Ed Davies

You mean, given a monopoly across most of the UK by government interference.

Highland Environmental Health were OK with my rainwater harvesting plans once I assured them I wouldn't be preparing food for the public (e.g,, running a B&B).

I doubt anybody on here knows any more than you (hence the lack of quicker response) but looking at the way planning and building control works in general, yes, this version where there may be other alternative solutions which are acceptable seems much more likely. I really doubt that a previous OPP or PPIP would specifically bind any future applications to a particular solution.

Ah, OK.

I got my warrant about 5 years ago. Talking to SEPA, first they wanted to know if I'd had a percolation test: "yes, it doesn't”, “doesn't what?”, “percolate, at all”, “ah, ok”. Then they were OK about discharge to a “water course” but, even though the treatment plant puts out water that's theoretically clean enough for discharge into a water course, they still wanted a rumbling drain at least 50 metres long between the treatment plant and the water course. I'd guess that any more complicated engineering is to otherwise filter the output of the treatment plant if 50 metres isn't available for that. ProDave didn't need that much but maybe the application of the rules varies a bit: we're both in Highland but I'd assume he was dealing with a different SEPA office (mine's in Thurso).

But if the house isn't complete [¹] it's not a residential site. Same sort of thing as the residential PD rights not applying until complete. [¹] whatever “complete” means: a) BC completion certificate, b) you're living in it, c) for VAT reclaim purposes, or d) for PD purposes. Could those all be different from each other for a single house?

I did a similar experiment this time last year to see if running the oil boiler overnight rather than having it switched off from 23:00 to 07:00 increased the heating bill much. It did, but nothing like as much as you might expect from the 1.5 times as much running time. https://edavies.me.uk/2019/01/continuous/

Maybe. AFDDs have been compulsory for circuits in bedrooms in the US for a while. Whether the arguments for them are valid there and whether they apply here (with higher voltage/lower current supplies and more-robust and fused plugs) is open to question.

I've only Velux windows (only one window in a gable wall, rest in an A-frame roof, so for simplicity I just fitted Velux everywhere). The windows in the main rooms (bathroom, kitchen, living room and study) and in the east gable on to the main bedroom are all 3g. My thinking was they were windows you'd likely to be close to so the extra comfort of 3g would mean it would be feasible to have the whole room fractionally cooler thereby saving heat loss through the whole of the fabric. A simple calculation of the extra heat loss from these windows vs the cost of PV to replace the heat came out to pretty much even. It was the comfort and general expectation people have that “eco” houses should have 3g which pushed me over the line. For the south roof windows in the two bedrooms I needed top hung for means of escape. The incremental cost of 3g for these was too much for the above argument to bear, particularly as those rooms are likely to be kept slightly cooler and you don't tend to spend much time near the windows with the blinds open anyway, so they're 2g.

“Warmcel” (one el). Might help with web searches a bit.

So why not just buy Ryobi or Parkside or … ?

I don't get it, why risk expensive Makita batteries on crap tools?

I seems to me that regarding LED power supplies the word “transformer” is (ab)used to mean something with a constant (¹) voltage output whereas “driver” is used to mean something with a constant current output. (¹) albeit perhaps very ripply voltage, but anyway, not functionally current limited.

It also says for DC power circuits: So, as I said for brown and blue but with grey for negative if it's not earthed. Personally, I think I'd just use ordinary 2-core 1mm² lighting cable, brown for positive, blue for negative. If the “transformer” says the output is unearthed (or it doesn't take an earth on the input side) then it would be slightly better to sleeve the blue in grey. I haven't looked, can you even get 2-core solid cable these days? I assume you can get flex for plastic pendant lights.

Is red and black actually “correct” to use? Not that it really matters and nobody is going to be bothered for an application like this but my understanding is that by the regulations the normal brown and blue colour codes apply: blue for the earth-referenced voltage (often, but not necessarily, negative) and brown for the other one. I'm moderately but not completely sure that just using ordinary lighting cable wouldn't be “wrong”.

Yes, 3) is more a matter of intent than specific amount of time. If they're just going to live in it long enough for CIL/CGT/whatever purposes then is it really a self-build? It doesn't need to be a “forever” home to count, of course, but some notion that it's to be the home for a while matters. Self-build of a holiday home would also count, I think. That sort of thing's more common in Scandinavia but still…

Interesting but would need careful thought about the routing of the extract pipes or the positioning of the recirculation outlet.

Also electricity prices (at least at peak times) have to go up.

PM with solicitor recommendation sent. I'm not sure about the idea of buying without PPIP (planning permission in principle, also called outline planning permission); you want to be pretty confident that you can build on the land before you buy it and getting that confidence is going to cost one way or another. PPIP is the most straightforward way. The other approach is to apply for some sort of permission before you buy which means some sort of deal to stop the seller using your permission to sell at a higher price to somebody else.

200mm? Is this the Powerwall (or Powerwall II) or something new? Say it, very optimistically, saved you 13 kWh/day for 10 years at 15p/kWh then I make that a saving of £7117.50 (ignoring leap days). Hardly a stunning ROI.

Me too. Quarter-Irish Englishman with a Welsh surname building in Scotland as a hoped-for refuge from the decades-long slide of England into narrow-minded nuttiness.

Bit late then, be much more useful to know before you buy it. But, yes, scrape with a knife or cut and look at the end (though that'd be quite small for network cable). Here's John Ward on the subject of CCA mains wiring: https://youtu.be/q_2qGZeXEd4?t=911

Yes, but it doesn't necessarily need to be in the house.

Does an internal stack need to go through the roof? Maybe an AAV [¹] at the top of the stack inside (e.g., in the loft) and, if needed, a separate outside vent. [¹] Air admittance valve, not automatic air vent.

It's hard to tell but it seems to me like that might increase the condensation risk in the loft considerably. Personally, I wouldn't mix the insulation layers like this; either have all the insulation immediately on top of the ceiling (cold loft) with good ventilation of the loft to the outside or all at rafter level (warm loft, warm or cold roof) with the airtightness layer there as well. With this mixed insulation it's almost impossible to get the ventilation of the loft space right to avoid condensation. If the current level of airtightness seems to be working it'd probably be better not to mess with it without rethinking the insulation as well.