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Most new houses will have MHVR anyway. I think it's still strictly optional in current regs but will be mandatory when the next revision comes out If the standard quality windows and doors package for a house is 20k, then getting higher spec windows might add 10k?? If you go for lots of big windows, sliders, etc, you are going to spend a lot more but you are likely buying premium windows anyway and might not need to spend more on top of that premium to meet the passive specs. The newer building regs requirements for documentation of all joints, etc, is not dissimilar to passivhaus requirements so while this premium used to be there I'm not sure it is hugely significant any more and even if Passivhaus is more demanding, the availability of tools (apps, etc) to aid this process likely lowers the cost compared to historical cases. I thought on an average house you'd be looking at less than this. I have in my memory someone saying a passive haus consultant costing about 5k in addition to the architects fees. But not sure the context of that or how current it is. Edit: I think part of my thought process of saying 'PassivHaus costs are not hugely more than standard build for some (more optimal) build profiles' is that the cost of building a 'standard' house has gone up a lot with our Building Regs incorporating a lot of the work that was traditionally only done for PassivHaus designs. (Ventilation, overheating, documentation, higher insulation and air tightness standards, etc).

Might still be worth removing the skirting board. If there is not enough gap it can be made bigger and if too much can be filled with something compliant to reduce movement. It's possible there is a gap at higher layers and not at lower layers or vice versa.

AFAIK yes. If it's easy to try before you go down the pump route you could try that first. If you just want a PIR in the one room don't bother with a shelly, just use the PIR to switch the pump. If you want to feed from a PIR outside the bathroom (as an advanced notice with timing restrictions) then wire it to one of the Shelly's switch inputs. If you want to go wireless with the PIR wired to a transmitter and the shelly receiving it gets more complex and I would guess if you are doing pipe work it's not too much hassle to feed a cable along the route as well.

Not a recommendation but there are lots of fridge/freezer monitors out there. Better to monitor the temperature in the unit vs the power supply. Here is one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GoveeLife-Digital-Thermometer-Control-Wireless/dp/B0F9KWHV4S

Not sure if this was specifically at me or the thread in general. I'm not sure that photo adds anything. In real world use you will never be looking at the shelf from this angle (unless maybe deep cleaning it or you enjoy sitting on the floor). Yes, I can see that the spines of the books aren't as well illuminated as they would be if lit from the front but I'd guess it's good enough (and I doubt you'll be hunting for the right book in a pitch black room with the exception of the led strip) Earlier I said it didn't look like you were setup to do face frames (uncommon in modern European style furniture) but I note the exposed particle board. How will that get finished? If you were planning faceframes anyway then there would be no need to route out a channel for led strips near the front. You could just get 45 degree profiles and build the face frames to hide them. That all said, I think you are over thinking about this. It'll be fine as it is and unlike some other things that can not go to plan in a build if you decide later you really don't like it it's not the most difficult thing to change.

Forgive me if this is an error but this post (and the previous one last night) sound extremely AI generated. Previous posts (November 2025) sound more human. Wondering if this account has been taken over by some sort of AI engagement thing. (Seems common on other platforms though Buildhub seems a bit small for that).

That's my understanding. Admittedly there are less rusting out cars around these days and modern cars are less likely to dump the tank but the risk is still there and I doubt we'll see any change until petrol is something you have to actively seek out vs popping to the local petrol station.

😆 Offering more money will generally solve this problem. Disassembly would likely be quicker if no glue. But this could be done in place, though likely requiring a lot more time and some manual chiselling. Before you do that though, I think what you've got looks fine. If you have a strip near the front you are far more likely to see it and it may have some unwanted wash onto the floor that looks weird*. Maybe live with it for a while and if still not happy then mock up something so you can see the difference. Generally, when I've seen people do good looking front illumination they do it with 45 mounted strips aimed inside the unit mounted on face frames or strengthening bars (not sure if that the right name). Doesn't look like your units have been designed for that. * Looks like even now you could likely benefit from a more directional lens on the strip (or maybe you haven't fitted it yet).

Beat me to it! For as long as petrol cars are common it seems like a sensible rule. Fuel leaking into the ground floor is both a huge issue to clean up and in the event of fire likely blocks the exit and causes rapid spread. Having said that, this is one of the reasons my preference would be for a garage that is not part of the house if there is space (can always put a covered/weather protected walkway in between them). Hopefully will get removed once EVs take over.

I would guess that if you want to rent the place out (even if only occasionally) you want to avoid anything complex like that. I suggested Shelly as they are cheap simple and can work standalone for simple things. But you could likely do enough with a traditional timer + pir.

You are not going to rest until you've reimplemented Unreal engine in your web browser are you

I'm not sure I would bother if it's an issue. Just get the pump and the PIR but also add some kind of timer/automation (shelly can likely do it) to run the pump if some combination of the following happens*: 1. PIR in bathroom 2. PIR in bedroom (if ensuite - and on first trigger) 3. Certain times of day when showers are likely 4. Whenever the DHW water heating cycle is on 5. Whenever the pipe temp at the bathroom is lower than x (maybe 30-35C, ie, not full temp but high enough that when the bathroom PIR kicks on it doesn't take long to raise the temp) 6. Whatever else Basically, suck up that the energy efficiency will be a bit lower than you hoped and move on. Think now about what you would change later if the above doesn't work. Even simpler is a timer for when you are living in the property (you can plan your shower times) and just run the pump frequently when you have paying guests. * This is not a prescriptive list just ideas of ways to mitigate the situation. A shelly device (not connected to anything else) can do 1-3 with some planning 4-6 might require more.

