Bitpipe

No, some sort of klaxon and flashing light arrangement is called for...

The hot water won't make it to the tap unless it's running, it will be available at the junction/ manifold in the return loop that the tap supply connects to, so there will always be a small dead leg to draw off.

Poring over your build blog now to see if I can spot it Does your better half know where it is and how to access it?

I can only speak from experience. I agreed a loan of £400k. When the basement was nearing completion and the savings were running out, I emailed them and they put £200k in my build bank account (not via solicitor). No-one came to visit, no documents sent, no conversation at all in fact. I then drew down the remaining balance in two £100k instalments as I needed them, again with just a short email saying 'send me the money'.

The only potentially serious injury I had during the build was tree related. The site container was being delivered and there was a 20ft long walnut tree branch fouling the space. Was only 3-4 inches thick where it met the trunk and was about head height, more or less horizontal. Quick job with the electric chainsaw I thought and hopped up some steps to cut it. Saw went through it like butter, however rather than falling gracefully to the ground as I expected, when free from the tree it rotated and the freshly cut end smacked the chainsaw which smacked me in the face. Luckily it was not running but I got a nasty gash on my lip and some bruising. I slapped a big plaster on just in time for the HIAB driver to arrive with the container, bleeding freely under it. Once container was off loaded I headed to our local minor injuries unit to get patched up. Quite a sobering episode - now when I cut anything, I only go 3/4 of the way through and let gravity do the rest, using the remaining attachment as a hinge. Also prefer to use a Stihl hand tree saw vs anything powered as you have much more control.

+1 for Ecology. We had to use them at short notice when our original lender refused to support our demo & rebuild plan. Really lovely to deal with. By way of example, we found our own surveyor and they refunded the difference in cost directly to us. Some observations (from 2015/16 may have changed) : The environmental lending criteria is based on your predicted SAP / PHPP performance. However any energy efficient discount does not kick in until you have your final SAP / Passive Haus certificate. So you can plan to hit a certain SAP (and get funds) and if you don't achieve it there is no real consequence apart from loosing the rate discount for the remaining period of the mge. As it was we got SAP A (just) but never bothered with PH certification even though we would have met the criteria - money saved for the remaining year did not justify the cert fees. Ecology don't do staging, you can have all the money in one lump or take what you need as you need it. A simple email was all it took to release funds. If I did it again, I'd have transferred a nominal £5k to start the clock on the repayment - as it was we used savings for the first phase and only started drawing down late in basement construction - we though we were being clever in minimising interest but penny dropped that we had a year on the redemption to run post completion before we could move to a standard retail mge.

We have our hot re-circulation pump on PIR sensors in bathrooms and on the light switches also - same circuit activates the MVHR boost

The slabs on the patio are probably the most expensive possession I have right now.

I always wonder that beyond the blinky box on the wall where the real deterrent is - I've a few local friends who were burgled (period properties, simple Yale on the front door and forgot to engage mortice) some happened daytime and some at night - in all cases the thieves were in their house for less than 90 seconds, grabbed what they could see (laptops, phones, money) and legged it. They were caught and turned out to be the usual junkies with a charge list as long as your arm. Not sure a ringing alarm would have deterred them that much

I visited the house of one of the original e-build era MBC builders in Oxford. He spent a fortune on resilient bars, heavy rubber matting, sound block board - the works. It made some difference but did not eliminate the issue. We have soundblock (blue) pb on basement ceiling and ground floor ceilings, plus on bathroom walls that meet halls etc. Makes some difference I'm sure but you still hear some noise from below. We have wooden floors on first floor so you *really* hear that downstairs.

Exactly - I have it as a default, for insurance and future resale. But I never use it

We have a Texecom alarm with wired motion detectors in the ground floor, basement (room with an external door) and the two bedrooms with balconies. Was specced in as part of the electrical quote. I have genuinely never switched in on in 3 years of it being installed. Really don't see the point tbh. Will it deter a determined burglar? Probably not. Will it deter a casual burglar? Maybe but the gates, window shutters etc would probably have the same effect. If we're out and it goes off, no-one will pay a blind bit of notice. If we're in, I'd hope we'd hear them coming through the fairly robust doors and windows. Also the now teenage kids are likely to go to bed after us so would inevitably set it off once we were asleep!

