joe90

yes My lounge Is engineered oak but rest is tiled the thing with insulation is it works both ways, keeps heat in and out, I have large bi folds into the kitchen diner and lounge, during cold weather they are kept shut (no heating in the conservatory) and during warm weather they are open to help heat the house BUT in hot weather they are kept shut to keep excess heat out of the house. During this hot weather I open windows at night to purge the house and close them, and curtains during the day to keep the heat out. Some have put dedicated wiring in bedrooms fir heaters but a 3 pin socket works just fine heaters kept in cupboard in case (ever) needed. (P.S. we love our wood burner, better than watching tv at times) butvrarely lit, purely extravagance on our part.

I’ve got one from when I was working and it’s great but heavy, hardly use it now (next step is gardening in my old age) they do keep their price to sell on, may sell mine along with my second fix one.

you mean tiling?

Yes, all one zone but lounge has a slightly higher flow rate as it’s where we sit most. yes, but if we did suffer a long very cold spell a couple of oil filed electric radiators in bedrooms are more than adequate (not needed them so far). If it’s that cold we light the woodburner and that heats the whole house nicely. Not sure I agree there, ours is all double glazed and the company that made the windows uses a glass “technician” and with the coatings he got us very near triple glazing u value, I don’t like very heavy windows with triple glazing plus every pane of glass you add gives a little more “haze”. We do overheat a little but that is because of a south facing conservatory but that also heats the house very well in the shoulder months, even winter on a clear sunny day. (Saves me paying fir a holiday in the south of France!!!!

ooh er, if only I was 10 years younger, I considered that part of the country a few years ago, very nice, don’t tempt me ?

And a hoist to construct ?

It also depends where in the country it is as removal costs fir these is fairly high.

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I disagree, mine makes no more noise than a gas boiler on full chat but it’s outside! I disagree, mine produces my DHW to a temp of 48’ which is too hot to hold your hand under. I don’t think so (hope so!,) they are basically “fridge” technology and most peoples fridges go on fir years with no maintenance (maintenance costs/annual service), yes with a pressurised system an annual check is required but just needs looking at so cheap in comparison. as said above easier for a new build like mine but there are ways of upgrading existing properties to passive levels.

I think most people would be very surprised at that, I am ! Perhaps you should rainwater harvest instead! ?

Looking forward to hearing about your plans etc.?

Well done! (I like that crane ?).

I agree with all the above, the mantra here is insulation insulation insulation, fabric first approach, you only buy insulation once, all other things either have a life or need constant spend (electricity etc). My build is not to Passive spec but passive esc, in other words loads of insulation and attention to detail re airtightness. I have a small 5kW ASHP and MVHR, both bought through EBay and self installed, not rocket science. I too have UFH downstairs and only towel rads and electric UFH In bathrooms, no heating at all in bedrooms as the whole house is a constant temp. re question 9, like others here with an ASHP I only heat DHW to 48’, most gas boilers are 60’ ish the standing losses from a hot water tank are much less when stored at this temp, it’s also too hot to hold your hand under (washing up) and bath /showers more than hot enough BUT, you will blend down the water less so the DHW tank needs to be larger.

The good thing about being a Luddite like me is if we have a power cut I get to read a good book by my rechargeable work lamp and listen to my rechargeable work radio sat in front of my wood burning stove, the only thing that needs resetting is the clock on the range cooker. (And my android mobile phone still works ?).

for anyone interested in my second fix I guarantee only armpits were ever used.

my answer was always to have a mug of tea handy and put the gas can in that. @dnb I have a second fix im65a which I have hardly used but frankly don’t need anymore, make me an offer!

If you go to caravan forums (as I did) you will find that planning permission is not required fir a caravan in a garden (despite the planners telling you that you do!). As long as it’s not complete as a living module (kitchen bathroom etc) I.e. if you have to come in the house to use a toilet or cook food it’s not a “complete module”. This has been established by lawyers acting for home owners with a caravan. It is within the law to site a caravan within the ‘curtilage’ of your home i.e. in your garden or on your drive, without having to acquire planning permission. However, the static caravan or mobile home must accompany the house for ancillary uses only. An example of this would be for guest accommodation, and cannot be the primary living or sleeping area.

Be careful, a neighbour had a double installed in his garden, was let out fir years, we actually stayed there for 6 months as my wife got a job locally before our new build was complete, However it was only us that paid council tax, now the council will now not let him rent it out and he even wanted to live in it himself and sell his house (new drive was ready) but they refused and he has spent many thousands £££ fighting it through lawyers, it’s now sat empty!!!

My ASHP can only be set to one temp and I need 48’ fir my DHW, My ASHP has never defrosted. I don’t have the ability to accurately measure my COP as I would be interested (if I could). ( @SteamyTea, as my tech support guy how could I do this?). I followed @Jeremy Harris as I have the same ASHP as him, unfortunately he is not available to comment as he would know these things.

my ASHP runs at 48’ (best temp for efficiency), buffer stat set at 30’. Buffer has coil fed from ASHP. UFH, runs at 24’, (blended down at manifold). Antifreeze in ASHP and inhibitor in UFH. What inefficiency?.

My egger p5 boards were out in winter rain fir months before the roof went on (I was a little concerned) but they did not suffer at all, it’s tougher that some think, it’s not “chipboard “ as some know it. Conversely I have seen ply de laminate quite quickly in damp conditions .

Unlike tiles slates tend to break, I used to have a thick bit of foam (old settee cushion) glued to a piece of ply about 700mm square which I put under the roof ladder at the bottom Foam side down so any load is spread and less likely to break slates. I never bothered to do this with tiles. As said above it’s best to tie the bottom of the vertical ladder to something, even a spike in the ground.

yes this is a problem converting ladders to roof ladders, I got round it by using a u clamp and clamping two rungs together to stop the lower section sliding out. You could always just lash with rope tightly. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10mm-Square-U-Bolts-With-Back-Plates-U-Bolt-For-Boat-And-Live-Stock-Trailers/173312961705?hash=item285a41eca9:g:7sAAAOSwcita9XG5

No, well, I did light the woodburner one evening last week as er indoors felt chilly (I was in a t shirt). The heating buffer is up to temp but the house thermostat set to 20’ has yet to call fir heat. some of you may remember my large conservatory on the south side of my build and dire warnings were given Here regarding the overheating that would take place, well it did get a bit hot (a bit like the south of France, but you have to pay to get there ?)on sunny but cool days Like today it’s 25’ and with the bifolds open into the house it warms the house up lovely so I am getting free heat in the shoulder seasons which I had hoped (planned) for?.

This may or may not be relevant but @Jeremy Harris had excess noise on his monobloc and it was not till he read the MI,s that specified 1meter long flexible tails to minimise noise, he installed much shorter ones and this caused noise/vibration into the house. He replaced the short ones with long ones and the noise diminished greatly! Food fir thought