jack

Welcome back!

Welcome back!

Has anyone let the Sunamp guys know about the new forum?

That's my recollection too!

Ours is the same (layout that is) as yours Jeremy - left hand side and 2/3s or 3/4s of the rear. I'm just really surprised that the same manufacturer has such different suggested spacings, especially given that ours is only 5kW and seems to be the same size and layout as all single-fan monoblocs in the Aquarea range.

Are you sure it's 100mm at the rear? We have the smallest ASHP that Panasonic makes (5kW) and I'm pretty sure the minimum recommended clearance was 300mm.

Welcome aboard!

Great to see you here!

Yep! Great info - thanks for sharing.

Welcome! What you're doing is still considered a self-build by most definitions (including mine, since I only did about 5% of the actual work on our build). Don't underestimate the amount of input you'll end up having, even going the main contractor route.

When I say I'd read a bit, what I really meant is that I spent several hours reading and watching youtube videos! I found the whole concept extremely interesting, mainly because I hate lawnmowers. The one video that sticks in my mind was a competition between a British and Austrian scythe at, I think, a country fair. The Austrian version won easily, although I don't know how well tuned the British one was.

I do quite a bit with telecommunications standards at work, and there's the same clear distinction between "shall" and "should". I think you're probably right that they can't insist, and we're expecting the same conversation with our inspector in the near future. He's been very reasonable to date though, so I'm not expecting too big an argument. I do like ProDave's argument, but I'm too much of a cheapskate to even do that at the moment!

At least some Soudal foams give you the specific insulation value. This is one of the products that does so: http://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-genius-insulation-foam-hand-held-750ml/25943 There may be others.

Welcome Jonathan, great to have an international contingent!

Interesting. I read a lot about these about a year ago when we were thinking about how best to maintain the meadow section we're planning for our garden. I'll be interested to see how good a cut you get on regular grass - I'd happily spend more time doing it this way than pushing around a lawnmower.

Welcome back. Exciting times!

Our experience has been good too. The guy we had was remarkably hands-off, but provided input when asked. I was really surprised when he said he didn't want to see us after the frame went up until completion - I think he was really happy with the way we'd been doing things.

Welcome aboard!

Hi James We're just up the road from you over the Surrey border. We knocked down a bungalow at the end of 2014 and are nearly finished its replacement. Feel free to contact me offline in due course if you want recommendations for local trades and suppliers And welcome to the site!

Great to see you Calvin! Hope all's well

Welcome back, great to see you!

Welcome (or "Welcome back", as I keep wanting to say!)

One of my major regrets is not putting underfloor heating in our bathrooms, despite having specially recessed the floor to ensure there was space to do so. Our tiled bathroom floors DO feel cold in winter, despite the rest of the house being at a comfortable temperature. I'm kicking myself for not taking the opportunity to put down at least electric matting if not wet UFH. I also have had a different experience with heating compared to a lot of people with MBC houses. I suspect it's largely about solar gain, but even with the recent warm weather, our house has never been particularly warm. I'm not saying it's ever uncomfortable - far from it - but I get the feeling our heating system was switched off a lot later this year than, say, Jeremy's (at least partly due to his house's microclimate).

The only reason I chose that name was because I was in a rush when I signed up to ebuild. The security question was something like "who is the prime minister", and the answer "notnickclegg" jumped to mind. I've cursed it ever since, so this was a good opportunity to change it I'll also change my photo in due course. It's a character from a fantastic sitcom called "Arrested Development", which I was binge watching at the time I signed up. The character is Tobias Funcke: http://arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Tobias_F%C3%BCnke I'll change the photo so something a bit less crap once people are used to me as Jack instead of notnickclegg - there's enough change going on without adding further to the confusion!

Assuming you literally mean "powered by solar energy" rather than "light-triggered", I think you'll struggle to get sufficient power during a lot of winter. We have an 8.5kW array and there are long periods in winter where we get zero output while it's still technically "day". Perhaps if you have a big enough battery to get you through the dead spots you'd be ok, but given the lack of insolation during winter I'd definitely prefer to have a permanent power supply.