Duncan62

Thanks for the summary @Ewan, did you come to a conclusion for installation?

Check if your old CRT isn't now selling at a premium on eBay. They don't make them any more and some gamers love the clarity they provide.

All I can come across of the FSAP10 BETA: https://www.stromamembers.co.uk/Downloads/FSAP10 Beta/publish.htm

I think section 75 only covers a maximum of £30k IIRC.

Is FSAP 2012 still relevant in 2023 with the regulation updates we've had? I guess no?

I'm not technical but very interested in your idea. Could you run the heating part from the hot water cylinder, then the hp is not constantly cycling? Might make the cooling more complicated to implement as it would require a separate loop running off the hp anyway?

Hi @Ferdinand, thank you again. I agree that starting with the plot is essential, certainly this is something ive thought about, light throughout the day is very important. North is top. Which is where the view is. The sun rises on the right, into the kitchen and dining area in the morning. Sun moves round the bottom and to the left. light is captured by the front windows and sines through to the rear library, lighting it but not directly with sun (my preference). west windows are to a minimum to avoid summer overheating, as a low summer sun is hard to shade out and therefore overheats houses. Late summer sun will actually travel all the way round to the left and lights up the trees at the rear turning them gold. Its incredible and exactly why the library looks out that way for amazing evening sitting. hopefully that gives some more context. much work still to do.

Thank you for your views Charlie, I appreciate you taking the time to contribute. With your views on the current layout, could you suggest improvements that for example move the mvhr to a better location? Give a more optimal roof profile? Whilst keeping cost of building down? Thank you very much if you do have any suggestions here. Just to give some context regards wall thickness, I'd done some research into what wall build up gives the best sound attenuation (the Americans seem to be far ahead of us on this?) And numerous American STC charts show 2x stud walls with 2x plasterboard and mineral wool infill gives the best result. This gives a much thicker wall build up to 'standard' in the UK. (Below image just an example, not gospel) Regards fire escape, I'm happy I've allowed for this correctly. Really appreciate constructive feedback, thank you.

Thanks Ferdinand for sharing this, I feel like I've seen it before?! I Can see why you like this guy, great vision with such humble, cost effective design, really inspiring. That shot looking through the house through the glass door into the garden @3:40 is exactly what I was trying to achieve with my Cardinal directions views from the centre of the house. With regards shadows the best I've been able to simulate is with SketchUp, tho I admit this is mostly to assess which Windows need shading to avoid summer heat gain. Looking inside the house at the shadows throughout the year is something I'd only thought of in my head - great suggestion to actually stimulate this too. Perhaps I should post some pictures that I used to inspire me, to give a sense of styles I like?

An excellent suggestion, unfortunately local plan dictates the roof style and mono pitch would not be allowed =(

Extremely useful again Bozza, thank you. Thanks too for the plans, they are interesting viewing. Hadn't appreciated the size of the child's room as they grow and potentially hang around longer than previous generations? Converting an existing bit of open plan area in the future is a cracking suggestion. I will play with some ideas and float them to the family. Think I'll do some more drawing and see where it heads. Many thanks again.

thanks saveasteading, Yes the entrance glazing does give a complex dormer type scenario. The window idea is to give light to the back of the house through a glass wall and glass door behind the stairs. It will be a library so light for reading is the thought. Agree, valley gutter not ideal but as you say, it's for the ridge height limit (currently guessed at 6.6m but survey this month to determine) and wanting a deeper house than existing. Hi F thanks for your comments, Very keen to incorporate the light into the building, do you have any suggestions? I think may be too concerned with that, leading to the compromises of door and window locations in cardinal directions already? Use cases are a good tool, I hadn't formally though of them like that. Again tho, maybe I've over thought this leading to compromises? Separate garage will hopefully store all the outdoor things. Will definitely need a potting shed, there is a keen gardener, who isn't me!

