TheMitchells

Have just received details of Coldwells new concept of turnkey Passivhaus designs. Pick your design and they'll do it all for you or build to weather proof and you finish off. https://www.coldwellsbuild.com/ Initial thoughts are that they look like a good idea. But cannot see a plant room in the plans. Are they calling it a utility room? I like the Argyle. 🤔😁

Thought folks may be interested in our recent stay in a Passivhaus B&B near Malvern. I wanted to experience the environment of passivhaus with MVHR and see if i could convince the OH that retrofitting and adding MVHR could be something that we should do; particularly if/once we move into our new place in 2025. It was a fab place and I would certainly recommend it for anyone who doubts the improvements from building Passiv. I loved the peacefulness, warmth, even when next to large windows, and the low bills they say they have.😁 I hoped it would give me a better sleep but I'd need a few more nights to see; particulally as they had turned on the en-suite towel rail for a while in the evening and it was too warm for me. i ended up opening the large patio doors during the night. The owners could not have done more to make us welcome and we had an educational talk in the Plant Room from Andrew. I found them on the Passivhaus Trusts website event which holds Open Days, usually late in the year. https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/ It is called Woodlands and is at the end of a long lane, with super walks right from the doorstep. And the Oak frame was amazing.

If you look carefully there is a box which controls the hot water timetable, but just to the left of it, is a simple switch in the OFF position! that supplies the power to the box.......

Thank you, our system does have Weather Compensation so hopefully that will help. And yes, I have set it to be on most of the day at a general temp of 21oC only dropping to 16oC at night. The programme left by the electrician was for 21oC between 6.30 and 8.30am, dropping to 16oC till 4.30pm, then on again for the evening and off at night. Obviously not suitable for two 85 yr olds at home all day! while there yesterday (Sunday) I insisted that the company boss came out as there was no hot water and even when boosting the thermostat to 28oC, it was barely reaching 19! When he came out, and checked things, including speaking to the electrician who was there Wednesday (his business partner), we eventually realised that the switch controlling the hot water was turned off!! You couldnt make it up! So after turning it back on - the water started heating up and when they rang me later in the day, the place was warm enough. I do wonder if the probelms occurred when the 2 electricians were rushing to get everything installed and running on the original Friday, when they wanted to get away by lunchtime. 🤔 Tomorrow an electrician is coming to replace the wireless Digistat with a Honeywell Home wired thermostat. Then Wednesday the commissioning engineer will come to check everything and commission it! Hopefuly by then, I can report it is all working to perfection and the company have sent mum a large bouquet to apologise for the week of incompetance. 😄 Fingers crossed.

Would you like to explain that so i can understand?

So today I went over to the house and while it wasnt cold, it was not warm either. The Digistat said 18C and I used the App to increase that to 22o while I took Mum to her hairdressers and Waitrose shop. Having agreed with ProDaves comments, I rang and asked the electrician who did the install to finda simple wired thermostat that Mum and Dad have a chance of being able to use. He suggested a Nest thing but I said I wanted wired. After a while, he sent details of a Honeywell one, whichis the exact one they had for the old system. Perfect. I am now waiting for them to say when they will come and move the old one - its still on the wall but as its quite close to a radiator, it will need moving. They didnt seem keen but I think its the only/best way. Back at the house, it seemed warmer but still not up to the 22oC. Also the hot water was only lukewarm 🙁 I changed the actual Digistat to increase the temperature to 21oC all day with 16oC at night. The house is certainly not cold but I dont think it was up to 21oC when i left. We shall see what happens next. Poor Mum and Dad are so tired of all these problems (as am I) and I do think it would have been much easier to put radiators and a gas boiler in. Its a shame I have principles and wanted to do the 'right thing'. 😒

Wow! Looking forward to hearing about the rest. Are you going to tell us what it cost??? 😄

It all looks lovely and cozy. well done! And thanks for all the details - very useful for our own renovation. 🙂

