Russdl

@Onoff nowts a good price - nice one 👍 Unlikely. I would have been running. But how about the question, have I got the sums about right?

Have I found the answer to my problems in a power cut? This little rascal is the EcoFlow River 2 Portable Power Station. I can plug it in to the mains and then plug the MVHR into it. In the event of a power cut it will instantly take over (in 30ms according to the blurb) and run the MVHR. If I’ve got the maths correct and more importantly I’ve understood the electrickery bits properly it’ll run the MVHR on setting 2 for over 11 hours (standing by for being slated on both the above points…) It’s capacity is 256Wh and the rated power of the Brink on setting 2 (200m3/hr) is 23W. On top of all that, when I go wild camping (I don’t) I can take it with me to power the ghetto blaster for ages! Does anyone have any experience of the portable power stations? Is my planning sound?

Our new build has divided opinion as well. Massively it transpired. We fitted a Ring doorbell as soon as we had power and internet, long before we moved in, and we and got to hear the comments of passers by whilst the build progressed. We live in a ‘chocolate box’ village and our house doesn’t quite fit with the local vernacular. The Ring picked up an almost 50/50 split of “I f*cking hate it” to “I love it!” The older generation were mainly the former (I’m one of them now I guess, but I love it!) and the younger generation mainly the latter. And that’s why we - and ALL the locals - call it ‘Marmite House’ We we’re more fortunate than you @ToughButterCup in that the Parish Council had no real objections, but our nearest neighbour has told us how much she hates the place and can’t bear to look out of her window to see it. We don’t like they’re chalet bungalow with numerous different finishes as it’s been extended over it’s life but we kept that to ourselves. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

@SuperJohnG If it’s -3/-4 then it’s almost certain to be a high pressure day with clear skies (perhaps a bit of mist/fog to start with) so the vast majority, and probably in excess of those required 48kWh will be provided by solar gain if you build to anything like passive standards. Our gaff fits roughly with those figures posted and for the last 3 nights it’s been -4 to -5 overnight with highs of +6 to +9 during the short sunny days. The heating hasn’t come on in the last 3 days and I don’t expect it will do today (currently -3 outside).

Yes, I think it was Jeremy. A relative tsunami of water has flowed under the bridge since that comment though. We’re not going anywhere but I suspect if I were to show an Estate Agent/prospective purchaser my monthly utility bill it would generate a great deal of attention in the current climate.

That will count for my lack of any recollection of entering a heating system in the PHPP - we just went for ‘Classic’ but I think we’re probably close to ticking the ‘Plus’ box as it happens.

Couldn’t agree more. We had one meeting with a PHPP Consultant who turned out to be utterly inept - by incorrectly inputting data he effectively rotated the house through 90 degrees resulting in huge overheating numbers coming out of the PHPP. He shared that PHPP with me and I spotted the error, bought my own copy of PHPP and did it myself. There are huge benefits to doing that in my opinion, all the little tweaks that inevitably happen to the design can be checked for impact on the PHPP without paying someone hundreds of pounds. The end result for us is a non certified passive house that performs as predicted by the PHPP for £thousands less.

Or incompetent/dishonest.

Actually, thinking about it (it’s been a while since I did my PHPP) a heating system isn’t specified. The PHPP just tells you what the heat requirement will be - you choose what to do with that information. Any other PHPP users confirm my recollection?? if you get the PHPP off your architect I’m happy to take a look at it.

@carou the PHPP is an Excel spreadsheet, a big one but an Excel spreadsheet non the less. If your PHPP has already been done, in other words the spreadsheet has been populated, then minor changes take very little time. Making a window smaller in PHPP would take a matter of seconds. Definitely ask your architect for a copy of the PHPP it sounds like s/he may be pulling your leg. Regarding the heat requirements, as others have said, you don’t need much. The last three nights here have been sub zero but the days have been sunny, consequently the heat has not been on. In this passive house the sun has done its job as advertised. Our heating comes on if the internal temperature in our hallway drops below 20. During the day the sun has warmed the house to around 21 and overnight it’s fallen to the low 20’s. it’s bloody marvellous actually.

Another ‘good news’ Quooker story. We have a Cube (chilled filtered water) that has been on site for over 3 years but only really used in anger for about 18 months. It started playing up so we booked a service. The engineer arrived and proclaimed it dead/dying and called his supervisor to discuss a replacement despite it being way outside of the 2 year warranty. Within minutes it was agreed that they would replace the Cube free of charge. I think it helped that because we are in a hard water area the Cube is supplied with conditioned water (Combimate) and filters were replaced as required but a big ‘recommend’ vote for Quooker. Also, if anyone else has the Cube that is a small aluminium skinned er, cube, they apparently have many problems with these. The replacement will be a completely different design so if you have the aluminium skimmed Cube watch it like a hawk and get in touch with Quooker the moment it seems to be playing up and hopefully you’ll get the same good service.

@rich1899 I think that’s incorrect. Here’s the guff from the Planning Portal.

That would probably work but was never on my radar so has not been considered. The plan is now block built, with rendered EWI outside.

No. I plan on doing it under Permitted Development. Have I missed something vital? From all I’ve read I don’t see that I need planning for the proposed garage.

I shall look into that. Thanks.

@jayc89 that will all depend on how high above the window the gutter is. In our situation the window in the main bedroom is on the side wall, gable end and no gutter. When it’s chucking it down the big drips hitting the metal cill is like a drum. When it happens I generally move out to the spare room where the gutter is just above the window head and the problem is almost non existent.

I’m sure they don’t help but the condensation forms on all windows, some without houseplants, some without curtains.

Here’s a picture of the slider in the kitchen/dining room - south facing if that makes any difference, the other photo is an east facing window.

@Stones this morning and other cold mornings it’s pretty much every window. The worst was the en-suite which can be put down to me for having a shower in the evening and not putting the MVHR on boost. The photo is of the kitchen/dining window. Biggest room in the house and no cooking activity since mid afternoon yesterday.

An update some 12+ months on: Here’s a picture of ice formation on the outside of our windows, I think it looks quite striking. What is not so nice is the condensation along the bottom on the inside. The house has had another year to dry out (it wasn’t ‘wet’ anyway despite the assertions of some). The internal temperature is 19.5o and the external temperature is -4.5o I’m sure it must have something to do with our enthalpy heat exchanger but as it only happens when it’s well into the minus figures outside we’ll live with it.

We’re going to use PD for similar. It looks to me like you’ve covered every base, I can’t think of anything you’ve overlooked. I am interested in your comment: That’s not a requirement is it? I sincerely hope not for my sake!

We’ve got a Miele. No complaints. Fan is noisy on boost but does what it was designed to do effectively. On one occasion it identified two small pans as one large one and automatically turned both cooking zones on instead of just the one zone I wanted. I found out the painful way that the empty pan on the rear zone was getting very very hot. Very easy to clean, no protrusions. All the grease filter bits go in the dishwasher, charcoal filter gets recharged in the oven. Whatever you go for (if you want to keep it looking good) get a hob protector from Lakeland - ours still looks mint.

Hmmm. That’s not insignificant is it! Hinges it is 👍

Can’t find the ones we’ve used without digging into our archives but here’s an example Scroll down and you’ll see some mini ‘wardrobe’ doors in an eve space that may fit your bill?

@Adsibob I guess I’m obliged to now 🤣 Standby…