GaryChaplin

It's not hard to insulate at all. Just create an continous insulation envelope on the outside. My self-build has walls under 0.12 W/m²K.

Just thought I'd follow this up to say that the inspection engineer said this only applies to underground work, what you do in your house is up to you.

OK, so I've heard back from Anglian Water asking for a citation, apparantly this 'ruling' is from the "The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999." Quote: "The requirement is a safety measure when installing pipework internally and externally as per The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999. These regulations are a legal requirement to keep water quality safe. The regulations include information on how external pipework and internal plumbing must be installed and maintained and these are similar in nature to Building and Gas regulations." So I looked, nothing there referring to 350mm distances https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/1148/contents. Nevermind, I'll just pretend they are a knowledgeable authority and change my plans!

Would be good to know where this is referenced in the BC regs.

Thanks. I've just asked Anglian Water, so we'll see what they say. Seems a bit ridiculous once it's in the house.

Hi all, I'm putting the mains water supply into my build, following the guidelines from Anglian Water. But I'm unclear on how close the water supply can be to the mains supply when it is within the building? The only guidance I have is that it cannot be less than 350mm, but I thought this was just underground. "Note: Your water pipe must be at least 350mm away from all other utilities." Can anyone provide any clearer guidance, quoting building regulations perhaps? Surely water cannot be kept away from mains power throughout the inside of the building? Thanks, Gary

Yes, but only becuase the manufacturer made an unbelivable number of mistakes! Nearly resolved all the issues, but I'm not going to give the full story until it's sorted!

I chose Reynaers as they are technically superior to the Origin in triple glaze spec. Reynaers have frames that support 44mm units, which provide better u-values. However, choose wisely for the manufacturer as I had a whole host of problems, which are still being resolved....

The system to use is called "direct glazing", "applied glazing", "face glazing" or "curtain walling". Pick one! https://sessile-oak.co.uk/oakFrames/glazing

Well said. I should imagine many are on this resource for basic information and have no intention of retaining the knowledge, and, for example, becoming a heating engineer. It's very easy for knowledgeable people to be condescending, which will only deter further questions. I probably do that all the time in my trade without realising it.

Thanks Alan, it is low, which is what I was hoping. Walls and roof are in the region of 0.1 W/m²K, with triple glazing throughout I'm hoping it will heat itself! We are having a woodburner, but am omitting that as don't always want to have to light it, albeit having an unlimited source of free oak!

From memory it was to do with a bigger unit having to switch on & off, which is less efficient than a smaller unit working steadily. I just need to know the basics as want to make a reasonably informed decision.

No, I'm not sure as it was what I was told by a refrigiration engineer. But I'll now go and do some reading.

As far as I understand, this is what NOT to do. With conventional boilers you can do this, but heat pumps just will not be efficient if oversized. They need to be working quite hard to get optimum perfomance. It would appear that many authorised installers are just adding the grant to their profit margin! First quote includes £5600 for the install!

Please elaborate on the acronyms? I have very little knowledge on plumbing and am trying to wing it! The spreadsheet suggested 2.5kW heat loss. It’s only medium sized 1½ storey building and has huge amounts of insulation. I have no idea what figures to expect but hope for maximum efficiency. Waiting on an EPC.

I know this is a bit of a daft question as is subject to many factors, however I am currently getting quotes for an ASHP install and really don't have a baseline. We should qualify for the £7.5k grant, which I was rather hoping would cover the majority of the cost. I found a rather useful heat loss calculator on here, which I have completed and it suggests just over 2.5kW. Though one of my quotes has come back with their own heat loss figure of over 5kW. Seems way off! Anyway, assuming the 2.5kW heat loss is accurate, what size ASHP should I require and what price range should I expect?

Thanks for the reply. I'm hoping to use an ACO threhsold drain abutting the sill, then cut slots in the plastic section of the drain to insert the door sill into. Below would be an additional waterproofed drain into a french drain I have around the whole building. Though I suspect I'll change the plan when the doors arrive! Something like this:

Interesting reading. I have exactly the same issue. Did you come to a conclusion?

Oak framing does not have to be expensive if well designed. After all, you are substituting another building material for oak frame. I'd say the majority of the extra costs can be associated with additional time required with finisihing details around the oak frame. For example, if you have lots of oak studs, joists and braces, then this creates panels with loads of details to finish to; battening, plastering, running cables around etc. In addition, you have to consider where services interact with an exposed timber frame. Such as plumbing, MVHR pipes etc. Good luck with it though. Happy to share my opinions on here, though it is a forum, so take them with a pinch of salt!

Blimey, they must be big timbers! As a rule of thumb, the oak takes about 1 year per inch thickness to dry. So an 8 inch (200mm) sq beam takes 8 years to dry. However, in a heated dry environment you can half that. Caulking gaps whilst the frame is drying is a bad idea, it will just look like a mess. Much better off waiting for the frame to dry and re-plaster. The ultimate solution is to put the green oak frame together and leave it for about 10 years, then finish the job!

I think the appearance of the windows are as important as anything else. Though I would prioritise efficiency for environmental and economic reasons if there were really no good options. I'm not keen on any wood in the windows (Velfac) as just requires maintainence and would not work aesthetically as is directly against oak framing.

Thanks for the reply. We have looked at the Smart Systems Alitherm range. They are more affordable and clearly profitable for the suppliers (they've been pushed on us a couple of time now in preference to other brands), however even the best variants can only acheive 1.3W/m²K with double glazing. It's ridiculously hard to find clear information from any of the manufacturers. Going to see some Reynaers next week, hopefully they can help, maybe?

I'm not idle, it's just that I've got to trawl through loads of nonsence that I can't be botherered to read! I've just found searching for 'zoning' in this section helps. Heat is a air source heat pump. Floors U-value of 0.145 W/m²K or better, walls 0.122 W/m²K and roof 0.097 W/m²K or better.

Hi all, I’ll firstly admit I’m pretty lazy when it comes to reading / scouring through loads of posts for the answer I’m after, so thought I’d just gauge an opinion... I’ll soon be at the stage where I’ll be installing the UFH and I’d originally thought zoning was still common practice. Though it would appear it’s not advised so much any more? (according to this forum) I’d like to know what’s common practice nowadays? Here is my plan from last year, however the whole ground floor is only 100 sq m, so I’d prefer to just have two zones if possible, with manifolds in the utility space. The simpler the better I guess. Thanks in advance. G.

Thanks. Though we are trying to reduce the sightlines on the mullions, None seem that impressive to me, with about 100mm at the miniumum.