The people who commission the system and sign off everything for the Government grant are coming next week. We have instructions for everything except the Digistat! And the rest of the stuff, we are advised to leave well alone. Apart from adjusting the radiators. I agree with the wireless stuff - far better to have a wired system that we can control - with instructions! I hate Apps and it didnt work from my house so that was a waste of time. I guess there is some way of connecting it to Mums internet so I can control it remotely and I shall have to find out. Today Mum rang and told me that while the house was lovely when they got up, it had turned itself down to 16oC - ie, back to the origonal schedule at 8.30am. Luckily I was able to tell them how to boost the temperature, till I can get there and amend the schedule again. What a nightmare for them 🙁they can do without these programming issues. It is difficult to assess the energy use as it has been on and off since it was installed. We took the old heating system out on the 7th, leaving them with plug in radiators over the weekend. The system was finished on Friday 15th but we need a few weeks to really see if its helping. 16th may have been the day it heated the whole water tank as that is the biggest use.

After removing the old heating system a couple of weeks ago, the engineers arrived at 10am Monday morning last week - waiting for the delivery of all the 'bits'! We'd installed a couple of electric oil filled radiators for mum and dad and luckily the weekend was mild. The lorry arrived around 11am, things were unloaded and taken into the back garden, then the guys all disappeared to go and get the pipework..... So after lunch, back the 2 chaps came and installed the ASHP into the back garden, with pipes into the roofspace. (one lives in Stamford, 2.5 hrs drive from here! - no wonder it took a while for them to arrive.) Tuesday, we had 3 guys, ftting the radiators into the place. I was told the electricians would be there thursday and friday to connect everything up. Wednesday 3 guys again, all sorted of things were now fitted into the cupboard and the radiator installations continued. There were 2 under bench blowers in the kitchen as there are no walls for a radiator. They were fitted but not connected - needed an electrician. Two radiators had to be removed and replaced as they had faulty paintwork (nice to know they arranged that themselves, we didnt have to complain). Not sure what happened thursday but no electricians turned up. 🙁 Friday, 2 electricians arrived and started to connect the system. But then one said they had to leave at lunchtime! I was not impressed but to be fair, they carried on, until the system was up and running. I had a quick explanation and off they went, around 2pm. The house was lovely and warm with hot radiators! Yippee. 😁 Saturday as I drove to a friends many miles away, we had a call from the parents - they had no heating! Grrr. But after emailing the 'boss' - within an hour, he arrived at the house and sorted out the problem - air in the system. Heating resumed. 😄 Sunday - Mums 85th birthday. House toasty and all happy. 😁 Dad mentioned a problem with his bathroom radiator which was so cose to the door that it could only be opened half way. email sent to 'boss' who arranged for an engineer to come MOnday. Which he did (from Stamford), he moved the radiator (cursing the idiot who placed it there) and fixed the fronts onto the under bench heaters. All looking good. Tuesday - unknown to me (they didnt tell me), there was no heating again and the 'boss' was called by Dad. He arrived after an hour and got it working again, telling them it was all sorted. But today, wednesday, when I arrived at 9am, the house was cold. Arghhhh!!! After emailing the 'boss' who arranged for his business partner (the elctrician from last week) to ring and come out. In the cupboard, the box which seemed to talk to the thermostat was flashing amber - and not sure that was right, i pressed a button and it turned flashing green. But still no heat after half an hour. I then found a manual online for the thermostat - Drayton Digistat - from which i discovered it had been set to a particular schedule for those out at work all day - ie on for a couple of house in the morning, low during the day, warmer for the evening and off at night! Not ideal for two 85yr olds, at home all day. After installing the app on the tablet - didnt work - and then on my phone, i was albe to amend the temperatures up to 21oC from 6.30am to 22.00pm with 16oC at night. I could see the Digistat registering that change and start the heating symbol. but the radiators stayed cold and the temperature did not change from 17oC. The electrician rang and I told him about the flashing light. I was told to press it till it was constant green which we did. And then i heard the pump start and water could be heard moving. But still no heat. After a couple of hours, he arrived and confirmed that while the App was controling the Digistat, they were not talking to the bix in the cupboard. After some work and a call to the Manufacturers, he re-set the system and everything seemed to be talking to each other. I was able to boost the temperature with the App and the house started to warm up. So thats the current situation - its taken several visits and several days without heating but fingers crossed, it continues to work. When it does work, the place is toasty, and I have to admit that all the guys have been great with mum and dad, moving out the way when needed, and being polite/helpful. And the 'boss' and Electrician have been quick to come out and try to fix the problem. I just hope there are no more calls. Will update in a few days.

