bikerchris

lol Just a bit! Thought it would help with my tax deductibles...hmmm. Still a lot of money just for a clean look ? Yeah I can see how slinkies are less efficient for sure, thanks for the linkie ? Very Interesting and useful Sam, thank you very much for that ? I can quite see why you went ASHP, for a quarter of the price! That's nice info though, thank you very much ? You're right (thought I can't speak for Rainwater Harvesters), it has to be said I'm hoping for a fairly well insulated box, so that's half the battle done. @scottishjohn did mention at one point in another thread, about getting a combined heating/cooling unit...so far I think I'm swaying in that direction. Thanks for your contribution though ? Interesting stuff Dave, cheers for that - especially that you had your own digger ? I can't quite believe that, only watched YouTube video the other day (LINKIE), the guy made it quite enjoyable to watch, though I would have done a few very minor things differently, but we all put are mark on stuff. Thanks again for all your feedback peoples!

Hi All, Just thought I'd include the cost estimate from Kensa, in case it's helpful to anyone in any way. They've only taken a few days to get to this info to me. 3kW Shoebox £3,407.25 1 Way Above Ground Manifold £373.75 2 Drums of Antifreeze £97 x 2 1 x 30m Slinky £450 (for small space, only estimated) Delivery £62 Total = £4,487 + VAT So £5400 all inc. but not including install of course!

Cheers for chiming in, much appreciated. Yeah UFH heating is preferred, just to give more flex for room layout and to get an even amount of heat. I'd like to have a WC, but it'll take up too much space, plus I'd have to get water to the building as well. In some ways, I'm trying to keep it relatively simple....in some ways! ?

Thanks for commenting Peter, much appreciated. In my situation, I'm kinda stuffed for discrete positioning of an ASHP unit. Ideally I'd put it on the roof (if that were possible), but it's already going to be a tall building as it is, so Planning is contentious, just depends on the perspective of the Local Authority. ?

I've been digging a little deeper and GSHP just isn't possible at this small scale...what a shame. I'm going to look a little further into ASHP even if it will be unsightly...and can't be put out of sight!

Haha I like your brain thoughts ? That sounds pretty tough to me! The only thing is keeping the warmth in - my dream land idea is that it stays at a constant temp all through the year. Jesus though, if they were able to break into the first area, I'd have the buggers locked in and suck the air out. May be have a catapult to send them to the nearest farmers field...I hates thieves!!!

@scottishjohn Thanks for that, may be a very small boiler would be the option instead, then I guess it's just the air con I've got to sort. You don't think that's a lot of plumbing for a small space? The only thing I'm not too keen on is extending the mains water, it's not that far, only 30-40m or so. Thanks for that though! @jack Thanks for answering about the willis heater, very much appreciated and thanks @dpmiller for confirming it has a stat built-in. I'm not going for the cheapest option, but the one that offers the tidiest solution and gives me some good savings in the future...in case we stay here for a while. @JSHarris Thank you for weighing in about this - if we're using electric anyway, is it sensible instead to have direct electric UFH instead of a boiler / water system do you think? @scottishjohn Indeed, life is never simple! @A_L Sorry, misread about the 20C you mentioned, my bad. By chance and don't ask why, but I've got around 5 oiled filled radiators and I have a plug in timer/thermostat that controls it very well - so I've got a fall back if funds get too low. The only thing about about aircon is the placement - normally I'd like to place it to the rear or side, but that's not an option. The front will mainly be glazed, though I guess I could just have a single external door to the left front. I'm planning for other half to have her own room, it may not be needed so I thought have double or bi-fold doors across the front would give me the option to have the whole space to myself! Just trying to anticipate things changing! Thanks for confirming the GSHP, if only I could get some bugger to actually quote for it - they seem to not be interested at all (no surprise considering the floor area), that or their website email forms don't work! I still really like having one system that does both heating and cooling (do correct me if I'm wrong that it can!). Computer/monitor power needs, yes they are high because I have to render and video edit and have 3 x 27 inch monitors to power. That's one benefit to the office I rent, I have unlimited electric for the same monthly cost - I'm guessing this is only because the rooms aren't properly kitted out with their own individual meters. To ALL: You've all given me a lot to think about, what a great bunch you are, and on the internet of all places ? Something that I'm still determined to do is go for a solution that heats and cools me, is cheap to run and doesn't look to ugly. Hmm, these things aren't easy! I even had a stupid notion to use GSHP to heat / cool not just the outbuilding but part of the house as well (in the extension), but of course I don't have the garden area for the pipes...Ho hum ?

