epsilonGreedy

Cheer up, your super insulated new build will turn you into a Thermal Aristocrat while the other 90% of Britons descend into thermal poverty. Next winter you will be able stand behind your triple glazed windows and shout at the thermal peasants "let them eat cake and wash once a week".

They are more affectionately known as "House Artists". Would you demand that a 21st century Picasso paint on an Apple laptop!

If you were advising the typical British family how to cut electricity consumption by 30% in 2022 what would you recommend?

Nice mortar colour between the kiosk bricks.

This needs to be viewed against the historic decline the UK's north sea gas production. Your article does not mention actual numbers. The underlying issue is the global rise in demand for gas, this will get worse with many nations, notably Germany, retiring nuclear and coal generation capacity. Over in the US a change in political leadership will hurt gas production. There is no good news, I think we could hit £0.30 per kWh in 2023 before rising wind power capacity effects a long term correction.

@joe90 is it possible your pump has failed prematurely because the low flow temp has caused excessive run duration? I ask because after looking at some industry tables on UFH flow temps, +35 is the norm.

I think this is a building related subject because a medium term perspective on energy price rises in the pipeline will help self builders rank the importance of insulation in their new builds. There is media talk about Ofgem authorizing another in substantial price rise in the kWk price cap at Easter. Are there any informed guesses what that new price cap will be? I reckon we will see a further 15% to 20% rise. According to the price break down charts published by Ofgem the wholesale cost of electricity accounts for about 40% of the unit price. Gas powered generation provides 40% of our electrical power though this will surely have to tick up noticeably in 2022 when scheduled nuclear plant closures reduce our nuclear capacity by 20% or 3% of total annual demand. Current high gas prices look set to be sustained throughout 2022. Ofgem unit price breakdown: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/default-tariff-cap Generation by fuel type: https://grid.iamkate.com/ https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2021-04-13/hinkley-point-b-staff-still-have-futures-in-industry-after-it-stops-operating-in-2022

You are correct in advising that routing of services needs to be clarified upfront but a wayleave is not sufficient. Such rights need to be granted in property Deeds. One reason I suggested a deal that gives the other neighbour an ongoing interest in the build is to ensure cooperation as the build hits problems for example when space is tight for materials or a skip needs to be unloaded onto the neighbour's drive.

Really! Am I reading too much into this, i.e. if I am mid-build and have a SAP doc specifying a gas boiler, will the grant scheme pay out to replace a gas boiler not yet fitted?

Do you know the voltage carried in this overhead cable?

I wonder if the planning viability can be proven before expensive legal work. I think your Inlaws could apply for planning permission before the building plot is created as a legal entity. Think it best if your in-laws buy the other half of the plot at market value to establish clear access rights with some "uplift" clause in the Deeds to reflect the other party's ongoing interest in the proceeds of the final sale. I don't really know what an uplift clause is but folks here use the term in this context.

My local council tip limits hardcore disposal to a single 130 litre bin per day or call it 100 to 200 kg per day. You would not want to load the boot of a regular car with more than that. A 10m run of double skinned garden wall 1m high = 60 x 10 x 2 = 1200 bricks = about 2.5 tons or call 10 to 15 runs to the tip. It sounds like you will need a skip or grabber lorry (can grabber lorries pick up bricks?). The problem with a skip will be picking it up when filled with hardcore. The last time I costed this out the economic cross over point from skip to grabber was 4 tons.

There might be some merit in this idea of a flexible FIT to encourage more export at critical times. Apparently during the autumn when the UK experienced little wind generation and the cost of wholesale gas was sky high, the price of a MWH delivered between 5pm and 6pm shot up to £2000+. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/15/wholesale-energy-prices-hit-second-highest-level-in-at-least-three-years

Out of interest what is the cost of a MWh generated from a gas powered station at the not so transitory peaky gas price? I also note the ominous urgent Government talks this week about more price hikes on the way. Is there any indication where the domestic kWh price moves from £0.20?

Ok in that case @SteamyTearaises an interesting question. Where are these weekly 220 kWh going? One kWh = 3 to 4 EV vehicle miles. So a typical monthly mileage would account for 30% of your mains electric consumption if most charging is at home. Above that how often is the tumble drier on or is it lots of long showers heated from an electric element? How much PV do you need? I think that comes down to lifestyle, daily EV miles and can you charge up during peak day light PV hours. As others have said you will experience a deficit in winter and will struggle to consume PV in the summer from a large array.

If the house and hotwater heating is electric then 220 kWh weekly is not so bad for this time of year.

@crispy_waferAfter some Googling I cannot find what they sell. Google suggests airport parking, a bank and Bournemouth Council.

Is there a single reference residential home in the UK that proves the viability of heating an offgrid home through the winter using a thermal store? Lost in the debate here is the essential arithmetic namely, how many kW hours does it take to keep a property warm through the coldest 100 winter days, how kW hours can a thermal store hold in late October and how many will be lost from the store to outside thermal envelope.

@Zak Swhat is your starting point? Do you have planning permission with an approved outline design?If so do you like this design?

Oh come on @SteamyTea time to get off your scientific High Horse and acknowledge that on Christmas Day 2021 there was a revelation by a Wise Man begotten from a land towards the Pole Star. Behold the new truth, the Old Testament according to the Lord Kelvin has been proven wrong in an oven, the heathen belief in Specific Heat Capacity was misguided for 200 years. Time to load up your mule with frankincense, gold and myrrh and pay homage in the realm of Queen Nicola.

I assume the intention is to cut through the crust of screed smeared over the separator shim already embedded at the door threshold. My guess is that if there is going to be movement a crack will open at the shim despite the few mm of screed over it. Maybe the objective is to provide a visual guide for later tiling.

I failed to get it working in an old rental property that had two side-by-side consumer units following a large property extension. There was some sort of Ethernet connection but it kept resetting.

Nice floor finish, what sort of ££ per sqm would the material cost be?

This is a strange technology, experiences seem polarized between "works surprising well" to "it was an utter disaster". I was in the later category. Has anyone worked out what are the make or break factors with this technology?

The House Builders Bible calls these incidental heat source gains. The book's model 1600 sq ft house requires 5 or 6 kWh of energy to maintain a 20 degree delta but in practice incidentals brings down the theoretical energy demand by 30% (humans are a useful heating energy source apparently). The @Jeremy Harrisheat modelling spreadsheet does not account for incidental gains or heat loss via air leakage. People say the spreadsheet is accurate so I assume for many air leakage heat loss and incidental gains tend to cancel out.