lizzieuk1

Nick, we've abandoned the multi room option, it's just far too difficult to design. Just spoken to our installer and he has said even Panasonic acknowledge that the systems just aren't quote there yet in terms of design and individual room control. All needs more thought by their techs to get a system that people can actually install without loosing their sanity!

Sorry I've confused things! The ducts are in relation to a multi room fcu. Abandoned now....

Hi, I've sent you a dm, any chance we can get tye Panasonic contact from you? I've spoken to Panasonic uk and they have provided a unit spec but, they have said they don't usually design the ducting runs, how did you tackle that? Our intended installer seems to be struggling with that aspect!

We've not planned to, all our surface water will end up in our large storage pond so, no soakaway blockages etc to worry about.

Trying to figure out the regs for rainwater pipes. We have a couple of 90 degree junctions and one at 45 degrees on our rainwater pipe runs as they go around the hpuse perimeter, can we use rodding points on those or do they have to be inspection chambers? Also, is there a minimum depth they have to run at without needing concrete protection- will all be below paving or garden area.

Agree, 92mm duct is best. Is the Brink cheaper though? I'm not finding much difference online (in fact the Brink seems more money) any links you could share for that Nick?

So, PaulHeat have calculated as below, I think that means we need a unit(s) to do 438 m3/hr max. They suggest either 2 x zehender 450 or 1 x 600 - I'm not sure why if we need 438m3/hr, we can't have 1 x 450, is it to do with the l/s do you think? Anyway, if we need one or other of those options any opinions on 1 or 2 units? (We may go for the Ventaxia units but undecided, same Q re 1 or 2 units though) Initially I thought is it easier to have 2 units so that we have less logistical issues ducting from 2nd floor plant room to gf (we could put the 2nd unit in the utility room on the gf) but, I'm not sure if that's reason enough to buy 2 units! Any thoughts?

No need to panic! They are definitely going to do room by room calcs, all mcs certified. We're just at the initial design phase so once everything is firmed up on that will proceed to final design with full calcs. I was reading about your program and it looks really good - once I get time I will have a go with it for our design and give any feedback I can.

It's a valid point Nick, I suppose there could be some short term variation room by room and, perhaps more so floor by floor with insulation between floors having an effect, but I guess overall the temps will balance fairly quickly with flow round the house via the mvhr anyway.

Thanks Simon. I've not had any contact with Panasonic, I've left that up to the person who doing the install - he seems to be struggling with a fan coil system design, initially it was a spec for the ducting but now seems the more complex issue of whole design for pressure drops etc if we went for a multi room fancoil. I think we've almost ditched that option now as seems far too complex to sort out so, looking to do individual fcu in each room instead, obv more pipework needed but I guess it's swings and roundabouts compared to the multiroom option.

This sounds sensible, thanks JohnMo. The ashp will be set up for wc and we're going with a single zone for ufh in the gf. Not sure about the ff/sf though, the Aquarea allows 2 zones so we could keep the bedrooms a little cooler I guess, not sure it's needed though 🤷‍♀️

I've only done the whole house calcs via Jeremy's spreadsheet. I will set to work with a room by room calc and see how the rooms compare. Our part O was fine so no issues with overheating but, we'd like the option to cool anyway.

So, I'm going round in circles trying to sort this out. It is seriously stressing my nerves! Plan was to have an ashp with ufh on gf then use fancoils on ff&sf so we can have top up heating & some Cooling if needed in warm summers. Sounds simple but, No! I'm still not sure we will need any extra heating upstairs (ICF build, aiming for very good air tightness etc etc) but too unsure to not put any in and would also like the option to cool if needed. The installer we've been working with is very comfortable with ashp and ufh, he is keen on the Panasonic aquarea as is a registered Panasonic supplier and thinks they will fit our scenario well. Fair enough, I know they are more expensive than some but also reputed to be a good ashp and, Panasonic do make multi room fancoils which would go well with our design for ff&sf. However, he seems to be struggling to get a design solution for the fancoil units. I'm not sure why! His latest email has said that, having spoken to Oceanair (i contacted them to see if they could help and pointed him to them to see if he could get a design sorted as Panasonic werent being very helpful!) the response he's had is that they're not ideal for heat/cool as require a much larger power input for cooling, I've not got the detail on why yet but will once I speak to him. Surely that's what fancoils do well?? Or, maybe its the ashp supply to them for cooling that's the issue as we have a heat loss of around 4kw for heating requirement 🤔 Can anyone please help me find someone who can offer a solution? I'm going round in circles here! None of the options are cheap but if we're spending large amounts we want a really good system that does everything we need! Maybe we should get a separate A2A system for ff&sf to run aircon but seems nuts if we can use the ashp. 🤯😩

I was thinking the same Nick re the use of AB before boarding, am assuming also better to do 1st fix before to allow the AB to seal everything up? Think we will also have to use something like parge or poss some membrane behind our pole plates as they will obv go in before and not sure the AB will penetrate behind those once they're in. We were graduating towards float and set plaster as think it would go well with the woodcrete but, a. I'm not sure we will easily find a plasterer who's skilled in that, as d&d has been the preferred for so long now, and b. feels a bit like overkill using that and the AB. Still so many choices to make.....

We are certainly going to do that Nick. I haven’t forgotten our previous exchange on here about it 👍 I wasn't sure if we should parge coat as well but, from your comment, seems unnecessary?