Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/29/24 in Posts

  1. To be fair, adding the cost of PVs and batteries to the ASHP would make it expensive to have installed though, even with the £7500 grant.
    2 points
  2. I think the short answer is you need two more quotes - preferably from people who are not fazed by the job and want the business.
    2 points
  3. Yes. Undo to small screw and it all slides out, mine also has the probe the ASHP sat snuggled in with them as @ProDave mentioned
    1 point
  4. Mmmm Yes oil is looking quite good at the mo. I've just updated the comparison chart for the next cap etc.
    1 point
  5. That is certainly a water thermostat. It is a bulb on the end of a capilliary tube that slides into a thermostat pocket in the cylinder. the grey plastic cover contains the actual thermostat and the fact it is slightly wonky is of no consequence. That looks quite low down for the normal thermostat position, I assume there is an alternative thermostat pocket nearer the mid height of the ctlinder? If you are heating it with an ASHP there is very often a temperature sensor supplied with the ASHP as well.
    1 point
  6. ASHPs aren't shit, but with current oil prices, oil burners are cheaper to run.
    1 point
  7. Ask him if there's a £7,500 grant to fit the oil burner. Oil burners definitely best to have serviced - I don't bother with my heat pump just as I don't have my fridge serviced. Running costs may be similar EXCEPT when running off-peak, running off batteries, running with PV and the sun shining.
    1 point
  8. I knew the Capitalisation Police would be along shortly
    1 point
  9. This reads like an AI passage.
    1 point
  10. To my way of thinking all suitable roofs should be built like this.
    1 point
  11. Our electricity usage is pretty constant (Gas Central Heating/Water not ASHP) 4 bed detached - 2 occupants Our background overnight usage is 250w per hr (2 fridges, 1 freezer, CCTV, skybox, router, signal repeaters, microwave clock and a load of smart items that all consume a little) Daily consumption overall varies from 7.0 kW to 13kW at the weekends (washing days, tumble drier and oven usage are all quite large consumers) Point I'm making is usage overall will mirror ASHP as for most houses the usage is pretty constant and I can see why you would put the case that it seems to be double the declared ASHP usage. Summer time when space heating is not required should give you a good guide to your base line usage?
    1 point
  12. Hi! im in the process of buying my first house, and I’m planning to do a lot of DIY work on it - landscaping, flooring, kitchen work to make it our own.
    1 point
  13. Yes I prefer the top one (it’s close to what I did) and you can use it for storage.
    1 point
  14. Ok I see where you're at. Not a simple junction re airtighness to do as drawn. My preferred way for this would be to take the airtighness layer up the inside of the wall, across the top of the wall to the outside plate and up the top of the rafters. Then insulate between and above the rafters. You'll need to screw on rafter tails on top of the rafters. This way you've no timbers breaching the airtighness layer which makes it far far easier to construct. I'll do a sketch in the next hour or two if I get a chance.
    1 point
  15. Did Princess Kate do any work on it?
    1 point
  16. +1, insulation just needs attention to detail.
    1 point
  17. I'd have thought you would have needed a structural connection between the joists and the rafters. Otherwise your rafters will end up like jean Claude van damms legs in that truck advert.
    1 point
  18. We’ve gone for three sets of sliders Nice easy to fit and much more airtight than bifolds The bifolds that I fitted on are previous build are pretty good But far from airtight I think it’s more in the design The manufacturer sent us larger seals Which seemed to help but made them hard to open and shut
    1 point
  19. I am a conservation architect specialising in listed and historic buildings; I run a small design practice in Altrincham but work across the UK; we undertake all sorts of design work (not just conservation-related). I am planning to build a contemporary house to (near) Passive house standards for my wife and I to retire into. This field interests me greatly but I am a learner and will hopefully be able to draw upon the experience of members and help others with my specialism and many years in practice. My grandfather, father, and now my youngest son are/were Architects. Thanks for allowing me to join.
    1 point
  20. That's the man. He will tell you straight if it can't be done, and other options.
    1 point
  21. When I did my build I was told by many here that my south facing 10m conservatory with bifolds into the house would overheat but frankly in the several years I was there it never got hotter than a good holiday in the south of France, (which many pay good money for) and during the shoulder seasons and even mild winter days was a lovely place to be.