I am looking at the Hikmicro E01 for £150 on amazon, to help with pinpointing draughts and areas to insulate. Seems like a good price. Has anyone else used this model and have any comments on its usefulness? thanks. https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIKMICRO-Resolution-Portable-Handheld-4°F-752°F/dp/B0CF28BNNX/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=ZPGQA3WQ5MEG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YfdGjI2352XpUVfZnQQHiFnUM529sTpUtPF3RYROj6jprm_fR3Snu7U4nFUfGiZ-Uz8LpW--dDw6lwP9ZaQKb8W6PdvDolxyc9td14GvgxXt5wMgfjURPB_atmHUUlpejRu_PZqf45VYg-DjBCbKIQb2JpZ-X87nmQFxIyNT637_VZwwGEzExisKlHPat_hMIlJd8KqGFLoEaiHdTZZoFYxHbq0UvdMRWZEH_Fq14rl2w9AH4_u4FFChdFOx4Up59v2MjRMQTZlCOKtSwyqfW8VWU1PwJJeapBGNxwGV_r4.7QJtPucxVTMXkNrgiTDqorIsygWrznAFZPgCcTcGT1o&dib_tag=se&keywords=hikmicro+e01&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1732030174&sprefix=%2Caps%2C81&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

We were quoted £400 for removal of the old heating system so we decided to do it ourselves. Thinking it would take all day, it actually came out in a couple of hours. And we even got £10 for the metal at the local recycling place. 😄 Looking at the plate - it was an 8.5KW system - no wonder it used so much electric! There was a large box underneath, with the vents to the other rooms for the warm air. After speaking to the ASHP company, we left the box in place, just tidied up the space. They plan to bring some wood to sit the new system on. After holding up all those bricks, I am sure it will cope with a water cylinder. The plan is to use the bricks in the new garden and make a BBQ with them. they even have grooves for a rack.

there is a huge backlog of podcasts that I found very useful. I am no longer a member of The Hub as it is too expensive for me. That has exclusive video content and more. but you can look at the podcasts for free.

https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph343-a-low-cost-eco-home-on-a-challenging-infill-plot-with-josh-wood/ house planning help website has lots of good ideas for plot finding. I was looking for years, with a couple of plots we tried to get. I even went round local villages and put up cards asking for anyone with a large garden who may sell. I made the point that we were locals, not a builder. About a year later I received a call. Someone was selling part of her garden and she had kept my details. It was only 3 miles from current house. Unfortunately, we'd just bought somewhere for my elderly parents who needed to be closer so didnt have the funds. However, it was nice to know that it can work. Try to think outside the box 😁 Good luck.

How things can change on a six pence! After deciding to go for the ASHP, I had a couple of local firms in to quote. CVC did come back with a quote of around 20K but without a site visit, I was worried things could add up and that seemed too much. see the whole ASHP saga here; So next week, the new ASHP is being installed. And the unit is going in the back garden, under the kitchen window. This is not where I wanted it to go but the company were adamant that we could not have it at the front of the bungalow. And with certain changes in the pipeline, I am not sure now that we will be doing the extension at all. therefore I am going with the easy option for now. If at a later date, we DO decide to add an extension, we'll just have to move everything. 🤔 The reason for the big change is that the property next to this one came up for sale and after looking at it, we decided to put in an offer. It is larger than our current bungalow and while my parents need help and care, it makes sense to be next door, rather than a 20 mn drive away. It ticks all the boxes for our current situation, garage, workshops, as well as being next door so seemed the right thing to do. We now have a complete chain so are just waiting for it all to happen - hopefully January 2025. Fingers crossed! Looking to the future, we will have the option to choose which we live in and which we sell. OH prefers the new one already....... and we arent even in yet. 😁 I'll update things once the ASHP is in. I just hope it works as well as they say it will.

