly full-size) garage under the living area then that’s exactly what I’ll do. It’s definitely going to be a bit of a whacky build, and for sure it’s going to hurt my wallet, but I think it has potential to be pretty special if I can pull it off…. I’ll do my best to share my progress (both good and bad) over the coming months and years. Very much looking forward to learning from everyone here!

Simply means you have to use a air-to-water heat-pump for heating/cooling and aircon type units are not allowed.

Yes I believe so, as long as your strips are dimmable of course (the vast majority - if not all - are)

In the end I went for the Novopress EFP2 - one of the older models...slightly bulkier but I found it great for my application (which was quite tight!). I had also purchased a Novopress Eco 301 which came in for a bit more money but ended up returning it as saw no advantage over the older EFP2. As for the jaws...the difficulty I found was precisely knowing whether the jaws will fit a particular model... I couldn't really find much online, and in the end I went for a gamble and bought a Geberit 3 jaw kit (15, 22, 28mm M profile) which came good! I did have to buy and return a few jaws along the way...but it saved me quite a bit of money!

Hi Have managed to get watertight and have insulated the roof in the house but still have the garage to do, In the house I have used 150mm PIR in between rafters and then 2 layers of 60mm PIR, also sealed all joints with airtight foam, using large washers to hold up insulation until fixing the timber for the service void thought insulation into the rafters, then counter batten for plasterboard. Have now started first fix plumbing and mvhr system. So moving on if not as fast as i would like.

I also got them to balance the mvhr and write a report for me as the BC officer wouldn't accept my version which still annoys me. I had a quote to do both which didn't separate them out so I can't really say what the airtight test element cost on its own. I can say that the total cost made me wince (~£700) and was the most expensive day's worth of work I shelled out for on the house.

Get the mastic man in after to make things great again! A decent sealant guy would make the whole problem go away without scribes I expect.

Up to 2017 ASHP were not permitted to cool on RHI, but that changed at the end of 2017. From the Ofgem website:

You can knock a scribe tool up from an offcut, use a compass, a washer or splash the cash https://www.amazon.co.uk/Swanky-Scribe-Set-Pencils-Carpenters/dp/B07WBZ1N24/

Mind you - when I asked my BCO about Part J flue regs before starting my chimney (I haven't done one before as all my previous stuff was flats and commercial) he admitted that 'he didn't have a clue' and suggestd that I ask the brickie. If I were you I would just bury it behind the wardrobe and forget about it.

I have used these in the past, can hardly see them and you can remove the glass to decorate! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193076194765?epid=13039745116&hash=item2cf43cedcd:g:fLgAAOSwkwVePSe5 p.s. Is this a solid wall or plasterboard. Might find it difficult to find mountings/fixings fir heavy stuff on plasterboard unless you have timbers behind to fix too.

Could the windows be supported off a steel beam with pad foundations?

There is bound to be some sort of clip/bracket type system that you could use. Then silicone around the edge to seal it up.

The house is a bit over twice the size of ours, but we comfortably get by with a 5kW ASHP. What're the insulation and airtightness targets?

I think you're asking for a referral. Let me help: share.octopus.energy/wise-wolf-874

Exactly this! I was sceptical but we love it. We did go for a matt textured version which wasn't dissimilar to the sort of tile we would have had. I don't like the gloss versions of wet wall/showerwall.

Don’t bother shaping the wings, form your roll on the ground and lift it up, the weight of the lead will lay itself onto the slate, then finish forming and trim wings when all in place, trying to make it tooooo accurate on the ground won’t work. Rough form then fit and tidy in place.

https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/electricity/installing-an-electric-heat-pump https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/smart-connect It looks like they'd love to know about every item in the house. Our MCS completion certification says "DNO Notification Compliance: To Be Notified Post Connection And Commissioning" which at the time I had assumed meant the installer would be handling the notification. But I've seen no evidence of it happening so now assume he didn't.

RGBW2s should be good for 144W @ 12v and 288W @ 24v, so if your strips are using less than that you should be good The manual includes wiring diagrams for both RGBW and one colour strips - I believe you can run 4 single colour strips off 1 module

I haven't read the MCS standards, but I presume that is where you are getting the 10m distance from? Many will have included the ASHP in their planning application and so whilst they will need to ensure compliance with any relevant planning conditions, will not need to worry about complying with the terms of the General Permitted Development Order (the Act which brings Permitted Development rights into law, and sets out the detailed regulations). Those of us relying on PD rights may already appreciate that the GPDO requires that 'the air source heat pump complies with the MCS Planning Standards or equivalent standards' along with a series of other, clearly set out constraints and conditions. It's not unheard of for the GPDO to refer to other Acts (the definition of a 'caravan' in the GPDO is as per the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 for instance), but reliance on a standards document 'or equivalent' is unusual. I presume this part of the GPDO accommodates the idea that ASHP technological development may be fast moving, as will knowledge around the subject and best practise therefore. Therein lies an issue I would advise awareness of. The GPDO does not currently require you to register the presence of your PD ASHP with the planning dept either in advance or after installation, but anyone wishing for the peace of mind that comes with formal confirmation, in advance of any works onsite, that their Council agrees their ASHP is covered by PD can apply for a certificate of lawfulness. However - a certificate of lawfulness can only confirm that the subject operation (installation of a ASHP in this case) would have been lawful on the day you applied for the certificate, not the day the certificate was issued and certainly not on the day you get around to installing the ASHP. A certificate of lawfulness has an ever-depreciating value in that way. If the regs, and in this case the guidance, moves on between the date of your application and the date you install it, you need to accord with the regs and guidance as they exist on the latter, even if that means doing things differently than you said you would when you applied for the certificate. How much all this matters depends entirely on how quickly and significantly the MCS Planning Standards or equivalent standards move on, and how much difference any change in them makes to your proposal, but given most of us planned for an ASHP a long time before we ever installed it, it is worth looking at the MCS standards once again before installation.

