NSS

And SageGlass

Got to admit I admire all you caravan dwellers. Wasn't an option for us due to wife's health so we were fortunate to be in a position to buy a house to live in whilst we built the new one.

I once watched a Ukrainian tap dancer break his leg. He fell into the sink.

Heard an interview on Radio 5 last week, talking to a woman who makes a living from taking on 'eating challenges' and posting videos thereof on her YouTube channel. The world has gone mad!

Blimey, we only managed 4.7 kWh today. Granted it wasn't sunny all day, and at this time of year we do get a bit of shading in the morning, but that still seems a lot to have generated at this time of year. The last time we generated 12 kWh (pro rata 2/3 of what you did today as we only have 4k on the roof) was 9th October.

So, my projected energy usage proved to be pretty accurate, with total import of 4680kWh at a cost of £784 for the full year (I'd estimated £790) in our 165m2 chalet bungalow. Net cost after FiT and RHI payments was £60. Happy with that ?

We used Madley Eternit to Cedral Click ordered via Jewsons. Great system which is easy to self install (I managed to so it must be!) But you need to use a specialist diamond-tipped chop saw blade to cut it. Also, be aware that it's generally only sold in full pallets so you need to work out how much you need (we actually slightly reduced the areas clad in it from original plan and increased that covered by the thermowood) as you don't want to have to buy an additional pallet if you only need a few planks from it.

Well, according to Lewis Hamilton, that's Stevenage for the bulldozers then ?

Completely agree with that last sentence, but the problem is that inefficient old housing stock is (largely) lived in by those with the least chance of improving them (I'm not talking about the Victorian mansions and 'chocolate box' cottages). Perhaps a way forward would be to allow certain energy efficiency improvements to be made by owners with a quid pro quo reduction in council tax payments (whatever is spent on, for example, improving insulation is deducted from your CT bill for that year).

One of the points that this discussion begs a question on is longevity of residential builds. How many of the homes we're building (people on this forum, not the mass builders) today 'need' to stand for more than 50 years or so? Surely, in 2068, a home built today will likely be as out of date in terms of its relation to a home built in 50 years time as one built in the 1800's is to your average passive house of today.

Sure, but ICF, passive slabs.... ?

According to this article - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46455844 I guess it's a good job aircraft are not made of concrete then!

As you say Dave, sad news indeed. Makes you wonder whether that 'impossible build' was the tipping point.

We used Intelligent Insurance for our largely timber clad, timber frame house and got comparable cover for less that it cost to insure our previous 'traditional' brick/block home with Direct Line (who refused to cover the new build).

Download available from here https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/SC293690/filing-history

Yes, I had a read of their most recent annual report last night. Interesting stuff.

Can't say I've paid too much attention to the various Sunamp threads previous to this one as our build was too far advanced before I became aware of their products to consider them. That said, I'd assumed they were a relatively new business (if not a start-up) but I see they've been around somewhat longer than I'd imagined. So have their current products just been a long time in development, or are they second or third generation offerings?

We used EcoHaus Internorm and had some issues but all sorted to our satisfaction in the end. In fairness, ours was a far from straight forward job (due to the SageGlass element), but that was over 2 years ago now and who knows how they may have improved (or indeed the reverse) since. My gut feeling at the time was that they were growing faster than they could cope with.

Typical standby time for most smartphones is 10 - 15 days. I absolutely pummel mine and only need to charge it every 2 days or so.

But any smartphone battery will also last a month if you only switch it on once a week.

Simple fix, remove the neoprene and fit Actis Hybris instead

The plot would need to be practically free-gratis for a turnkey 3-bed property to be delivered within that budget though.

Sorry, but let me get this right. You want to buy a plot, with planning permission, and build a 3-bed dwelling (presumably detached) for a total of £200k. You say you are unable even to project manage such a build, so i'm guessing you won't be doing too much of the building yourself either? That's not tight, I'd say it's damned nigh impossible, unless I've misunderstood your original post and that's a budget for the build alone (ie not including the plot cost).

We bought our plot with OPP for a rather boring design of bungalow. There'd been a lot of objections even to that, so we encountered loads of hassle from Nimbys when we re-submitted for a 1.5 storey chalet bungalow. If you haven't already, I'd suggest having a good read of any comments/objections relating to the OPP as this may give you a steer as to where any 'red lines' may be. Good luck.

We used http://novoferm.co.uk/products/garage-doors/insulated-sectional-doors/ They can finish in any RAL colour and have a 'woodgrain' finish so you should be able to match your desired colour pretty closely.