joe90

True Jeremy but I was planning to have the towel radiators teed from the hot water tank supply so they were running only when heat was being supplied to the hot water tank, not separately. It still might not be worth the hassle as by say 5 am the DHW tank is up to temp and the radiator will cool off by the time we get up.?

I originally wanted a passive slab but was quoted £1000+ for an SE to design and sign it off, we are on clay and the BC was slightly wary of a slab so I copied the Golcar passive house foundation which is a normal strip foundation but insulated and my BC accepted this with no additional SE costs. He also accepted 200 mm full fill cavity insulation and a warm roof with 300 mm of the same insulation. As stated before the costs of going the passive route need not be much more, it's all about the detail.

I wanted to use beads but found it difficult to find a supplier for a decent price. My builders are excellent and as fussy and as tidy as I am. They fully take on board the passive ethos and I cannot fault their work, perhaps I am lucky. Re the comment above about the difference between 37 and 32 I could not see me getting a reasonable return for the extra money ( I am 62 Already ?)

Yes Peter, similar to you. I had planned E7 for DHW and hoped that towel rails and electric UFH turned off at 6am would still be warm enough by the time we rise!!! Seems a shame not to use the COP of the ASHP and E7 price to reduce heating costs. Then again how much will I be saving if they are on for about an hour each time they are used??? Sometimes we can over complicate these things ?

I was planning to have an electric towel radiator in both bathrooms as well as electric UFH and thanks to the above comment wonder if plumbing the radiators into the DHW feed into the adjacent hot water tank from the ASHP would be better.?

Well, I can't answer your question because I don't know what U value I am building too!!! But, like you I want value for my buck. I am building in a part of the country with a mild climate, using block and brick and 200 mm cavity with dritherm 37 full fill. I will do my best to make it airtight. Currently getting prices for windows and my local joiner ( who has a glazing design expert on call) can get double glazing within 0.1 U value of other triple glazing I have been quoted for. In in my opinion my build is cost effective and value for money ( I am a Luddite).

I once bought silver line sds 1meter long drill bits, they were so soft at the electric drill end that the hammer action riveted them over and they would not come out of the chuck, never again.

Glad I read this, my meter is in my garage then like others underground cable to the house and distribution board. I Will need to fit an additional fuse before underground cable. p.s. Do I get a prize for no Abbreviations?

Another good example of kiss.

I plan an electric towel radiator as a back up and I confess I like warm towels ( it's a man thing to be efficient and save wet towels etc) also relying on the MVHR to dry them.

I have put a 4inch underground drain pipe in under my floor insulation and will be bringing it up and into the air feed on the stove with 4inch semi flexible aluminium pipe. Our stove has a dedicated air supply even though it's sub( just) 5Kw, the suppliers were very good with their advice and flue planning, this is the stove we have -http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/wood_burning_stoves/ACR-Birchdale.html#entity_9162, p.s. I was advised to raise the air induction pipe up to 600mm above ground outside as this is best.

https://www.hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk/

Some people used to laugh at the level of details in my quotes for building work but it paid off as there was no ambiguity on what was covered and who paid for what. A mate of mine was useless, his quotes were very thin on detail and he always ended up falling out with customers over the bill.. P.S. I hate ambiguity.

What are the exact words of your planning permission?, does it specify planting mature trees? If not then don't if you don't wish too. Get some signs printed and laminated that say " site security fencing" and pin them up all along the fence facing out. You have already stated you have a duty to provide site security fencing/Harding and the wooden fencing is more in keeping with the neighbourhood and give a commitment to remove it when they deem the hedge sufficiently grown. Otherwise paint it bright blue like other site hoarding ( then you neighbour will be pissed off). we had a neighbour from hell who complained every time I did anything, even driving my own JCB around my field clearing the ditches. In the end I would Email the enforcement officer every day to explain what I was doing and how it fitted in with the permissions we had. When the neighbour complained he could explain I was doing work I was entitled too. The neighbour gave up in the end and the enforcement officer was pleased.

As a slight aside to this thread, I have a patio area that has to be raised 400-500mmand the ground is dry and drained, I have about 75 tons of clay that was dug out of the foundations and has been piled high and quite dry. I am tempted to use the clay to raise this level and save me ££££s in stone. The patio slabs will stop water getting into the clay so I think it will stay stable, what do you guys think?

Peter, I also will be interested in the low temp blending valve for mine so please report back. Also which pump did you go with as I have to decide which is best?.

They tried to make me take out church insurance for our temp house but read that a bill was going through the House of Lords to repeal it so I told them where to go ?

I think it hits them harder if they don't take notice. If they bought a house with a good SAP score their bills would be less. I think a lot of people in this country are better off than they make out! Like ST says energy is too cheap, if it were more expensive then people would be more interested in buying insulation, wearing a vest, and looking for houses with a better SAP score.

Then why aren't people ( mostly) interested in the efficiency of their home, SAP score etc.

All very useful info. The only problem with backup from immersions is the wait!, get undressed for a shower and oops will have to wait xxx minutes before I can wash. Also using an instant water heater you heat the exact amount of water you require not a whole tank full which may or may not be used soon. I don't think it will be possible to predict until we get to use the house in anger but whether it's economical or not to have E7.

Calvin, that's kind of you mate, no rush, the roofs not on yet!!!!

No, I managed to get a unit from EBay for a few hundred quid, ex kingspan. It's just that I started adding up the cost of all the bits to instal it ?

Way to go Mike, at £2.40 each that's £1.20 per connection ( plus a bit of mdf leftover from making something else.) just need to work out how to restrict the flow at the manifold. ( Jeremy talked about knockouts but I have not seen them for sale). There seems to be a big difference in price for what looks like similar pipe, the airflex is over twice the price of BPC,S quietvent pipe of the same size!!! Is there any need for both silencers and manifolds, can't a manifold be a little larger and contain sound absorbing foam?, saves making more mdf boxes and more pipe connections? Next is the plenum and terminals, at £24 ish each and I need 9. my motto has always been " why buy something when you can make it?" ( and that includes a house ?)

I am starting to design my MVHR system and will use the radial system. I am finding some of the components quite pricey ( manifolds) I know they have o rings and clips but I do wonder if these can be home made?. Jeremy made his own silencers and I wonder how difficult a manifold could be. I also like being able to adjust the flow at the manifold rather than at the terminal to keep noise to a minimum at the terminal. Can anyone point me at other suppliers that are reasonably priced? Any other info on DIY MVHR gratefully received.

I do remember being interested in this but think I came to the conclusion that it was little return for a lot of work and headache. I am having a large "sunspace" that will probably overheat (if it's ever sunny in Devon?) in summer and I may try to use its heat once I get to know what I have got to play with.