Shaun McD

Sounds good, never thought much on timing of this, i.e. will the plenum be in before membrane or after. Will need to confirm with TF company what the plan is

Thought about it briefly yeah, my understanding was that it would cost us more to get the same level of insulation on the rafters as it would flat on the joists, and it would have additional costs like double battens. It would also increase the volume we would be heating. We plan to have only one area of pitched roof accessible for storage and dont think anything needing stored will be too important. If i was more DIY with the insulation then would likely be more keen on it

No our airtight layer is at ceiling level, will be a cold roof. Pipe on top of joist will be encased in insulation (due to depth) but will be outside the airtight layer This is what I was thinking would be the norm for plumbing with an insulated slab, not that I have been involved in any I will get the bucket out later and see what current one is at, gut feeling is it wont be 10l/min! I think I will need 90mm pipes due to some of my run lengths. I guess though it may be simpler to run the pipes on joist, and have the plenum penetrate the airtight layer, as even a 100mm cavity will likely not be enough for the plenum anyways

I have not seen this so will give it a look

Yeah I think that will be our fallback. I will keep looking can I get someone locally or willing to travel but have a backup. I really like the idea of having the finished floor very level and done so early in the project.

Kore have told me that a "competent" grounds work person can install, but just not keen on the idea of been someones first...

I never even thought of doing my own plumbing, was the one I would be most scared off ha! The house will be pretty simple plumbing wise, but over longer distances from the single story layout. I also have a specific request from the better half to ensure our ensuite shower has LOADS of water pressure, so I need to figure out how to go about that. We will have a service void in the ceiling (which I assumed would be 50mm but I have seen some people put their MHRV pipes in here, so this would need to be 100mm in that case), but is that where the pipes would be? Or would they be on the joist? On the joist would need to be taken through air tightness layer, where as in service would not.

From what I have with some Donegal builders there is inches of tolerance in thinks, not mm. But yeah maybe been over cautious. Putting it to everyone at least, hoping to find one or two done before so they can have some input Yeah we are hoping to be starting construction drawings in a few weeks if we can have these decisions made. When you got prices did u see a big difference? We have a large single story footprint so we will have more rising walls, material for sub floor, concrete etc even before we have 270m2 odd of insulation and screed to sort so we thinking it may actually be the cheaper option to go insulated slab but finding it impossible to get any benchmark

I reached about to Kore, Castleforms to recommended installers, and also emailed TSD, who I think handle a lot of the structural designs for these. Ideally I would like to combine groundworks/foundation installer as a single point of failure, and since the ground makeup, levels etc. are very critical to get right. Would you mind sharing details on where about in ROI you are and who you plan to use? I have had local people saying they would not work on an insulated slab as they prefer to do strip etc. but also have people willing to take on the work without the experience, which seems quite risky

Ok, sounds like a 2 port is the safest approach, and I can do some maths to work out the the smallest possible zone, and use that to size. Do you get such a thing as an insulated buffer? Or go about insulating myself to reduce any unintended heat loss into the zone it sits in? Why the additional pump? Yeah I guess the energy transfer into or out of the air would be very low, and would take a smarter person than me to do the payback for something like this https://www.bpcventilation.com/komfovent-water-duct-cooler-heater-dhcw Some brands seem to sell both heating and cooling options, but not sure what the difference would? Would you mind sending me details of brand you used? Hesitation from herself is on a few points; 1) We are not spoiled with lots of days of sunshine in northwest ireland. 2) The cost 3) Main living area, while south facing, has a bris soleil essentially in place with a flat roofed outdoor living area, so leave master bed and my office as the two main rooms subject to it. 4) We have had issues of overheating in the current house, which we had no active cooling, or external shades to help with so she feels we can handle it. Not exactly science based, but is the world we live in. I think I may be able to get a solution over the line for those two rooms if I can find something reasonably priced and hidden. Our visit to the Internorm showroom didnt help as it was implied that internal blinds and opening windows would be enough, and that the cost for external shades was very high. Also really hurt the idea when it was said that we would only get a 2 year warranty on them ha

Hi all, Will have a new build in Ramelton, Co. Donegal, finding it difficult to find installers in region, or would travel. I know TimberFrame Ireland install, but since we are not using them for our TF, not sure if I want that setup! I have also heard mixed things about the company, so looking for companies willing to do the job stand alone, or packaged with none TF related work. Any recommendations or even nice UK based folk who want a working holiday????

Thanks @Nickfromwales I was not aware it was common to drop these services, so good to know. I just seen a youtube video the other day about dhw recirculation systems, and that they are worth doing ha! Would you avoid from a installer POV, or is there no real merit in the idea?

Thanks for this, I can use a super basic understanding to be a PIA for the installer ha!