Wow, that's a slim unit, thank you very much John, very much appreciated. Yes to UFH, partly to provide layout options, but also for the even heat. At the moment, the office I rent costs me around £5k a year, so even if I spend that in the first year (on a credit card of course), I can recover that in the second year. Personally I'd like to move to a more appropriate house, but it was difficult getting a mortgage in the first place as I'm self-employed ?

Thank you very much Jack, you've certainly given me more to think about - like you say, so far the only ASHP/GSHP's I've seen are well oversized which would be a waste of money. I really do like the idea of one solution that deals with the whole year round...though having a pump go after only a few years would be disappointing. So the immersion heater route, is there a miniature hot water tank you can buy to put it in, or is there a more inline system available? It would be a shame to need an Air Con unit put somewhere, the roof would be a no-no as the structure will be tall enough as it is. When it comes to building orientation, I'm kinda stuffed, as it can only be set to the back of the garden for practicality, the glazed elevation faces South South West roughly, though I have incorporated a 3-4 foot overhang to the front which should help with solar gain and if budget permits I was going to include a Brisolei. You've given me a superb amount of info and I'm really grateful for you taking the time to write.

Got to edit my post - thought I was writing to another one ? £450 though for that, that's pretty good, though I image the quantity of points is quite a bit lower in Scotland?

I've used quite a few local land/building surveyors, none mention qualifications, just the gear they have. They've done jobs for me on small to acre sized plots, I never complain, they're spot on. Around £600 for a small but tricky one and £800'ish for just over an acre, but including levels of road parallel to site, along with adjacent details (houses within 20m of site).

Thank you AL, that's a great perspective - thank you very much for doing the rough calcs, really kind of you. Has to be said that around 500-800 watts would be generated from the computers/monitors. The only thing that concerns me is when the temps go way down (or up), I know that Scotland can be extreme, but I can't work at 0C sitting at a desk. What I'm trying to create is a building that maintains an even temp all the time, just to preserve tools and electrical equipment as well as my own comfort. I want to be able to go in there any time of the year and be comfortable - sometimes I'd have to be in there for 10+ hours be it snowing or the hottest day of the year. The office I rent at the moment is horrible in the peak summer and only tolerable in winter. For the first time ever, I want to be able to control the ambient temperature and have it be the same all year round. The other thing I don't want, is to have to do GSHP after it's built, it would just be hassle and regret. Of course, if someone said that a GSHP config for what I want is around £5-10k, I'd walk away from the notion of having GSHP. Having an ASHP seems to be cheaper, but then you've got external noise, plus it'll look fuggly. Anymore comments really are welcome. ?

No intention to have one (or the money), just wondering if they were a thing in this country? See plenty of Youtube video's by Americans with them (mixed results).

Just in case anyone's interested, here's a rough plan so far. I've not included the fences on this view, but there's one to the back that's sort of mine, but the sides have normal 6 foot close boarded in a rickety condition. Oh, top left room is the tool store, bottom left room is her room if she wants it...otherwise more tool / workshop area for me, yey! ? And yes, not put doors in yet - minor detail on paper ?

Cheers! ? Hehe, pain storage is an issue isn't it - for me, though I don't live in a high crime area, I'm worried about someone nicking it all, reason for the solid build proposal really. I'd have preferred to have a timber shed, but it only takes a few swift swings of a hammer and they'd be in. Then there's getting cameras and before you know it, you become a paranoid tin foil hat wearer! ? Shipping container sounds gooooooood

It's a funny one - I bought a property recently (the first I'm actually living in) and it had items that needed PP but didn't have it - the Solicitors just pointed it out, that's all they really do. Legals don't have time or inclination to go taddle on building owners to the Council - life here would be very different if they did! That's fair enough, shame about Brexit mucking up their plans ?

Hey newhome...you guys have got some odd names ? I would go further with insulation, but I don't want to reduce the usable floor area any more, also I don't want it getting too high either - at the moment I'm allowing an FFL 150mm above GL, then 2.3m ceiling height, then upto 400mm (worst case) for roof thickness. Definitely need Planning permission (over 2.5m height within 2m of boundary), but I need it for the extension anyway, so I'll just pay the £226 (via planning portal, including their cheeky £20 "fee") and get them both in at the same time.

