canalsiderenovation

@joe90 I have bath envy. We love the high slipper design roll top baths, does the rear of your bath go higher? @JamieL good suggestion to move the side wall in so it lines up with the front of the pillar if we have an additional support or in, I need to do some rejigging but I'm really struggling with visualising something. Our architects seem to want to put us off making the balcony smaller and we have been back and to a few times on this. This draft has gone in for pre planning and it's now overdue and still not heard anything, but we need to sort out this balcony issue to give us the space we want.

Great idea!

One thing from staying a lot in hotels, a must is plug sockets/usb next to the bed. The amount of times there isn't one or you find one and they have hard wired a lamp into it! Some kind of floor lighting or similar so you can get to the ensuite without the light waking up your other half.

Can anyone inspire me with our proposed layout for the dressing room, bedroom and ensuite? The bedroom itself can be quite compact as we only want a bed and bedside cabinets. As we both work odd hours we don't want to disturb one another with getting ready/hairdryer noise etc so we want the dressing room and ensuite closed off from the bedroom and space for wardrobes (possibly opposite the ensuite door). In the ensuite we would like a freestanding roll top bath, we will have another main bathroom and another bedroom with ensuite downstairs so a shower isn't a necessity for the ensuite but the current 2075 X 2055 doesn't seem big enough now having marked it out and looked at bath sizes! We were going to use a pocket door for the ensuite to save space. The covered balcony is bigger than what we would like as it mirrors the extension downstairs but unless we put in supports which will divide the bedroom space up we are a bit stuck. It will have skylights into the balcony.

Yes, I'd read it didn't need pp under permitted developmemt but as you say we could include it anyway. Ah perhaps that's why we have been told to get an EPC done based on the plans rather than close to the work being done ? as the EPC will obviously be a lot worse without the triple glazed windows, insulation etc... Good advice to get RHI quotes and non RHI quotes for comparison. I will of course post any quotes here for advice.

The idea of the water source heat pump is just not viable unfortunately, issues from the Canal and River Trust and civil engineer expense, it just isn't cost effective for us, even with the RHI payments the savings aren't enough compared with ASHP, so it's looking like an ASHP as our only other option, disregarding staying on oil. We are in the early stages but by all accounts we will be looking at using a company so we can claim the RHI payments as initial discussions we have had seem to suggest this is worthwhile. I've chatted to a few companies and individuals and the suggestion seems to be to get an new EPC done based on our plans, before any work commences, even though we will be replacing windows/doors, rewiring, replastering, putting a second story on etc that way any RHI payments can be calculated based on the revised EPC so we have a clear idea of payments etc. Couple of questions: 1. We have a utility door and a front door on our plans, both the same side which we would class as the back of the house, the front of the house being in front of the canal/garden. We don't want it visible on the front of the house, but if it was just on the floor/wall outside the utility door it would be around 5 metres from the front door. Logically this makes sense as the tanks etc would also be in the utility. Would this be to close or noisy? Most posts on here suggest people have put it on garages but our garage is the other end of the drive so not an option. Feel free to post some pics of examples... 2. I can't remember the exact details but there was mention of a metering and monitoring system payment around £200 over 7 years, but I think this was only with Mitsubishi system. Does anyone have any knowledge of this? Are Mitsubishi systems good compared to others? 3. I've read some posts of planning permission for ASHP but this only appears relevant to Scotland. From what I can see we wouldn't need PP. Are there any situations we would need PP? Thanks.

It's not a cottage, it's a 1970s bunglaow on a half acre plot and as planning is for an extension above and out so the roof will be coming off and the whole thing needs rewiring, replastering, new windows, doors etc, etc, it's not a solid 2 brick, nor an old canal cottage, it's a rather strange mid 1970s bungalow and has cavity wall insulation already, but yes of course everything will need building regs. We can't get gas over a canal bridge, if we had gas I wouldn't be looking at any of this at all, but we don't. We have oil. ASHP is our backup option. Either way we'd be paying someone to do it so it's always going to cost more than people who have installed it themselves, when the equipment they have quoted is just over £10k, its not going to be any less. That said we will be getting more quotes and doing some ongoing research into both and now have two people who have the blade technology installed that I can visit.

There is a separate discussion ongoing with the CRT about us creating a side inlet/pond for the blade, which is why we are doing this initial research. We did look at pond mats like Kensa but these wouldn't really be suitable due to the potential flowing water and the space they would need, where as if we can create a side pond/inlet the space is quite compact and ideal for a blade. I did price up everything they had quoted for using the cheapest prices I could find and it came to £11,152.71 so there could be definately be room to negotiate. Its certainly never going to cost sub £1000 for us. If the RHI payments more than cover the cost we'd be silly not to have it, but in my mind we still shouldn't pay over the odds as this is money we have to pay for up front to go to other things.