Having a buffer in the return line, does that mean that the buffer is always engaged? Or is it normal that it could be diverted around buffer? Is there a point at which having the buffer plus the full open house becomes less efficient than just the house itself? Basically going from one zone, not enough water to heat, to full house open + buffer is too much water to heat? I had never thought about adding the MHRV into the mix, could you simply take a loop from the manifold to the MHRV element? Basic assumption that this would work in regular heating mode, and also work in cooling mode? Re shading, I have approached the idea of external shutters with the better half and to say I was shut down would be an understatement. The expectation that heat pump in cooling mode, plus opening windows & doors will suffice.

Thanks @TerryE we are hoping we can find a local installer and go this route! Re services in slab, for ground floor plumbing, i.e. toilet feeds, dhw and cold to sinks, showers, basins etc. are you saying that all of these came down from first floor ceiling instead of up from slab?

Makes sense. Do you know how i would go about calculating the correct buffer size? My initial plan will be to have a single house zone. I have the peace of mind that my home automation system will have room temps, and if needed i can future add actuators to zones which can be operated by the home automation system. I was thinking I could be very cautious and install a buffet tank as an additional 'zone', which i could then combine with room zones to bring me up to a larger volume of water when whole house heating is not required. I suppose i need to find the ufh volume of the smallest possible zone i would control, e.g. a north facing bedroom, and assume that it plus buffer needs to be suitable for the ASHP to work efficiently. Once a certain number of rooms would need heat, or the whole house needs heat, i can cut the buffer out of the system? Make sense or OTT?

Solid idea, I will get a thread going in the TF section around experiences and best practices! Agreed, a bit of an odd target, and we are talking still around what we want our target to be and the best way to achieve it, i.e. via Kudos or DIY. In fairness to Kudos, as essentially a sub contractor, with no ownership on glazing, foundations, internal rising wall junctions etc. I have some understanding why they would like to air on the side of caution (pardon the pun) and not commit to a result without owning more trades. They have already prompted me to look at the "blowerproof" paint, sorry cannot remember the brand, and to think about applying it on internal rising walls

Thank you for this @Iceverge very informative! The two TF suppliers who we had down selected too were Kudos (who build per the first wall system) and Long Life Structures (who build per the second wall system). We did discuss with Kudos the option to have them build wall system 2 and other wall systems (TF with external insul, no cavity), and while they where more than happy to do so, it naturally comes at a cost premium to have them produce a one off wall system on their "production line", so we decided that since on paper at least, the end performance result would not be massive, we decided to take the saving and let them do what they do best. You have reminded me of something however that was included by LLS but have not discussed yet with Kudos, the 45mm service cavity insulation. I will be flagging that and can self install prior to plasterboarding! Agreed re ACH, 2.5 is a lot higher than we intend to achieve, and again Kudos have offered greater results by different wall systems but we have to draw the line somewhere again on cost. All of these elements are very critical and unfortunately, we are not in the position to opt for the 0.6 ACH guaranteed twin wall systems so will have to do some level of compromise and elbow grease to get what we want!

Who did you use for supply of kit and what size did you go with?

What size is large? 9kw? What about roof V ground mounting for price and performance? Is it possible that any/all of it could be a diy job? I will have an electrician for the house overall but maybe cover labor to install panels etc?

Hi all, New build in Donegal, Ireland with a large almost directly south roof section. I am hoping to get some input and advice on how to weigh up the economics of a PV array, battery etc. The house will be heated with an ASHP, occupied by two working adults every day, assume for a slightly over normal electrical demand (home server, relaxed with lighting etc.) and plan to have a 300l+ DHW cylinder, no electric car at present but possibly in future. We get no grants or incentives so everything is out of our pocket to install. I watched some YouTube content on smart systems like myenergi but would like to know more about how i would design number of panels, battery size etc. to get a good balance of bang for buck. My uneducated side is concerned about life span of batteries and i do not think we are incentivised in ROI to think that selling back to the grid is economical but I could be very wrong on all these fronts. Let me know what details i can provide to help with any recommendations etc. TIA

Hi all, A part of our planning req is to have an externally rendered face on our new build, for which we are likely to use an acrylic render due to its weather protection and lifelong color without painting. To my knowledge, the two common skins to support this is either standard block work, or cement board. Would love to hear peoples experience with both systems and any tips and tricks. My (very questionable) assumptions; Pro block/Neg cement board - will be cheaper due to local supply of materials and labor. Pro block/Neg cement board - loads of sill options, including passive sills Pro block/Neg cement board - allows for full stone work (cheaper) rather than thin stone Neg block/Pro cement board - Needs a foundation Neg block/Pro cement board - MICA in the region Neg block/Pro cement board - Cement board be quicker to install Neg block/Pro cement board - Skin will already have to contain some elements of cement board on gables without a rising external wall. I think thats the big ticket items I can think of now, open to input/corrections!

Yeah sorry I forgot to add the actual weather material wrap on the external side of the "breathable" racking material as standard too

I would be quite cynical about these things too ha, and they do add the VCL layer to flat ceilings for example. I am sure they will have no issue (just an extra cost) to install the membrane on top of insulation, but they are adamant it is not needed due to their use of the breathable racking board on the outside, hopefully someone on here is more informed and can confirm or deny the validity!

Fingers crossed!