jack

Exactly. The Loxone DMX extension is just a standard DMX controller. You can use it to control anything, including lights and DMX relay boards (much cheaper than Loxone extensions if you need to increase the number of output relays).

Sorry, I meant "native" as in "designed to work natively with". You do need the DMX extension of course. I don't recall the details, but I believe the KNX functionality in Loxone isn't the full deal. Something to do with licensing of the KNX software, but again I don't remember the details.

True, although try using the wrong type of screws near the edge and you'll find it splitting all over the place.

They hadn't released this before I installed my kit, but I believe it's what Loxone calls their bus-based control system. It allows less wiring, as you just loop from point to point. Personally I'd stay away from it, as it's completely proprietary. It ties you into using Loxone devices. If you eventually decide to (or need to) move away from Loxone, you'll need to replace all Tree-based devices and will be limited to using bus-type home automation systems (KNX uses a bus format, I think). I haven't used any of Loxone's lights. I just used DMX control (which is native to Loxone) and DMX mains dimmers. This is something I'd reconsider if I were doing it again - mains dimmers just don't give the quality of control that proper LED drivers offer.

We have a mixture of Fermacell and plasterboard. You can skim over it like plasterboard, which we did for a consistent finish. Yup. Compared to plasterboard, it's extremely heavy (45kg for a standard 12.5mm board) and expensive. You need to use special screws, which are several times the price of plasterboard screws (the guys who put ours up skimped on this and had a really hard time). Subjectively it's probably twice the physical effort to install - unless you're using the small one-person boards, there's no way a single person is going to be installing standard sheets by themselves, they're just too heavy. When it's up, it gives a much more solid feel to walls than a single sheet of plasterboard. You can hang heavy stuff without drilling into studwork, although I still prefer to drill into the wood behind if I can. You may also struggle to find people willing to install it. Most plasterers either haven't used it or hate it with a passion. You might find commercial guys who have experience with it, but they'll be expensive. In the end, we used Fermacell in places where we knew we'd be hanging things - kitchen, plant room, garage. Everywhere else, we doubled up on standard plasterboard to give extra weight to the walls more cheaply. I can't really tell the difference just by knocking on the walls. There are other boards that are somewhere between Fermacell and plasterboard in terms of density and strength. For example, I believe habito and duraline are heavier and somewhat more impact resistant than standard plasterboard. I don't know to what extent though, and I'm sure there are other products.

I believe so, but it's worth asking on the Loxone Google group: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/loxone-english Very helpful bunch of people.

Very effective these are if you have toilets prone to blockage. We had one of them in the old house we knocked down, and after demolition it ended up on a pile of stuff to be skipped. During a break, I came out with load of cups of tea to find the builders sitting near the pile, with one of them idly playing with the plunger (including holding it at the "operative" end - and it had certainly never been properly cleaned before disposal). "Do you know what that is?", I asked. He stopped, looked at it, and about 5 seconds later said "It's a toilet plunger, isn't it". Oh how we laughed.

We have three cantilevered sections. One is only about 600mm from memory, and isn't much of a thermal bridge because it didn't need steels. The other two, however, are over a metre each, which required the use of steels. They also support a balcony, and so couldn't be within the thermal envelope. As a result, we have cold bridges at these points. Unfortunately, I didn't pick this up until it was too late. To try and mitigate this, the external steels are wrapped in aerogel blanket (supplied by the timber frame manufacturer) and I'll be further insulating with some left-over rigid insulation before enclosing these areas in the coming weeks. There are ways of thermally breaking such steels if they're required. One I saw used GRP spacers positioned within the wall, between the internal and external steel work. No idea of cost though.

Can't help you with specifics, but if it's on the deed, then clearly it hasn't been there forever! What did they say when you showed them the deed?

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Especially when you were aiming for the moon.

We have that general arrangement and it's fine. The only minor issue is that it's a long way to the loo in the middle of the night, but that's not the end of the world.

Yup, agreed, but I've definitely read at least once on BH that supply vents should be high up.

My floor-level vents are in the bedrooms, so they're outlets/supply. I've heard it suggested that a higher supply position helps ensure that the fresh air being introduced diffuses better, but I'm really not that fussed. I don't notice any difference in air quality in these rooms compared to others with ceiling-mounted outlets.

Wow, didn't see that coming! I had plans to order some glass from them in a few weeks once the weather improves enough for me to finish the fiberglassing on our balconies. No idea how liquidation works, but is there a potential opportunity to buy fixtures and fittings cheaply from the liquidator? Naturally not bespoke stuff like glass panels, but all the mounting bits and pieces.

We have floor outlets in the bedrooms for our MVHR system. They seem to work fine

Oddly enough, I was reading about this again just the other day. They apparently degas the lake somehow to avoid this problem arising again. There's at least one similar lake somewhere in Africa.

In a house, CO is the real danger molecule, partly because it doesn't cause a fall in pH (and hence your body doesn't recognise that oxygen is being squeezed out) and more importantly because red blood cells strongly bind CO and tend not to release it. I believe the latter element is why even apparently low relative levels of CO can be a problem if you're exposed to them long enough.

So crack on then. Let us know what you come up with. One factor to consider is that solar thermal is eligible for the RHI.

You can also run UV sterilisation.

This is such an exciting part of the build process. I hope it goes well for you. I think it'll be really satisfying assembling all those blocks - it's like the biggest Lego/Ikea project ever! I hope you'll be disinfecting the water before using it in this application.

You're welcome.

You know they're doing this, right?

You replied to a comment about it becoming cheaper to recycle lithium by saying: That is, you are way off point. Feel free to have the last word - I'm out.

Yes, the way we consume things is unsustainable, but the rest of your post is completely off point.