Thanks for the comments so far. A lot are in relation to ASHP and GSHP, this is a water source heat pump so I guess trying to find anyone who has had this may be limited. I'm just reviewing dates of the quote and what this includes and details. The system output is 11.50kw and details of quotation are as follows: 1 x Nuenta Energy Blade Vaillant FlexoTherm 11kw Vaillant 250L Hot Water Cylinder Vaillant 250L Buffer Tank The quote is £21525 but obviously we'd get RHI. This doesn't include controls, pipework, underfloor heating etc.....

I'll ask about antifreeze change costs with the blades. There isn't a great deal of information around on heat pumps. @PeterW do you have a solar pv or solar thermal system too or is your heat pump sufficient for both?

I'll do more research into this and we are due to visit the homeowner of a property who has a water source heat pump and Nuenta energy blades installed so it would be useful to know exactly what cop they are getting. I believe ASHP are the worse, I've read 2 - around 2.5, and GSHP 2.8 upwards. Water souce generally seems more favourable but I think a CoP of 3 is probably more realistic to be honest.

We've only been here since April and actually have only just put 500litres in as the tank had just under half when we moved in and we used very little due to the hot summer so we're just having electric showers and occasional immerian heater as there are only the two of us. I think I've worked it out now as I didn't account for the Cop, so if it was say we needed 10000kwh of heat we would only actually pay for around a quarter of the electricity, say 2500kwh.... I think this is correct based on a cop of 4, which we should get with a water source heat pump. Obviously hot water on top of this.....

The RHI is more. This is the second quote now, the first one was a little more, but different pump.

Yes the quote is around £21k but then we need underfloor heating, a civil engineer to dig the inlet for the blades if CRT approve.

OK, so I've been getting quotes for a water souce heat pump with the Nuenta energy blades mentioned in a previous thread based on our plans and curremt EPC, though ongoing discussions are taking place with CRT still. One thing I'm confused about in the huge amount of emails is this statement below: Total estimated annual heating & hot water consumption: 21,989kWh Eligible Usage (energy taken from sustainable sources): 21,989kWh x (1 - 1/4.73) = 17,340kWh Total annual RHI payments = 17,340kWh x 20.46p/kWh = £3,548 a year for 7 years Ignoring the RHI payments our estimated heating and hot water consumption is over 20,000 units..... So generally comparing electricity prices if I was getting an idea of how much we'd be paying on 21000 units a year works out around £3k based on currently electric prices. Is this right? I mean it's a two bed bungalow at the moment 100m2 and will be just over double and we only use £20 a month electric (electric showers, sometimes immersion but heating is oil).... It seems a huge jump

@evelar glad it's not just me! We are next to the canal, lovely sunny days it's great but it can get very damp, misty etc in autumn/winter and having read a few posts I'd be worried about aluclad timber, longevity and maintenance. I think our options are going to be aluclad pvc or aluminium for the windows and aluminium for the doors (not aluclad pvc as we had pvc bifolds in our last property and didn't rate them). Your post about the problems you've had with aluminium worry me slightly, though I hope the technology has advanced now! Its so confusing!!

If you want to message me directly then please do.

I love the idea of a frameless balcony. Would you mind sharing details please. Much appreciated.

Love your balcony. We are having one too, but it is very large and I'd be scared to use it if it was glass, I don't even like bridges that have gaps in the bottom I can see through when walking over! Are you having anything else on the glass on the balcony, e.g rail etc ie just glass? Would be great to see a picture as you progress. Thanks!

Random question but the 'poles' what are they made of? We currently have naff brick pillars and I hate them but this part will be retained and I'm looking for ways of trying to make it look nicer....

I saw a kitchen I liked that colour. It's lovely.

Thank you everyone and especially for the pictures great to see some amazing designs. We have a unique house name based on the bridges our house is next to and we designed a very rough sketch based on the house name which will be etched into the wooden doors in a bridge style design, hard to explain. It will be a double door, no glazing and we have approached a couple of local carpenters and have a rough estimate of around £1750 for the double door (will meet building regs) and we will supply handle and locks. It will at least reflect the area and will be a bit unique. Thats one worry, now just to decide on windows.

I'll do some more research into aluclad. What about just aluminium? Aside from insulating any other pros and cons?

Yes same here. I'm worried aluclad timber won't be suitable for us in terms of maintenance and the closeness to the water. What I'm unclear on is how aluclad pvc, or even aluclad timber for example compares to aluminium. What are the particular benefits of aluclad over aluminium?

Oh you did, I've requested samples from them online.