Robert Clark

Have been trying to get planning permission to demolish our 1920’s house and replace with a Passivhaus, but the planners and neighbours are not supporting the scheme. We live in an AONB and they say any scheme must be of the highest quality. They say that our house is ‘beautiful’ , which it is from a distance.... But look a little closer and the mix of brick types and the state of them certainly leaves a lot to be desired by bay windows As well as the dodgy brickwork I really hate the Tudor boarding and the painted render and would prefer something much lower in maintenance. Inside the house has loads of character features including oak beams everywhere so in many respects a refurb would possibly give us much nicer outcome than a new build. Thinking about a single storey extension to create a large kitchen/family room and to knock the current (small) dining room and study into one to create a large lounge. Any ideas for improving the exterior brickwork and Tudor boarding? Also don’t like the UPVC windows as the Georgian bars spoil our view of the garden. Any other comments and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

what bit of kit calculates how long the Willis heater will run for?

I was wondering if the towel rails cold be fed from a high temp circuit like the hot water tank

If we had an ASHP would it be feasible to use it to supply bathroom towel rails or would electric ones be better?

Are you using an ASHP for hot heating a hot water tank too? If you had an ASHP which was in cooling mode could it still be used to heat hot water?

Hi Guys In a Passivhaus where heating is seldom required, why would you use UFH which is slow to heat up when slimline electric heaters would deliver heat quickly and maybe more controllably ?

We’ve had 4 neighbours complain 1 adjacent claiming to be overloaded 3 others complained that 1 neighbour was overloaded Seemed like copy / paste

Quick update Just had response from parish council - Approve !

Our windows on our northern boundary are at 90 degrees to their bedroom widows on their eastern face

Am I right to assume that the planning officer will sift the dross from any objections and refer back to us with valid ones?

All first floor widows on the north face which overlook could be either obscure or switched to a roof light

Sorry can’t access plans myself as I’m away i did speak to him as soon as he moved in, (after application was made) but he didn’t voice any concerns until later.

Hi Guys Our new neighbour has objected to our plans. The planning officer is visiting site today (unaccompanied) Would appreciate any comments regarding the objection. However his suggestion to move the house further south is not an option as the view is in the north east corner of the plot. Thanks The planning ref is WD/2019/0765/F https://planning.wealden.gov.uk/disclaimer.aspx?returnURL=%2fplandisp.aspx%3frecno%3d145808

I saw something similar on tv once where families in Africa were harvesting bio gas from their latrines. Was a simple concept, just a lid with a hosepipe running to a cooker in the house

Saw this online Converts food and animal waste into gas https://www.homebiogas.com/

Is your spreadsheet available for download? if so may I have a link please

Hi guys Can anyone point me towards a list of things I need to budget for or specify as part of my new build? Thanks Robert

Will you be using one of their specified installers?

As well

Hi Guys Wondering if solar PV is really worth installing in a Passivhause? Our heating requirement is likely to only be about 3kw, so UFH with an immersion heater should cope with that A Sunamp for hot water could be fed from economy 10 electric We do have two electric vehicles, but only do very low milage (guessing 7k combined per year) We travel a lot and are often away from home for a month at a time, maybe 4 times a year Is it worth investing thousands in solar PV and/or a battery system when our energy requirement is likely to be so low? Would apppreciate any comments / feedback

Assuming I was using an ASHP for the ground floor UFH, would you suggest using this for the towel rails too? Like the idea for the electric underfloor mat in the bathrooms

Our architect is also recommending radiators, however it looks like UFH is popular with owners of low energy houses

What would you suggest for the first floor?

Not sure about the heat source yet. It’s certainly going to be electric as we’ve no gas so either ASHP or maybe a Willis Immersion. Was initially looking at a Sunamp, but am not convinced that they have sorted out their controls issues yet

In a timber frame Passivhaus which would you choose, UFH or radiators?