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Maybe it's because I'm a bit colour blind (red/green) or maybe it's my screen, but all the options look very similar to me. So unless the differences are much much more obvious to you in person, how noticeable will the differences be to someone walking down the street looking at your property after it's weathered in? I'd guess not many, in which case, maybe don't worry about it and focus on other bigger differences. Having said that, outside the scope of the choices shown: This is what my 2006 flat has and they look awful. How anyone ever thought it was a good idea I don't know. So outside the options presented I above I agree that different colours on frames may not date well. Near black/anthricite has been popular more recently and I'm not so sure that will date in quite the same way but general point I agree with.

Yeh, it seems way too late to be considering changes like that. The amount of extra cost and time that making that sort of change adds (especially if there are other similar changes) will really add up and get your project way off track. That sort of change will likely require new drawings, other calculation changes. Does the extra weight mean bigger foundations, etc? Aside from the impact of making changes at this stage, DIY installation of B&B is an awful lot more (heavy) work than whatever radon membrane work you are thinking of. I'd assume you'd get a concrete crew in to pour the slab. If not then maybe it balances out but I very much doubt it would once you factor in the cost of changing drawings/delay/etc and installing the beams is not a one man job.

75mm of beads will make a huge difference on their own. Do that and plug up any big air leaks and then see where you are.

As the number of bins we need goes up the amount of space available to store them becomes a problem. While you both have the room and are concientious plenty of others either can't be arsed or space is an issue and that leads to bins being left in the street. I'd also guess that plenty of 'disgusted of Tunbridge Wells' type complaints about how unsightly bins are even if they aren't cluttering up the pavement. One of those rules that matters greatly to a small plot in a city but seems a bit overkill on a large plot.

You assume a joined up process. You assume wrongly. Plenty of things get through planning only to find they couldn't move forward because BC require something beyond what is reasonable to achieve on-site within the available money. Edit to add: I looked at a plot for sale with planning a while ago. Positioned on a flood plain, requiring a build over agreement over the flood drainage infrastructure. Planning had conditions attached that basically said, 'you can build this if you can get agreement to do x y z'. Maybe it's possible to get that but it sure looked like an uphill struggle to me.

Financialisation as well. ie, companies (and the government) focusing on maximizing the next set of financial returns rather than long term plans. Been reading a lot of criticism of this recently focussed on our large financial sector dominating the discussions that leads to cutting longer term investments for the short term returns. It's obviously something that happens everywhere but is a particular issue here. If companies aren't doing well then they have a difficult situation but this financial focus means that there isn't the focus of getting out of the hole, just making the best of the current situation. In terms of government we seem to have had repeated attempts to set up long term planning, investment in capabilities (that will only pay off with continued investment/projects) only for those future projects to be cancelled and all the investment ploughed into the capacity being wasted (with other countries going to hire the engineers we expensively trained).

Feels like every time I look the prices are lower and the offerings better. Though I read recently that the Chinese government is stepping in to control the market in China in an effort to stop companies competeing each other into the ground. Same as they did for solar. So thats likely to mean prices stabilise where they are/go up a bit barring significant breakthroughs with batteries (sodium-ion maybe?)

Going off vague memories here so worth double checking: I think the main advantage in your situation to a low voltage system is that mains voltage strips can seem flickery to some as they don't smooth the mains 50Hz cycles. This can be worse with dimming. That said, low voltage systems have varying dimming quality too so picking the right driver affects this (don't rely on mains dimming for low voltage, no choice but to use mains dimming with mains voltage system). If you wanted colour tunable strips I don't think these are available in mains voltage so thats another reason to consider low voltage. Mains voltage is likely quicker and cheaper to install (assuming you are paying an electrician) though you may end up paying for a more premium packaged and warrantied system that offsets/overrides that. (I would guess that you are stuck with that either way if you are asking the electrician to supply and install). If you were DIY installing or wanted to be able to replace in future then obviously low voltage has an advantage there but doesn't apply.

They are very competitive. Not sure how many installers use them though so you might have to hunt a bit if relying on someone else to install. First step, is look again at the heat loss. Is this building either very big or almost uninsulated? 10kw is very high, but equally this forum is littered with threads from people coming here with specs from an installer of similar and after some proper heat loss calcs they walk away with requirements much much lower. If the heat loss calc is right, rather than spending money on batteries and solar, put it into improving the building.

No. With a 48V battery you need really thick cables for even a short run as you are looking at ~100A current, it'll get very expensive and inefficient to run long lengths of cable. The batteries should be within a metre or two of the inverter. If you want a long run between the solar inverter and battery, maybe best to look at AC coupled batteries (either that come with their own inverter or install a seperate one for them) or look at the high voltage battery options (though even then I'm not sure how keen you'd find installers to go down that route as it won't be a standard option).

"That's easy sir, you book an appointment with one of our engineers who will do it for you!"

Really set yourself up for success there! Curious why you even went down this route when you are already plasterboarding some walls?

You never know if you don't try!

Congrats! I read your blog a while back then lost track, good to see you moving forward!

Does your plot currently have planning? If not, I could imagine the architect having concerns about whether planning is feasible for the plot and asking a specialist about it before taking you on.

More thinking of biological gunk blocking it than corrosion.

Good luck with that! I didn't think plate heat exchangers would last long when exposed to pool type water.

Getting a bit off-topic but what are you using as the heat exchanger between the tub water and the ASHP? Not great, not terrible. Is that with the ASHP plugged into the controls or just the controls?

Looking at your earlier photos, looks like you have a couple of electronic valves down there. Normally make a whirring noise when operated (usually at start/end of a cycle). Given the grinding noise I'm not confident to tell you to try again to try and identify the source of the noise (hopefully others can advise whether it's making things worse to try). But assuming the grinding is coming from a valve then either the engineer removed the head to work on / check the system and didn't refit properly (could be a quick fix) or the valve has failed (strange timing for that given everything else). They can be operated manually which might be enough to get you up an running but wait for someone else with more experience to confirm what to do. My other thought is that if its the CH valve, then its entirely possible that this issue only affects the CH mode and the DHW mode will work. Again wait for others to speak up.

Whats the pressure reading below the red tank?

Understandable with many things but not CIL. If CIL is applicable then it's applicable and as a self builder you need to take action before construction starts to get your exemption. This forum unfortunately has multiple cases of people not taking action early enough and getting caught with huge bills. Confirm with the council before you start anything, getting this wrong could be the biggest unplanned cost in your project.

From the horses mouth: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-breaking-auction-for-offshore-wind-secured-to-take-back-control-of-britains-energy It's more like £140 (gas) and £91 (new commitment) according to their figures. Surprised me as both seem very high compared to the numbers that I'm used to thinking about. Later in the doc they say the prices are often stated adjusted to 2012 prices and in that regard the wind is £65 which sounds much more in line with what I was thinking.

Also, assuming you have an 8kw ASHP, it's unlikely to draw any more than 3kw outside some unusual scenarios (assuming a well designed system). Normal operation should be much less than that. Electricity in should be less than 1/4 heat out (COP 4+) except during hot water cycle. So it's easier to generate what you need on the relevant phase. Assuming you have 3phase solar then the ASHP will be on one of the phases.

I thought the air sealing externally was for hot climates where you ran AC inside and want to stop the moisture getting in. With our climate we generally want to seal from the inside out. Still might be useful concepts here though. Edit: Matt is based in Texas

AFAIK Accoya is thermally modified Pine. So not a hardwood, but the modification process means it should be very resistant to the elements and should outlast almost all wood species.