    1 point
  22. Example conversation when BCO visited to sign off my pre plaster inspection (yes, I know yippee!): 'so you've got the egress windows for the guest annex, that's good...on boths sides, that's perfect. Oh, and you've installed a fire alarm in the area, that's good. Oh, and you've put in a fire door, that's a good idea, we didn't ask for that. You know you'll need intumescent strip and if the door is 30min, the wall will need to be 30 min also. Oh, plaster and skim, that's all fine then. Good job' I only accidently installed the door opening in the direction of escape...
    1 point
  23. Your SAP calculations have a W/m2 and a W/structure per degree C values. Multiplying these by the HDD (Heating Degree Days) for your location or any other location will give you an idea of the annual energy cost.
    1 point
  24. I worked on a PH project last year (south of England) where the clients decided against any heating and it's been on an ongoing effort to retrofit it ever since. They also based the decision on talking to other people that live in Passivhauses and claim they only turn on the heating twice a year. Be very wary of those sort of claims: the people making them are often highly invested (financially and emotionally) to push the performance of their building. Also just because one PH building does not need active heating it means nothing for the next. ASHP is a bit of a red herring. The question is, do you need heating, and if so where and how much, and then ASHP is one possible solution to that. What is the max heating load and annual heating demand in your PHPP model? This is key. The project I mentioned before had a heating load of 3kW. This can be provided by a plugin 3kW heater - but then they baulked at having 3kW heater on 24/7 through the cold parts of winter (£25 per day). Mains gas or a heat pump are the options to reduce that cost.
    1 point
  25. But an ASHP will do DHW as well with a COP of 3 - 4.
    1 point
  26. Where they are not installed correctly for a passive house. Bollocks. Because people here have proved they work if designed properly 🤷‍♂️(I know mine did).
    1 point
  27. I guess it depends where you are. Up here in the Highlands no passive house will be comfortable in winter without any heating. My ASHP bills are not huge, and it is completely controlable including OFF
    1 point
  28. Can the ridge beam be brought down so the rafters sit on top? Means no cold bridge at the ridge and a simpler fixing detail.
    1 point
  29. Depending on what you are wanting to do, there is provision under an order made by a Scottish Minister by virtue of Schedule 1, Part 3 - holding of 5 acres of more, subsection 2 of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, that reduced the area of land required (from 5 down to 1) and crucially increased the amount of time caravans could be on land, (IIRC 5 or 6 months instead of 28 days) specifically for crofting land, the idea being to allow crofters an additional income stream. Unfortunately, the order isn't held online so you're reliant on the local planning office (or more likely the Planning Control Officer) having a dog eared copy to reference. I don't have a copy to hand but may be able to locate one next week.
    1 point
  30. Just remember that to be deemed 'portable' the prefabrication can only go as far as two separate pieces. So even something like a garden shed may not comply, because it cannot be moved intact without taking it apart. Caravans, park homes, shipping containers etc are all fine. Anything that arrives flat-packed isn't, unless the finished building is itself sturdy enough to stand being moved. But you dont' have to have it arrive in one big piece, you can build on site so long as you can show that the finished building is movable. I had no problems with planning, nobody lodged an objection. Small and restrained design is preferable to big and fancy. You can do everything online, although from memory I may have made a few phone calls too. I didn't actually meet anybody in person. I went through 'pre application advice' which at the time was free- I think they charge about £125 now. This gives you a non binding statement on the likelihood of your proposal being accepted. I then went for full planning, which requires drawings of the site, each elevation, and a floor plan. You also have to detail how you plan your road access. There is a standard to which you must adhere, with certain prescribed dimensions and radii. I think I waited about six weeks for a decision. You can also apply for planning in principle, but this is only really worth doing when you are selling a plot and want to leave the final design open for the buyer. One final point- not everybody is aware of the distinction between planning permission and building control. Planning is concerned with what something looks like and its intended usage (they will consider impact on local roads, schools, etc, so need to know likely number of occupants). They don't really care about details of how it's constructed. Building control, if applicable, will go in to the details of the structure and the regulations around disabled access, energy efficiency, etc. But they don't really speak to planning. So something can be exempt from one set of controls and not the other.
    1 point
  31. I was lambasted years ago on another forum for having a power shower but I take a lot less time in it than most people which does not seem to count. I would rather spend 3 minutes in a decent shower than 10 in a poor one.
    1 point
  32. 0 points
  33. Thick jumpers, scarfs and woolly underwear 🥷
    0 points
  34. I am a man of few words... until 2 pints go in and then you can't shut me up Give me a slightly cold home and I'll pop a blanket over me, but give me a warm house and I'll kill everyone within a 50m radius.
    0 points
×
×
  • Create New...