Thorfun

what have people got against a large utility room? having lived in a mass built new-build with a pokey corridor type of utility room where you can't walk past if a cupboard door is open I would (and we have!) go for a large utility room. I see no issues with it if you have the space to do so.

we have attic trusses and cut roof for our vaulted entrance hall. having to insulate using PIR over the trusses I regret not just opting for a cut roof throughout! would've made the insulating a LOT easier not having to cut out around each truss etc. such a pain. maybe something to bear in mind if you're doing your own insulation.

yeah, I get that battery storage is currently expensive but I still think it works, financially if you go for a more DIY type expandable solution rather than the PW2 or SE solution that @pocster has. I have gone down the LuxPower/Pylontech (although they're not actually Pylontech batteries but Pylontech are very commonly used it would seem) route. I was offered a 12.8kW system which was 4 x 3.2kW batteries and the Squirrel Pod inverter for £7102.50 + vat. sadly our budget didn't stretch that far as the current material prices has really made a dent in our build costs. so I scaled it back and got the Squirrel Pod and 2 x 3.2kW batteries for £4102.50 +VAT. I thought that was a reasonable cost for the system that 'should' help me store daily produced electricity for use at night. if I fully filled and emptied daily I'd be looking at saving £700 a year @ 30p/kWh and if I manage to claim the VAT back I am looking at approx. 6 year payback time. if I'd gone for the bigger array at the off then I'd be looking at a 5 year payback period. that's just fine as far as I'm concerned. so after 6 years and assuming no hardware failure or replacement I will be getting free electricity produced by my PV array for use overnight. and once the build is finished and I have disposable income again I can easily add extra batteries to increase the capacity of the system, or add a second squirrel pod to increase the discharge rate to up to 7kW. yeah, it was a big outlay and I'd have liked to get a bigger capacity from the off but I'm ok with it and it'll help me for now. if you want information on the Squirrel Pod you can check it out at https://www.infinityinnovations.co.uk/?product_type=lux-power all of the above is caveated with the fact that I haven't actually installed the system yet and am quite a way from finishing our house. so I'm actually hoping that it all works out well in the end. 😉

I get it that people's situations do differ and I apologise if I came across a bit aggressive! it wasn't meant that way. I guess you can think of Solar PV as paying for your electricity up front. so even though it's a big outlay initially, after 10 years (and some solar panels offer 25-30yr guarantee iirc) you're basically getting the electricity for free. it seems like a no-brainer to me IF you're planning on staying in the property for that length of time. if it's a build and sell job then probably not worth it as you won't recoup the costs on the sale price but that could all change as the price of electricity rises and solar panels then become a massive selling point.

why does everything on this forum have to be about payback period? how about doing something not for financial gain/benefit but just because you want to? even if it was about payback then after 10 years @pocster is getting free electricity for the rest of the lifetime of the panels and batteries! sounds brilliant to me and if I get that I'd be very happy. but I didn't do my solar PV and batteries for any kind of payback but to reduce my reliance on the grid. but each to their own I guess. I know that not everyone is in the fortunate position to be able to afford to do stuff just because they want to or for another reason that isn't financial. anyway, @pocster is still the absolute b*llocks, as his signature reminds us.

u da man!

Intello Plus is the bees-knees but there are many on here that have had great success with other less expensive brands. I bought the Intello Plus (and the Tescon tape) from Latzel in Germany following advice from this thread: there are many threads about different VCLs on the forum. do a search and have a read and then decide which is in your budget!

welcome. very nice looking build. a few points.....make sure you think about shading with all that glazing! doesn't look like there's space for external integrated blinds with the roof line like that so maybe Sage glass would be useful? what is the cladding going to be? can't tell from the rendered images but it looks like the walls carry on up to the roof and so is the same material? no solar PV on the renders. is that part of the plan or are you not bothering? love the green roof. we have a much smaller sedum green roof and I love looking out at it, will love it even more once we've finished the house! good luck with the purchase and I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

yeah, as I mentioned before, SketchUp is great for this. Get the architect's to export to a sketchup file and move on! 😉

we used Tim Powell (http://www.powellblinds.com/external-blinds.html) for our external blinds (based in West Sussex) and are very happy with them but we planned them to be integral to the building so they're hidden within the timber frame. while we were discussing other windows that we could potentially need shading for he told us about Smartlouvre (https://www.smartlouvre.com) and brought round a sample to show us. it was amazing! you can still see through it but it blocks the sun out. it can be fitted to windows externally to the existing frame and might be something you could look at. it really is rather clever.

where are you in the country?

well, I don't think anyone is suggesting to not have any switches so if you lose your phone you can just use the switch. but in a truly automated house you shouldn't 'need' the switch but it's there in case you do.

so you configure the system so that after a certain time when you enter the bathroom the lights at a low level come on dimmed. no need to pee in the dark!

well, it can't detect everything of course but humans are creatures of habit so we would 'generally' shower at the same time every day, start work at the same time, start preparing the dinner at the same time etc. so you can configure the automation so that if you enter a room at a particular time of day and the light level is at a certain point then the lights will turn on to a specific scene, e.g. cooking scene etc. obviously it won't get it right every single time which is why you have switches to override the automated settings.

life goals

the price of Solar PV has definitely gone up in the last year or so. we paid £10k for a 10.5kWp array with optimisers installed. I'm starting to think we got an absolute bargain!

walk in room and everything turns on to what you want without having to flip or even look at a switch. that's what automation is all about. my previous post was in reference to when I'm sat at my desk so I can control the room without having to stand up and flip a switch or get a phone out etc. automation is there to make your life easy and to reduce the number of repetitive tasks that you do. some might call it lazy but I prefer to think of it as being efficient. 😉

take phone out of pocket, swipe to unlock, open app, click on function.......or......tap on desk to do really cool automated s**t! it's an easy winner.

sounds like a great idea. don't know how to frame it or fit it but definitely be great to find a use for it. we have a few long horizontal windows in our build (external walls though) and we love the picture frame type view it makes

I was thinking of using 12mm but it's good to know that 9mm is sufficient. on @Patrick's blog it really looks quite chunky! it's why I thought it might be 18mm. although I am going to put 18mm OSB on the kitchen and utility room walls where the cabinets will be hung. should be thick enough to hold the units up.

what thickness is that OSB? looks like 18mm

our architect's were a little reluctant to send me .dwg files but simply for the reason that they held the master copy that was sent to other companies (e.g. timber frame, civil engineers, structural engineers etc) to add their bits to them and so they didn't want them altered outside of their control in case things went awry. I completely understand that I ensured that they would just be for my own personal use so they sent me them. but, to be honest, what I found most useful was they sent me the drawings in SketchUp format. it's a much easier piece of software to use (and is free!) than other CAD software and for what I needed it for, checking dimensions etc, they were absolutely perfect. so maybe, if they definitely won't release the .dwg files, ask them if they'll export to SketchUp. it is honestly all you should need.

whoops. I realise that my post made me sound like an SE! I'm most definitely not. I meant another SE as well as the others on here (not me though!). sorry for any confusion.

welcome Zak. always nice to have another structural engineer on here to assist and share their knowledge and I'm sure there's someone on here that can assist with your query!

I've got one for our island and also for my study desk. love tech too much to not too!