G and J

We’re fortunate in that we’ve got planning permission for all we asked for, though we can’t start till end of August due to a planning condition. There’s the small matter of wanting to sell our current house first, to fund said build. 😕 It’s a narrow plot so we want minimum wall thickness so we’re told that means stick built, and overhead wires across the front of the site pretty much preclude kit builds/sips/icf/etc. (anything that needs lifting kit or boom concrete pouring or the like won’t be possible). Good point re saving cost re the sourcing, I guess that was sort of in the back of our minds without articulating the thought. And our constant presence on site (a bit like Mr LSB I guess) will hopefully drive the quality. We can’t massively up the wall insulation but we can work hard on being airtight. I'm comfortable plumbing (well, vented at least, I’ll continue my research re vented vs unvented), I’m happy with electrics, carpentry, general labouring, etc. Our next stage is a relaxed planning phase with the architect, and from the output of that we can start getting quotes. Can’t wait!

Thank you all. My natural way would be to do as much as I could (except plastering which I agree, is a black art), but I fear that would extend timescales unreasonably. By then we will be in rented accommodation, so extra time has a cost. We built our current house 33 years ago and we were incredibly lucky with the guys we worked with. We did the electrics, plumbing, some of the roofing, fitted the floors, the decorating, the rainwear, and generally kept the site tidy and supplied. That was a rendered, block built house, this time it’s going to be stick built part rendered but mostly larch clad, and they were different days back then. Then, unglazed windows were built in to the block work all lovely and tight, now it seems everyone just leaves holes for windows to be slotted in later and the inevitable gaps are filled with foam. Plumbing was all vented and very simple. So many things to think about, all at once!

I will read up, ta for the nod. As for doing only what I’m comfortable doing that’s the thing, I’m dumb enough to think I can do most of it. If I’m not careful I’ll end up extending the timescales and/or effectively working for thrupence an hour.

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it. Steven Wright So, I’m looking to benefit from other peoples’ hindsight. We will be building a stick frame, two storey house, slate pitched roof with solar pv, MVHR, ASHP, UFH, clad in untreated larch and some render. We will be doing what we can and is sensible ourselves to get it within a budget we are happy to live with. But what is sensible? We don’t want to take forever but we don’t want to overspend either and perhaps most importantly, we want it built well. Looking back, what is there you think you should have done yourself and didn’t, or that you did do yourself and wish you hadn’t?

So if my DNO allowed only 4kW and thus I had a 3.6kW inverter I could still have 5kW of panels?

Is that to save money on inverter sizing/purchase cost and thus accepting some lost Solar power on the sunniest of days?

And that I think is my base case against which other scenarios are compared.

May I ask what the electricity unit rate you are using in that calculation ? (And PS I’m sorry if I’ve given you a headache lol) At 6 years payback I’d be tempted. Also, am I correct in thinking that one has to have an MCS approved installer to get a FIT?

Hmmmm, interesting notion, the heat store, will ponder, but suspect that finding space for a sensible sized store and the extra plumbing complexity may make it less attractive. I've just looked up the Octopus Cosy tariff and a heretical idea has popped into my head. Suppose I arrange things so our system does all its heating and DHW, washing machine and dishwasher usage, etc. within the low periods. Does that mean my payback for solar pv becomes 30 years or so? Not having solar will mean I miss out in free hot water but if that’s in reality the only thing on that side of the balance sheet then is the investment justifiable?

The area of our south facing roof limits us to circa 5kW of panels, and as we are both retired we are often around during the day, so maybe batteries won’t be on my list. But another research topic now added to my ever expanding list - TOU tariffs.

Interesting. I’ll re read that a few times and try and get my head round it. Our current thinking is that batteries have a payback period of circa 10 years, just based on some fairly broad brush calcs. At that payback we will wait until after we know exactly how much our build will cost overall before finally decide to add batteries or not. I appreciate that it’s a ‘how long is a bit of string’ question, but what sort of payback period do you feel you are looking at for your batteries?

Are ASHPs ok if they are turned off for a few months? I like the notion that the ASHP isn’t running when I’m quietly snoring in my hammock a few yards from it, plus I wear out a cheap immersion element rather than expensive fans.

I’m just starting to get my head round how the Solar PV systems can work. Am I correct in thinking that in this instance if the batteries are full and there is excess solar power compared to ambient demand, then the Eddi will dump the spare power to, say, an immersion heater rather than just dump it back to the grid?

Play nicely you two or you’ll be sent to your room. 😉

Thank you. We will definitely be using these.

A legend in what sense (he asks with some trepidation!)?

It’s great that you installed two of em. but do either of them work and continue to work? (Goodness I can be sooooo pedantic sometimes lol) In truth I’m trying to avoid giving myself a maintenance headache.

Without the layout it’s kinda difficult to contemplate - May we have a diagram?

Crumbs. So far so good. Maybe I should believe the marketing.

Hi all. Slowly working through my humongous list of don’t knows in advance of starting detail design. One thing that’s troubling my cynical mind is the use of things like: https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/geberit-1120mm-duofix-frame-delta-concealed-cistern-and-delta20-flush-plate-round-buttons-2255-1274020?utm_source=organic&utm_medium=shoppingfeed&utm_campaign=googlebase&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_9vTy4CVhgMVI4hQBh0-lg1BEAQYDCABEgI9CfD_BwE I have searched for goods and bads and haven’t really come up with much. I’ve watched the vids which claim to demonstrate that all necessary maintenance can be done through the hole covered by the chrome plate that surrounds the buttons. We’re having wall mounted potties mounted onto studwork. Anyone had good/bad experiences with these that are happy to share I’d be grateful.

Our plot is about half the width of yours and we have in our planning consent a gym/workshop of about 21m2 internal at the bottom of the garden. We too will be building close to each side boundary. We did briefly consider building the workshop first then trying to live in it but felt that it would be untenable living next to a building site that blocks access to the street and thus will be difficult to safely get through. It might be easier than it first appears - any relevant experiences that might help understanding of the feasibility of living on a tight site?

Guess who didn’t realise he had to follow the topic to get alerted to replies! D’oh!

Sorry for the delayed response. New build. Attached garage out front and that’s where the MVHR unit will live. I’m thinking big rigid ducts to centre of house and smaller ducts radiating from there.

How did the overall cost compare with the quotes you may have got from design/supply/commission type companies? I’ve sent in our plans and had a couple of quotes and the intensity of marketing tells me there’s likely to be a nice profit margin built in to their process. However when I do some ball park ‘buy the bits myself’ calcs the answer is reasonably similar and that’s without a professional design.

OK, I now accept that there really is no such thing as a free lunch. I can’t find sound data on the Activair unit, which should in itself tell me all I need to know. A totalhome 300litre water tank with integral 0.43kw ASHP (HPW300) generates a sound level of 55dBA at 3m and has 160mm ducts and half the power of the Activair unit. A Samsung 5kw monoblock ASHP generates 45dBA at 1m, less than an eighth of the sound at a third the distance. Back to plan A methinks. (I’d be grateful if I’m wrong and someone corrects me, mind). But it’s good to explore options…. 😕