James1234

Just looked on a supplier website and indeed the 9kw - 16kw units all look the same with the same 3.8kg refrigerant charge but the 7.5kw and below are a different looking unit with 1.35kg refrigerant charge. So yes, looks like you are correct @JamesPa It has only been running for 3 months, from the Daikin controller 114kWh electricity used, 351kWh heat produced = 3.07

The plumber has put in what is shown in the photos but has not followed the drawing which calls for the volumiser. The logic behind the 4 zones is upstairs and downstairs, old (less well insulated) part of the house, new (better insulated) part of the house. It was a discussion the plumber and I had but it sounds like he was no better informed than me in that conversation.. I will have some discussions with the various parties and will do some more digging and get back to the thread with progress. Thanks once again for all the advice, very much appreciate.

Thank you @SteamyTea, @Nickfromwales, @IGP and @JohnMo I clearly have some things to unpick. Are there any industry standards or Daikin best practice that I could refer to when opening up discussions with the plumber? There seems to be such a wide range of opinions out there. If I was to get someone in to review the system who would you think would be best, Daikin Technical, Daikin Approved installer, Heat Geek approved installer etc? If I go back to my initial question "should the buffer tank get hot when the space heating is turned off?" It sounds like no, and the plumber's explanation of "the buffer tank is need for the ASHP to wind down after heating the DHW cylinder" is incorrect. The selection of the heat pump was done by the Daikin rep at the local plumbers merchants. He calculated a 6kw unit was needed but as they didn't have any in stock supplied a 9kw unit at the same price. I had a lengthy phone call with him at the time questioning this and he said the 9kw would be able to work at a lower temperature and therefore work as efficiently as the smaller unit. Interested in your opinions on that as well.

Thank you all for your help on this, it is really appreciated, as is the wider Buildhub, I have used it a lot for ideas, guidance and support during my build. Sorry to take a while to reply, I was keen on getting the best photos and making them up clearly to make things as simple as possible. Below are a set of marked up photos showing closer up images of the system (one which shows before the insulation and solar inverter went in). The temperature of the buffer tank is over 42 degrees (my Boots thermometer stopped working at that point because it thought the patient was suffering sever heat stroke).

Will get some more photos when back home this evening. Heating is turned off at the 4 thermostats and also selected on the black controller which I am told talks to the ASHP (you can select to turn off the DHW tank, set times that the DHW is heated to suit lower electricity prices etc.

So would you say the drawing is a correct/proper setup? But the plumber hasn't installed what has been designed?

Pipework to the manifolds is not getting hot, just the buffer tank itself.

Hello all, moved into our extended/refurbished house a couple of months ago. We have ASHP (Daikin unit), hot water cylinder and buffer tank. The space heating has 4 zones in the house (upstairs/downstairs, old house/extension). The system was designed by the Daikin rep at the local plumbers merchants, install by local plumber and signed off by separate MCS certifying company. I am not 100% convinced that everyone in that chain has done what they are supposed to as when I quiz one they refer to the others. If I was doing this again I think I would have taken a different route. We are getting hot water and in the colder months heating was working fine. Now we are into summer I have put the master controller into 'heating off' mode. My understanding was the buffer tank was just associated with the space heating and would therefore be cold when the space heating was off, but it has remained hot. I quizzed the plumber who installed everything it who says that the buffer tank is used when the DHW tank had got up to temperature to allow the ASHP unit to wind down, as it couldn't turn off straight away. Seems wildly inefficient to have a tank of hot water sitting there for 6 months of the year. Interested in other people's thoughts and suggestions. Plumbing drawing and photo of installed system below. Many thanks. James

Hello, looking for some pre-made drawers for some built in wardrobes that I am going to make. I like the idea of oak drawers and so far I have found https://www.interfitco.com/oak-dovetail-drawer-boxes/ https://www.bullerltd.co.uk/oak-drawer-box.html?variation_id=8699 https://www.evabox.eu/en/drawer-boxes/ I am not looking to put fronts on the drawers, just have the oak boxes (Evabox will supply with dropped fronts for handles or I could cut the into the others myself). Wondering if anyone has any experience of using any of the above options (particularly Evabox as they would be coming from Lithuania so a longer lead time etc) or can offer any alternative options.

Similar costs from a few different suppliers. I hadn't found Specialist Blinds so will try them. Thomas Sanderson, Appeal Group, Sona, Grand Design Blinds, are some others. Seemingly all offering similar things at similar price points. The mounting and recessing of the blinds is a key detail. The video of the Sona Blind posted by MR10 above is a very neat solution but not suitable for our arrangement as we have a section of wall above the window before you get to the ceiling. I can see the point about the central mullion but the example in the above video seems to cope well without it. Depends a bit on how close to the window the blinds will be. If they are forward of the window I guess light will bleed around the mullion a bit anyway.

The sensible approach, but the structure is built and windows are ordered so we are committed to the window shape. We knew what we were signing up to at the time... just hoping that someone had discovered some great alternative....

Hello team. When we designed our extension with gable end windows we knew that the window coverings/blinds would not be easy/cheap. Now that we are well into the build and I have some quotes to compare it is feeling particularly painful that 'a few bits of fabric' is costing almost as much as the windows themselves (3 sheets of glass, some timber and aluminum). I have had a few quotes, all in a similar ball park so there must be something that means they are more complicated than first impressions would suggest. Is there anyone out there who has been through the exercise and found more sensibly priced blind options (either supplier recommendations and/or alternative means of providing window coverings? We have considered curtains but want to maintain the clean/uncluttered lines that the windows are giving us. Any experience from others who have been through a similar exercise would be appreciated! James

This makes sense and gives me some confidence that the timber frame should stay dry even if the head of the cavity is not ventilated. I will achieve this with perpend vents Regarding the closing of the cavity at the top of the wall I have found the below in the LABC, i.e. close the cavity at the top and provide ventilation through perpend vents if you are in Scotland of Northern Ireland. As I am in Wiltshire I don't need to do this.

Thanks for the reply Eric. My builder has said he doesn't see the need for a service void and he will just chase the electrics out of the PIR. Any downsides to that? I guess it makes any future changes more difficult (although after this build I am hoping not to make any changes for at least 20 years).

Hello all. Was keen to get other's expertise on the detailing of the cavity of my timber frame extension. The construction from outside to inside is -125mm thick natural stone wall -50mm cavity -breather membrane -OSB -150 stud with PIR insulation -AVCL -50mm PIR -Plasterboard The wall is built and next week the builder is putting in the soffit boards/closing the cavity at the top. TOP OF CAVITY I am getting mixed opinions on closing the cavity at the top. Some say keep it open to provide ventilation, others say close to prevent insects getting in, other say close for fire reasons. The builder says he normally leave them open and/or lays a board over the cavity as per the below sketch. As it will be a board laid over the stone work it won't be a tight fit. What would others recommend? BASE OF CAVITY This is all built. A cavity tray has been installed with weep holes above it. These are the tapered type of weep holes so I assume provide limited ventilation. There are no vents below the cavity tray. I am concerned that the current weep holes above the cavity tray don't provide effective ventilation and the lack of them below the cavity tray will create a humid environment that the sole plates are exposed to. The relevant section of the NHBC standards say full perp end vents above and below the cavity tray so I am mined to now install those. https://nhbc-standards.co.uk/6-superstructure-excluding-roofs/6-2-external-timber-framed-walls/6-2-10-protection-from-moisture/