MCS have this about ground pipe lengths. http://www.gshp.org.uk/pdf/MIS_3005_Ground_loop_sizing_tables.pdf Personally I think an ASHP, correctly designed and installed, won't be a problem, but worth looking at other options and balancing them all up. Still trying to get my head around this.

Sounds a really interesting project. I look forward to reading of it's progress.

Sounds fantastic! Are you really building underneath the listed property or at a lower level behind it? Look forward to seeing lots of pictures and plans!!

Good morning and welcome, I like your way of thinking. My girlfriend says I keep ignoring possible plots because I want to build a garage with a house attached.

Again, like an ASHP, properly designed, sized and installed, freezing is not a problem. (ground heave is usually because the pipes are too short and too shallow)

I run zwave on openhab, so no specific HC3 advice. 1 module per circuit Dimmer 2 for 240v (GU10) - vesternet have some useful diagrams for different configurations (e.g. 2 way switching) https://www.vesternet.com/pages/apnt-137-standard-2-way-lighting-circuit-using-fibaro-dimmer-2. I only run RGBWW strips, but I think the RGBW2 would work fine for both single colour and RGBWW

I plan to create scenes using the HC3 that will be switch driven so have lots of reactive switches, but also have aspirations to have the lighting then linked to HA routines to make it more automated.

SE is correct He will need cad drawings from your Architect

Which pressfit did you buy ? the ones I have found are over £1000

Yeah adding to what @IanR said, my impression (from quotation and installation) is it's "not worth the hassle to the installer" to support cooling too. They are trying to provide competitive quotes, but doing anything "non standard" will cost them more (research time, materials, debugging/maintenance) and it's not worth the hassle. I pushed to have it supported, and issues that cropped up included: - attempt to skimp on the main flow/return insulation before it was buried in the walls: I caught and corrected this. - attempt to cut corner on the UFH mixing valve (using thermostatic rather than electronic actuator). I caught and corrected this. - incomplete insulation on all the pipes/pump/valve/filters etc in plant room resulting in lots of condensation. Installer didn't even know how to insulate a pump. I invented my own solution (using sheeps wool wrap lagging) - controller not setup right for it (but fortunately ecodan FTC6 does support it very well out of the box - I reset the DIP switch for it) Probably some other snags I forgot now.

Our plot is between Blairgowrie and Alyth. I was reading about the TETRis beam and block system the other day. I really liked it as a solution. Be good to keep in touch since we'll be neighbours lol. We're about 9 months behind you I think though. How has P&K planning been to deal with? Also be good to hear who you've used from a trades perspective. Good luck for September. Exciting stuff.

See if he can remember which yard in Kent it was.. https://uknamedbricks.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Google found ... https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/initials.htm W D C : W D Cornish https://www.brocross.com/Bricks/Penmorfa/Pages/england5b.htm "W. D. Cornish, Enfield. Middx. started around 1990's along with several other brickworks in the area. His Bush Hill Park works flourished until the price of land increased & his works was the last to close in the Enfield area in 1936. Info by Martyn Fretwell and photographed in a Kent reclamation yard."

Well we finally started on 23rd of June and the groundworks are done ✔waste and water drains are in and quite a bit of (un budgeted) stone everywhere, brickies start tomorrow morning . I know many who have had ,and those who are having issues with builders ( and you have my sympathy) are quite right to call them out on this forum but i would like to say so far the trades have been spot on so credit where credit is due .

I regularly run 15mm hep2o across new builds, many runs often in excess of 15-20m, and showers work perfectly well, very well in fact. That's running to large rainfall heads etc so I wouldn't panic about running 15mm Hepworth to baths and showers. I've many many live installs under my belt and all customers super happy with the flow rates. I always run all the hot and cold supply in a radial arrangement from large bore primary feeds, 22mm or even 28mm at the hot and cold manifolds depending on system spec etc, so the results from series plumbing would be worse if you were considering that?

Sorry, this is the correct link: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/water-supply-system-design-d_2157.html

10mm to basins, 10mm to WCs, 15mm to showers and 22mm to the swimming pool by the sounds of it.

Speak to Trevor at Cylinders2Go - Telford do all their cylinders in every size to 500 litre.

thanks @Dan F. very interesting post and thanks for sharing your thoughts. as previously mentioned I have a loooooong way to go before I have to make a decision on all this and I read every thread and post to do with the subject with great interest. I really look forward to reading your and @joth's experiences with your respective systems. as he's doing DMX and you're doing DALI maybe I should do KNX just to so we can tick all the boxes on this forum. ?

You could get the BCO signoff before the wardrobes go in.

? ... how about on the ceiling then......?

I'm not sure I'd want to look at a reflection of a naked version of me everytime I got in the bath - I'm not that body confident!

This has blown my mind

Absolutely but a topic in this area have more or less brought me down from GSHP saying that in short the ground in UK does not conduct heat fast enough so you run into freezing the ground all the time. But - my M&E team was planning to give me quotes for both...

You're the first person I thought of writing the first line. I was even going to tag you...