St Awful! 🤣 That particularly situation is man made. I'm sure you know more about this than I but I had thought there were plenty of places globally with relatively elevated levels of radiation that show similar health profiles to low radiation places.

A google was not helpful in telling me what a mayal pump is. Do you mean fixed irrigation system (which is the type of use I would be thinking of). Maybe there was a difference given this sounds like a commercial property but water butts are allowed (with tap) so I expect whatever issue you ran into would be able to be dealt with. (With the idea to keep the water as clean as possible in the first place if I do get the chance to do this the water would almost certainly be much cleaner than that from a water butt). As someone who plans to do a lot of the installation work myself and who drinks a lot of water (and therefore uses the toilet a lot) the sums will indeed be very different. Still I doubt 10 year cost savings alone would be worth it. 10 year cost savings plus the ability to use the water to maintain a productive garden during a hosepipe ban may well be.

Restriction within nuclear facilities are extremely stringent. No sure where I heard this (online pre clickbait/slop I think) but a funny story was the university phd student working at the universities small research reactor managed to set off the radiation alarm as he came into the facility thanks to a different hair gel he was using. Initially you think this seems a bit crazy but thinking more (my own thoughts, not checked) I can imagine the detectors are relatively simple and detections of small amounts of certain isotopes would indicate a big problem whereas some other isotopes are naturally occurring at that those levels in some places.

I believe it's fairly difficult to use it for potable water, but it is possible to use rainwater for flushing toilets/washing clothes. Based on what I've read here I have interest in using it to flush toilets and external (garden/window cleaning/etc) uses. Don't think so. I think the issue is potable water standards are tough and stored rainwater will usually be a long way away from that (bird poop washed off roof into tank, etc). I'm sure I've seen someone talk about using it for everything but the treatment system was involved and had a fairly costly maintenance/testing process. Plus you need to store a huge amount of it to get through droughts.

An example of cost saving might be that if you meet passivehaus standards, especially in a compact home, your heating demands are tiny so you can skip the expensive heat pump install and just put in a couple of small electric heaters. Given the tightening of building regs the 'design' cost of a passivhaus is now a much bigger element of the overall cost of meeting the standard. Therefore, if you are working on a standardised design/methodology spread over many units the cost of materials/extra labour to install is relatively small. Again, only talking about properties that have been designed up front to be easy to make passive. Any design can be made passive, but some are relatively cheap and some are very expensive. A lot of custom one-off homes will tend to be in the more expensive as the customers will want nice things like big windows, overhangs, lots of corners and detail or simply to squeeze a lot into a difficult site. Meeting the passivhaus standards then will add a lot more cost than a simple box. Edit: and as others have said, terraced houses, semis and flats are all easier/cheaper to make passive.

The problem you describe here is one that has come up several times on this forum (for people who are just trying to be energy efficient, not building to passivhaus standards). Integrated garages impose a lot of extra costs that aren't obvious when the architect first draws them. That said, they are often the only option in many plots.

0.18 is the regs Depending on the house I've read that 0.15 might be all thats needed to meet passivhaus (there isn't a specific number as passivhaus is more about the overall heat loss which is affected by windows, air tightness, etc) It's not much difference in the quantity of insulation (another 50mm)?. The detailing is stricter and really once you are in this range air tightness matters much more. If you focus on that you need less insulation.

Indeed, standards are getting tougher which should in time lead to better quality (for any project) but lack of labour availability makes things difficult whatever you are doing. The good contractors generally know what they are worth given availability.

With the current building regs, meeting passivhaus standards isn't that much of a leap (assuming you are building with quality/well finished detail in mind). It used to be our regs were way way weaker and now they are not. The cost of building houses has gone up a lot also and the added cost of insulation, better windows, etc, becomes a smaller part of the overall budget. I can see the cost of doing the paperwork/documentation to get certified as potentially being the main additional cost of going passivhaus with some (more optimal*) designs. * ie, the existing design for the house is a relatively energy efficient shape, with reasonable glazing (heat loss and heat gain perspectives), already has MVHR planned, etc.

Gotta milk the overexcited first adopters before the competition forces lower prices.

Not sure if your experience is purely domestic or also commercial? Again, just based on reading around, doing it on domestic jobs is relatively less common but almost guaranteed on commercial jobs. But just because it's less common on domestic work doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. Especially on 'technical' work like insulated slabs or for picky self builders who will have to deal with the result (vs a builder who might get a suboptimal slab but not really care and just cover it up asap).

my response was to the thought of rainwater harvesting. Everything I know about grey water says the best thing you can do there is to pipe it directly for use rather than trying to store for later use. Even then you would ideally try to use only bio compatible soaps etc.

I've very much considered a (or multiple) fish tank bubblers. UV light is going to be sensitive to getting dirty/suspended particles. Ozone could be added to a bubbler but not sure it's required. A decent filter to stop organic matter getting into the tank is also something to think about if you want to maximise cleanliness. Something like a sand bed filter.