joe90

Just watched the news and the bit about a council housing estate in Norwich that has made it to the short list on the Stirling prize for architecture. Thick walls (insulated?) sun orientated, no letter boxes (MVHR and airtight?) and very child friendly and social. Let’s hope it is what it seems and others follow this example. Discuss.......

As above by Jeremy, all but rainwater into a treatment plant.

That is a huge advantage, we too had a good local builder that embraced new techknowledgies and he did us proud.

Thanks Dave, I have had a look and mine does not have a “heater” or neutral wire, no wonder it has a big hysteresis, can you recommend a tank stat with a heater in it? I suppose It does not make a lot of difference with gas boilers and 60+water temps but with “our” 48’ it does.

I see no arrogance or holier-than-thousism on this forum at all only a wealth of knowledge. we do promote and encourage self building, there was no “snipe” about the word “eco” just an opinion that some of US do not like the word as (in my opinion) it’s more about bolt on “green” goodies than clever design. i used to use the “other” forum but found it lacking in the technical knowledge found here. The fact it’s sponsored as it is and comments deleted or altered at the whim of mods with no reason is why I stopped using it. Why is low energy a negative expression?, I built my house to use “less energy” and picked products that used “less energy” in its production. welcome @Chedbuild to this forum, a wealth of knowledge is to be found here and a very amiable bunch (usually!!!!) ?

Oh, I find the mechanical thermostat on my DHW cylinder does not have a small hysteresis, (and it only has two wires) what’s this three wire business Dave.???

After reading @JSHarris blog who reverted to a room stat after spending loads of time with his “smart” UFH programming I also decided to go “KISS” (keep it simple stupid). I also dislike lots of tech as it’s more to go wrong and quickly becomes obsolete. I have just one zone, downstairs, and a room stat in the hallway. I have upped the flow rate into the lounge as I want a slightly higher temperature in that room and the heating runs 24/7 (via a buffer tank to stop cycling). On the horizon is going E7 or E10 as I believe the slab and DHW tank heated over night would be sufficient to heat our “heavy” house for a 24 hour period. I have a room stat supplied by Wunda who supplied all the UFH kit but the hysteresis is too high and I need to change it out like Jeremy said above.

I agree with @JSHarris above, we had to use concrete for foundations etc and a small amount of plastic insulation but other insulation is mostly rock-wall. I would not use lots of plastic insulation as it’s oil derived.

Using my paslode In cold temps I used to ask the customer for a cup of tea, then put the gas canister in it to warm up (before drinking the tea) ??????

Nope, I don’t have one, it’s our forever (till they wheel me out in a box?) house but someone told me if we sold it a warranty would be required but I then found out an indemnity insurance is cheaper than a warranty and it can be taken out IF you decided to sell.

Yes, if the beasties are in the shower head then “hot” water in the tank won’t effect it, plus, who gets under a shower when the cold water is still flowing?, you wait till the “clean” hot water is flowing.

Completely, very “cottagey” which is our whole design ethos.?

Gosh, been away fir a few hours and loads of input. I used the hep20 manifolds for both hot and cold to avoid one thing affecting another, fed from a 22mm main on each hot and cold. I did not use isolators just a gate valve before each manifold. All pipework in single lengths of plastic so no joins. 10mm to all basins hot and cold, 15mm to showers and bath and kitchen sink (in case flow was not enough). The cost of multiple pipe runs compared to tee, ing off was peanuts compared to overall build cost and the knowledge that joins/fittings were all accessible in case of problems was a no brainer.

Yes, clad in pine.

I did this fir all basins (bathrooms and cloakroom) and flow rate is more than adequate.

And me, see @AnonymousBosch new thread.

Yup, I need a deep hot bath after working out in the cold, ditto with warm water fir my hands. I doubt if an “instant” hot water heater could beat my 10mm hot pipe system. Again this was part of my design brief, short hot pipe runs.

Not the same as yours but this is how I broke up my “triangle “

My builder offered to supply things I wanted (that was not In his fixed price fir the build and at zero VAT) plus 5% to cover admin charges (and again at zero VAT). Seemed fair to me.

Right, we have Three wash hand basins and the furthest is in the downstairs cloakroom, I designed the house so that all pipe runs for hot water are as short as possible, I also piped these in 10mm plastic pipe to reduce lag time and the flow rate is more than adequate. The cloakroom tap gets hot water in less time than it takes to squirt soap from the dispenser. I think different solutions are for different situations/houses. In an old Victorian house with long copper pipe runs instant hot water devises at basins might be best.

I agree but life is all about risk evaluation, I would suggest that if it was deemed a risk to the general public it would fall under building regs. Our neighbour has a diminished immune system because of an illness and she takes more precautions than most (won’t go near our chickens or touch our dog).

Is this not why it’s treated with chlorine? Saying that I know there are no guarantees in life, shit happens sometimes. (Sorry that was not meant to be a pun ?).

? sorry, yes I do but you have access to it (and you understand it?).

I don’t have a sunamp but a very well insulated DHW tank (like @ProDave) and my other half has commented that the airing cupboard is not very warm! I don’t have any measuring facilities or data!. Also part of my theory is that any heat lost from the DHW tank helps heat the house during the heating season (agreed its a loss during the summer, but a small one).

Wow, fast or wot!!!, just got confirmation that the “VAT legal expert “ spoke to my builders accountant ( I trust my builder entirely and he has become a very good friend) and he has agreed this sum will be refunded this week. I don’t know why this amount was missed by them or me, I would be interested to know why tho!!,. A good example of how good Andrew (the vat man) is and leaving some things to experts. ?