Super constructive thanks Bozza. A. Married, one young kid. No pets now or in the future. No prospect of me working from home, shift work which does mean I sometimes sleep odd hours. Partner works at home now and is likely too choose to do so in the future with any new job. House is for life. Never intend moving. Granny flat idea is practical forward planning (would almost seem silly to not think of this given aging parents and cost of care?) - whereby house works with or without additional occupant/s. Hence small additional room upstairs for office space relocation should this happen. B. Rural, private road East/ West in front of house. Front faces South to tree line along other side of the road. Back of the house faces North with views over farmland onto distant hills. East is more field. West is neighbouring property 30/40m away from plot centre. Plot is very approximately 30mx30m square. C. Open living area with library facing the views North, no TV. Only TV in house will be in the snug. Like the idea of kitchen, dinning area being East facing to drink in the morning sun and start the day bright. Mixed use study/bedroom downstairs with access to bathroom. Boot room to never have clobber lying around in the hall. Upstairs adult bedroom bathroom separate from the rest. Bedroom number is fluid, thinking was to maximise to ensure self build loan approval? Would be useful to have additional smaller room upstairs for study relocation as mentioned in A above. 200m2 is nothing fixed, was just what I came to after drawing lots of layouts - we are trying to build the smallest house possible to fulfill our current and foreseeable needs. Perhaps, in answer to your statement before, we'd choose less rooms over a bigger house. We really want to be efficient, sustainable and not build bigger, we aren't doing this at all for vanity. I feel like I've spent 00s hours on this too! It's all a massive compromise, we've been through countless revisions (with more to come!). Nothing will ever be perfect, you'll be glad to hear we're not aiming for that!

Thank you all for the constructive comments, really appreciate your input. Thanks for your input here Bozza, it really is very useful. #4 I agree with your assessment entirely, there must be better layouts. My thinking is that I can work unsocial hours, therefore sleep when others may not be, thus the desire for 2x doors between myself and noise. This leads to an inelegant solution, thank you for your input improving it. (I'm a separate loo type of guy, hence this inclusion). #5 This little room likely to be a study/short stay bedroom. #6 My exuberance in efficiency led to the corridor becoming the plant room. W/M under MVHR. The bedroom downstairs is actually a study with planned fold down bed for guests - hence access to their own en-suite (downstairs bathroom). We may even have elderly parents in the future, if we closed off the door to the plant room there is then a self contained flat with bed, bath and living rooms. I agree that this leads to many many compromises. Snug room likely to be little used by us, we haven't turned on the TV for literally months now, I guess that why the rooms been pushed to the corner. Fantastic layout adjustments, thank you for taking the time. Particularly like moving family bath to front of the house. Build bigger or reduce the rooms. Great advice. Thanks AliG #1 Agree, site survey this month to determine the ridge height, we may then be able to move the whole roof line up to give more room. #3 This is a sound suggestion. My wishy washy idea was to get to the centre of the house (entrance to open plan bit after the main hall) and be able to see out in each cardinal direction (including through glass plant room doors), meaning anyone could instantly understand their place in the building. All sounds too woo doesn't it?! #4 good idea, will run it past the family. #5 Sound, Bozza also agrees. #6 I googled double bed size when drawing and apparently it is 135 x 190 cm so 150cm with a bit of bed frame seems ok? sofa size does seem small for some, I have drawn a 90cm & 80cm sofa and single seat at 70cm. Will adjust upwards. Thanks, good spot. Thank you John, I agree MVHR runs are long to other end of the house. Any suggestions for MVHR placement to help reduce this? Would this require a different location for the plant area? Agree, Jack and Jill doors to downstairs bathroom is a big compromise solution. Hoping to keep the hoover in the upstairs store room, as I do the hoovering and cleaning, I'm happy to take the walk each time. Thanks again all for the fantastic input. Really appreciate the time you took to reply.

Hi, been reading here avidly for quite some time, what an incredible hive mind! I'm looking for some feedback on the floor plans, the good and the not so (I already have a list for both). We own our plot and are in the process of applying for planning over the next few months, hence a sense check from the hive. I hope to build an efficient house, phpp thinks it will be so far. Structure: Timber frame, ideally I-beam + internal racking board filled with mineral wool, externally clad with wood fibre around the whole house. Backup is 240mm stick build standard timber frame, externally clad too. Open web floor joists. Internal air tightness membrane. Triple glazing. Insulated raft foundation. Internal walls double stud +2x NB PB each side to give enhanced acoustic dampening. Services: Heat pump to OSO HW tank with immersion heater powered by PV in summer (actual # panels may be less than depicted). HW Circulation return loop with small runs to taps. Slab heating/cooling loop. MVHR with saline preheater/precooler and a post heater/cooler - heat pump controlled (I may split out the heating to downstairs plenum only and the cooling to upstairs plenum only). Fully insulated semi rigid ducting. Water softener to protect the plumbing. Now the bit people came here for, the floor plans! There's a ridge height limit which dictates a 1.5 story house, planning on about 200m2. Views are to the north. I'm sure I've left a lot of detail out in the description, I will try to answer any questions, thanks for taking the time to read this far.