Well, after lots of too'ing and fro'ing, we have decided to just go for one of the local guys. I do not have time to do anything else wiith caring for my parents, working and dealing everything that life throws at us. We may have been able to save some money but thsi way, any problems and we just call the company for them to sort it out. They start in a weeks time so inbetween we have to remove the old storage/heating system from the cupboard, inreadiness for them starting next week. Weather currently isnt too cold so I am hoping the temperature does not drop too much till its all installed and working. There are 2 night storage heaters, an electric fire in the lounge and we have several electric plug in heaters for the other rooms. We'll just have to take the hit on the elctricity bill for that week. Its a Grant 10kW ASHP and I shall let you know how it all works out. £6,900 paid with the BUS grant giving another £7500. Fingers crossed it all works.

A cherry picker would have been great but there is no way we can get it into the rear garden, without demolishing a brick shed, which isnt going to happen.😄 And we'll watch our heads on that trap door! Thanks for the tip.

Looking at this one. https://www.laddersandscaffoldtowers.co.uk/scaffold-towers/diy-scaffold-towers/home-master-diy-scaffold-tower We have a roof ladder to lie on the tiles and work on the roof itself so just need something to give good safe access. So ideally something with the floor of the platform at guttering height. Does the claimed height refer to the top of the scaffolding or the platform height?

Wondering if someone could help in a question about access towers? we need to do some work along the ridge line of the house - the cement is cracked and missing under the rood tiles, and we have some water in the roof space, aound the back corner of the roof. We think the roofing felt maybe perished but need to have a look. taking up the first couple of tiles and maybe replacing the battons and felt. We have been trying to hire an access tower for a couple months but no one seems to have any available and so are now looking to buy our own. Can anyone advise us as to what height we need? We thought 5 m would be enough to get to the guttering and a little higher but the photo's dont look like it will be high enough. Shuold we be aiming for a 6m? Luckily the OH is good at heights.

I tried to get a quote from Octopus but they dont yet 'do' my area. And its 'her', not 'him', Nick 😁. I'm the one on the left of the pic.

I did suggest increasing the size of a couple of rads and removing the one in the porch which they accepted. However, they are still suggesting a 10kW heat pump and the cost has increased to £14,487.00 with the Govenment £7.500 to be deducted. And they still insist that the heat pump cannot go at the front of the property. But we dont want to put it at the side or rear as it would then require moving when we do the extension. I Could apply for planning for it to go to the front but that can take 8-12 weeks putting the install into late autumn/winter which would be a nightmare for the elderly parents. And Dad is very concerned that it would be pinched, being so visible to all and sundry passing. 😒 So after pulling my hair out - we think we shall return to the old current system and hope it works for a while yet. part of the reason for replacing it this summer was that the heating and hot water went off so we thought there was a problem - and there was - the off peak main switch fuse was nicely burning away! But that has been replaced and so we are going to turn on the old warm air system and see if it still works. If it does we will limp along with that for as long as we can. And we'll check the fuses regularly, in case there is something causing the main fuse to heat up. Its not ideal but is certainly the cheap option for now; while i consider other ideas.......

We will increase the loft insulation to300mm once the work has been done. and the walls already have cavity insulation, though not with eps beads. Maybe thats something we could look at doing.

I questined the flow temperature and the answer came back that due to the restricted wall space in the bungalow, the flow temp has been increased to meet the heat loss. Otherwise we'd need larger rads which I dont really want. I shall take the measurements and suggested rads sizes tomorrow when i visit and see if we could increase the size of some of them. Would they all need to be larger? Or could i increase a few?

I believe the calculation shows that the bungalow will need 13,350kW to heat the place. But the total electricity used last year for the whole place was less than 12,000kW so is their heat demand calculation incorrect?

I have finally received the heat loss calculations for the 70m2 bungalow. apparently it is suggesting a 10kW heat pump but the installer is thinking an 8kW would be sufficient. he's suggested a Samsumg. I do recall being told that the flow temperature is important for efficiency and lifespan of the heat pump. I can see a flow temp of 53oC - is this something i should ask about? Comments gratefully received. We do need to get this installed soon as my elderly parents feel the cold and are already commenting on the place being cold in the mornings! (we do have a night storage heater that we can turn on till the new system is installed). heatpump-design-calculations.pdf heatpump-system-performance 7 ellesmere.pdf hotwater-design-calculations.pdf room-by-room-calculations.pdf room-by-room-emitters.pdf