newhome

They'll use the address they've agreed with you - they just won't put in on the PAF database without you paying a crazy huge fee that people posting from other LAs in Scotland so far (Borders, South Lanarkshire, Aberdeen) don't have to pay.

I like the layout. I think something along the lines that @ProDave suggests combining the utility room and WC would work. Maybe flip the WC and basin onto the other wall, leave the wall out (but retain both doors) and then stick the wall in to make them 2 separate rooms once the house is signed off, grabbing the additional space for the utility room instead.

I’ve been in mine 8 years and signed off for exactly a year. Still shit loads to do ?

Ask the council to justify the cost given that Borders Council does it free of charge. Robbing bar stewards! They only need to complete a form!

Ask for the old one back until they’ve addressed this issue ?.

I suppose the obvious question is what, if anything, would you change about the house, and what would you do differently?

Do you have the Klover Belvedere 18? There are some videos on Youtube that show a Klover. Not the same model as yours but might be useful to have a look at the set up.

I also have these little stats in various places on the tank. @Nickfromwales and @PeterW put them there and I find them quite useful so have left them there. In this photo the creamy box with the dial is the cylinder stat.

My thermal store has cylinder stats on it so that the boiler knows to switch off when it reaches the set temperature. If it's heating for hot water that is governed by the top stat that is set to 65, and if the UFH is calling for heat the boiler switches on until the stat at the bottom of the tank gets to 40. If I left mine to run 24 x 7 the boiler would be coming on and off keeping the TS to those set temperatures all day. With electric that would be too expensive so a bit like @Declan52's system I set the stats so that it only comes on for a set period. I set the UFH stats to call for heat at 5pm in the evening (living space set to 20 and the bedroom 17), the boiler switches on and then once the TS is at 40 degrees it switches off again. Depending on the temperature of the tank at the start that's generally after 60 - 90 minutes. I tend to shower in the evening so my hot water needs are all provided during that period too. At 9pm the UFH temperature is set back to 18 (living) and 15 (bedroom) and I leave it set back until 5pm the following day when the whole thing repeats again. The UFH seems to lose about 1.5 degrees during that 20 hour period and that's fine because I'm out of the house or doing stuff during the day so I don't need it at 20 all the time. If I need additional hot water I can just use the hot water boost but mostly I find that I have enough for just me here anyway. If you wanted hotter water say in the morning you could set the boiler to come on for a set period to provide that. It sounds like your boiler is on all the time currently so you urgently need to work out how to set the timer on it to coincide with when your UFH is calling for heat and you want to use the hot water. You certainly don't need the tank set at 70 degrees 24 x 7. Is your DHW on 24 x 7 currently causing the boiler to continually fire?

Here’s mine but it was put right next to the manhole.

Congrats on moving in, even if it’s not quite at the stage of completion that you hoped for. I don’t know much about pellet stoves other than we did consider installing one here but decided against. One of the big considerations is storing the pellets in the dry and not allowing them to take in moisture as that makes them inefficient I believe. Not sure whether that could be a factor with yours? When you say you turned it down to 60 is that the temperature of the water tank? Assume you have a UVC or similar? My thermal store is at 65 at the top for DHW and 40 at the bottom for UFH. I’m surprised that you couldn’t get enough hot water for a bath if the UVC was at 60. Is your UFH constantly calling for heat causing the boiler to run constantly?

Didn’t you buy the plot with PP already, ergo this has already been done or clarified as not needed?

What local newpaper does it have to be in? Can you choose, and are there any really cheap advertising handouts that might be acceptable? Are the adverts available on the planning portal? Can you see what others have done?

As you're a barn conversion ensure that you are only charged 5% VAT on labour and materials (supply and fit) for these preparatory tasks such as creating an entrance and installing services. Ensure that you get full VAT receipts showing the word 'invoice' and the contractor's name and VAT number as you will need these if you are eligible for the VAT reclaim scheme (have you ascertained that yet?). It helps to be really organised about the paper trail from the get go as there will be quite a lot of it by the end and I'm still referring to paperwork several years down the line. Someone with more experience than me should be along to explain how to organise services. I don't think it's that straightforward to get the work for 2 services coordinated but there are some who have managed it.

Better to get it right than compromise and live with years of niggles about it as a result. In theory you will only qualify for zero VAT rating for the prep work (so soil investigation for example) when the PP is approved but given that you already have a PP approved on the plot I doubt any contractor will ask too many questions about that so I imagine you are getting zero rating anyway. Will a CIL be added to the PP? If so you will need to apply to remove it BEFORE starting any work.

Yep that's true. I can't fit myself however so I'm probably on the cusp of RHI being more favourable than getting a non MCS person to fit a cheap ASHP as long as I get metering for performance rather than metering for payment. Needs some sums done though. This house isn't passive by any means although it's not terrible either, but alongside that the size of the house helps with the RHI payment.

Lol, I thought you had a fettish about getting dried in the dark or something ?

Que? The light switch? ?

Looks fantastic! Time to relax and enjoy what you have build.

You missed - consider putting in a passive cat flap if you have a passive house (and a cat ...) Like that idea for the washer / dryer.

Sounds the same as our experience then. I knew we didn't pay but seems Scottish Borders don't charge anyway .

The other day the (male) cashier at the supermarket asked me to use my nails to scrape the label off something he was trying to scan because it was obscured. He said his weren't long enough and when I said that I would rather not as it would wreck my manicure he gave me that look that said 'you're an awkward cow', but there was no way I was digging my nails into anything less than an hour after having them done! I love that your knife matches your coat. Can't beat matching accessories .

Ironically if your house is poorly insulated you stand to gain more if you go the MCS / RHI route. The guy I know with a draughty house is having external insulation fitted to his walls, but not before his ASHP is installed and he get the RHI payments coming in.

If mine is anything to go by a washing machine doesn't amount to much anyway at 40 degrees, say 50p a wash, and I don't suppose your parents have it on all the time. I use mine for 2 or 3 washes a week. You could encourage them to only use it when there is a full load but maybe they do that anyway. I have fiddled around with bits and bobs here but by far the biggest whack is the heating. My boiler eats 24kw every hour when it's running full speed. I generally get away with it using about 36kw per day for heating and hot water by timing things carefully, and that is with only me here and only heating some of the rooms. I dread to think how much it would cost a family of 4. Possibly half as much again.

I'd still be whacking poison under there before sealing the tomb ?