We looked at the passive Velux but it was expensive and very heavy (5 panes of glass). Chose their Integra range (triple glazed) with mains power for the windows over the hall (8m void) and in utility (3m) - comes with little wireless remote units that can also control their blinds (we have 6 sets of those). Very pleased with them, any window /blind can be controlled by any unit and there are customisable programs etc. That said, we don't have any home automation so can't comment on how you'd integrate them into a broader system.

We have a single tank system that uses pellets, not blocks. Works fine and the bags are cheap enough if you buy bulk from the online suppliers. A 25kg bag will last a few months for us. However it is a faff to fill and the bags are heavy when full so if you can't lug it in place you need to decant to a smaller bucket etc. Block would have been much easier. However, wasn't there a block supply shortage last year? Can't recall what the underlying issue was.

We also have Gaulhofer and are very pleased both with the aesthetic (we have a completely flush slim system), service and performance 3.5 years post install. The flush external blind system they do is excellent also - I know @jack had a lot of grief with his Rational equivalents (mainly installer issues) but ours arrived fully assembled to the frame and just slotted in to the pre-built recess in the frame. Was really unimpressed with Internorm, lazy sales people and high cost. Almost went with Nordan but they were very resource constrained and could not fit, only supply.

They just need to pump the cold air down south with the water - will be like North Sea Oil all over again...

Shoes off at the front door. While common in many other countries, still seen as unusual in UK. We insisted on this once we moved in as outside was still mostly well worn type 1 so it would wreck the resin & wood floors & stairs. Even though we now have resin bound gravel and paving outside, it's now the norm, so much less dirt is tracked into the house. No-one has ever had an issue being asked to do it.

Quick google shows the filter to be £50 as are the valves so that's £150 in parts. Add £50 for the inhibitor & cleaner and you're up to £200. So £400 for labour - all depends how many hours they expect to be on the job... Edit - as ever Jeremy has done a much more thorough job than me

Its. 24v system so no risk to life but guessing a nail / drilled hole in the wall could damage the emitter. Efficiency claims aside, how practical & robust is this kind of solution in a domestic environment?

If the heating element is applied to the walls (painted or skimmed over) what happens if I want to hang a picture or fixture - ie can it survive being penetrated?

I paid £220+VAT back in summer 2016 and £30 to have it updated & re-issued with revised test results later that year. So your prices sound about right.

Neighbour has a ride on - makes short work of his big flat lawn but needs good maintenance and an annual service so you need to factor that in. Be wary of second hand models as their gearboxes etc may be shot and will be expensive to replace. I got an old Lawnflyte self propelled professional mower (honda engine) with an aluminium deck (not steel, that will rust) on ebay and after the first few years of use got it overhauled (few hundred) to refurb gearbox etc. Lived in the greenhouse and in the open over a few winters before we had the garage and still starts fine every spring. Have only ever needed to replace the blade, oil and air filter all for a few quid and it's still running fine 10 years later.

Would work same as a wet system - the emitter (wet pipe or hot wire) delivers heat into the floor substrate and it subsequently radiates that heat into the room. Our suspended floor wet UFH is over 50mm thick - 22mm deck, 12mm ply, 9mm ply, 6mm rubber mat, 4mm resin. Whereas a wet system's power output is controlled via temp of water (assuming spacing of pipe is dictated by the spreader plate design), an electric system will be driven by the rating of the wire and how closely it's spaced together (which is up to you), so arguably you have more control in the design.

Maybe but UFH pipe is quite stiff and unwieldy, especially when coiled and is easily kinked and damaged so may be very tricky to do from underneath in limited space. Thinking laterally - maybe an electrical system would be easier to retrofit?

Don't know how you'd do that with a traditional wet system as the pipe is quite inflexible and you need to have it between the spreader plates and floor deck. Was tricky enough doing it from above before laying the deck. However there may be a system that you could slot between the joists but still likely to be tricky.