That's good to know, although what kind of size VERY roughly, may be 2 x 3 foot is needed for the plant? Not sure how much of the garden the other half with allow me...although part of the building will be for her, so that's a bargaining chip ? I certainly plan to make it as well insulated as possible, the limitation is the width though - 6m wide garden, 300min walls x 2 and I've already lost 600mm, then it'll be around 100mm from the side fences ? That economy 7 could be a good fall back idea, especially with storage heaters...though I don't like the dry air they produce much. I guess I'd be OK during the summer, as there will be (hopefully) 2 nos roof lights with electrical openings if budget can stretch. The office I use at the moment has one 13 Amp socket and I've got a computer, printer and a 800w oil filled radiator on a separate plug-in thermostat (don't trust the inbuilt ones). It would just be nice to have one solution that has me sorted for the coldest and hottest this little island can throw at me ?

Hi mate, thanks for sharing your experience and I'll have a nose at @JSHarris past thread thingys and see if I can find it, be really interesting to read. It's funny isn't it, I like the idea of an (almost) self sustained building...apart from the materials of course, but can't have everything.

I was only wondering, but can't you get insurance to protect you from works carried out without PP or BR's? I know you can get it for Build over Sewage works that occurs before you buy a place, may be the same applies with your friends issue. It's just IMO, but the chances of the local Council asking for extra tax, is unlikely I would have thought. That's a lot of work for the council to do for little return. It's a grey area turning garage to accommodation, from what I've experienced, so long as you make it clear that it's ancillary to the main dwelling, it seems to be OK. One mention of wanting to make it an independent dwelling is a completely different matter though. About the summerhouse, so long as it's within certain height restrictions and a certain distance from the boundary, it's generally PD. Only on site of Listed buildings, AONB's or other sensitive areas does it become a problem. Or as one friend found out, if your neighbour is jealous and dob's you into the council (that was on the land of a listed building). Hope that helps.

Cheers Dave, really kind of you to respond so quickly - have a brew on me ? I was thinking about noise as well, I'm planning to have the building divided with a masonry wall, do you think this will give enough acoustic protection if medium block? Don't worry, not looking for a precise answer, unfair to expect that! I've got a tight area to put the building, which means a ASHP unit would have to be close (just read it should be within 6m to avoid heat loss), it would be nice to open doors...oh hang on, they cool as well, so I'd probably keep them closed...wouldn't it? Really sorry for seeming like a newbie!

Just thought I'd chime in - great responses by all by the way (only just registered on here). If you didn't want to use an Arch Tech (such as a CIAT member), there are websites that offer details for a few pound. One I know of is called "building regs 4 plans" (google it, as I'm not going to include a link). I've used them a few times and they're pretty good (only a few quid for details), but don't expect any non-standard details, you should be fine for roof/wall details, though nothing Passivhaus. I keep meaning to buy a few, but to be honest, I can draw them myself and have personal library of details and standard notation. I do have experience of using remote places, language is still a barrier. £50 an hour is a fair charge for someone with 10+ years experience that's not an Architect. Hope that helps a lil' bit!

Hello all, Hope you don't mind me registering and immediately asking a question! I've been renting an office for a good while but I'm now (finally) in a position where I can build an office in my back garden, so I'm not putting money in someone elses pocket. I've also been told that the cost of building an office is a tax deductible (yey), so that's nice. So far the design is going to be as well insulated as possible (details below if interested or have any suggestions)as I don't want to spend excessive amounts on electric heating (no hot water required), I thought ground source might be a good solution. The building will be around 25-28 square metres (floor space) and the garden, while narrow, gives me around 6 x 15m of clear space for pipe laying at the suggested 1-2m depth. I had thought about air source, but I like the mostly concealed nature of ground source, even if it means I've got some digging ahead of me but I've got no problems with that. I just wonder if anyone has info about: 1) The very approx. cost if I do the trenches 2) How long the trenches should be to get the heat output required (I've guessed around 4KW) 3) If there's even a system that exists for small buildings (so far I've only found info about dwellings) I've contacted a few companies and had nothing back after a week or so, did mention another project as well for a house sized outbuilding/annexe for someone else. I've spoken to a few people who don't use or have direct experience of renewable energy and they have suggested an ASHP solution, but I'm trying to keep the footprint of plant to a minimum. Anyway, thanks in advance for any responses. Cheers, Chris Proposed construction: Floor: Screed / underfloor heating on 100mm Insulation on slab Walls: Block laid flat with 100mm internal insulation / plasterboard Roof: Insulation between joists on flat roof with insulation over joists then roof finish (may be EPDM). Thermal lining will be used throughout

Hi everyone, The email said I should intro myself, so here I am - please be kind :-) My background is in construction, but I completely lack anything but conceptual information about Renewable energy, so that's why I'm here (thank Google for that). I'm also planning to do an extension on my house, an outbuilding for use as an office and tool storage and a few odds and sods around the gaff (lecky, plumbing, etc.). Anyway, hope you're all well! Cheers, Chris