Thorfun

be aware that ecologist reports expire! we had to 'renew' ours as we went to planning as the originals were a couple of years old and were done before we bought the property. but we were lucky and used the same ecologists and they did a 'refresh' survey so we didn't need a full load of surveys done again. basically, ecology costs a small fortune once they find existence of protected species. on-going surveys, licenses etc.

sadly that's the cost of ecologists. i don't think £900 for 2 x dusk surveys is too far off the mark in my experience. it depends on how many ecologists are required. we had 3 on-site for our surveys. also, they arrive an hour or so before dusk to setup and then spend a couple of hours monitoring etc. so working on an hourly basis of around £50/hr when you factor in travel costs, company profit, insurance, producing the report etc your quote seems about right.

music to @Pocster's ears that.

if you buy Intello Plus and Tescon Vana from Germany it's a LOT cheaper! the intello plus is damn good stuff. really tough as well and the Tescon Vana tape is super sticky and definitely recommended. around the windows you'll probably want to use the Tescon Profil as it's split to give you the return on the window edge. personally on the airtightness stuff i wanted the best products so i bought the best. obviously everyone has different requirements! bought mine from Latzel Dammstoffe and can definitely recommend them.

I'm one of those and can recommend them especially if you're having an insulated slab. probably a question to ask the SE when you find one. it might be that the trees are far enough away that the SE won't care but if they're within a certain distance then they'd probably need to know the species and distance from foundations etc.

The gel crimps aren’t for the cabinet. Thank you! Very useful and I’ll study it in detail.

Much to think about. But I’ll definitely make a start listing out cables and what they need.

I honestly don’t know! It just seems that they’re what people use. I’ll have some time over the next month to do a lot more research while the plasterers crack on in the house.

Right, I see that now. I’ve a lot more reading to do on this subject to figure out what needs what. I’m sure writing it down will help!

I was going to terminate the Cat6a into a separate enclosure and run only the cores I need to the Loxone cabinet as was discussed much earlier in this thread.

So terminal block #6 is a separated terminal block, right?

I bet that’s a big spreadsheet! thank you so much for this. It’s definitely given me a place to start.

thanks. Great idea to start with a list of everything and mapping it out. I’ll make a start on that soon. a photo would be ace and I will be revisiting (for the “I’ve lost count”-nth time!) your Loxone cabinet thread to zoom in on those photos.

is one of those suppliers Wunda? I had discussions with them over the course of designing our ufh and asked them to reduce the number of loops to fit a sized manifold which they did. they were also happy to design at whatever pipe spacing I wanted and also to design as a single zone or 2 or 3 zones throughout the entire ground floor.

evening Loxoners. I'm resurrecting this thread as I'm putting together a shopping list to start wiring up my cabinet and getting ready to second fix components. so far I have this: Tri-rated solid core hookup cable (1mm and 1.5mm) Gel filled crimps Crimp tool Looking at terminal blocks on the Loxone website there are 2 types, separated and interconnected. https://shop.loxone.com/enuk/push-in-terminal-block-8x4-20pcs.html https://shop.loxone.com/enuk/push-in-terminal-block-8x4-interconnected-20pcs.html how do I know what to buy? and how do I work out how many I need? what else do I need to add to that list?

welcome. it's so sad when a planning officer is difficult. we had one of those and had to hire a planning consultant who helped us argue our case. also, our planning officer went on paternity leave so our case was escalated to his boss who signed it off. a bit of luck for us! 🤣

+1 on all that's been said about wall widths, insulation levels etc. I think you need to specify a U-value target for the architect to achieve WITHOUT using overpriced Kingspan Kooltherm products but standard insulating materials. we have 140mm Frametherm 32 (it's actually Isover but it's a bit like PIR being called Celotex) between our 140mm TF studs and 80mm PIR internal to that for the walls. for the roofs we have 190mm Frametherm 32 and 100mm PIR internally. under the slab we have 300mm EPS. some might say excessive but this is what we wanted to get right from the off. you could also investigate a twin-wall TF (which can also be stick built) with blown in 300mm cellulose. many on here have that make up and say great things about it although there are some naysayers on here about it sagging and drooping but you can't always believe them. 😉 get the insulation AND airtightness done right and enjoy lower running costs for the rest of your lives there. ps. spend weeks and weeks reading on here on the relevant sub-forums and then go back to your designer armed with ammunition about what YOU want, not what they want to churn out for you. Fabric first should be your mantra. good luck! I like the look of the house

welcome. when i started our self-build journey i didn't know much nor did i contribute much either! no one (as far as i know that is!) ever looked down on me for that and after a time as i progressed through the build i learnt more and was able to contribute more. we all start somewhere!

make sure you can get a concrete lorry and concrete pump down the lane before deciding on the ICF route!

I paid £2300 for a Graf one2clean a year ago. if they're now £4k I got a bargain!

+1. if you like the plot then buy it and apply for planning for something you like. the existing planning will still remain if they refuse your new design anyway so you can either cut your loses and sell the plot with that planning or build the house as is and then flog that and move on.

speak to your electrician but if the manufacturer hasn't specifically said you don't need to earth and you can earth why wouldn't you? surely it gives extra protection for the small cost of a bit of copper?

I remember (I think) in the Solaredge optimiser manual that for US they need earthing but not for other markets including the UK.

could it be that the carbon usage of a poorly built house over it's lifetime pales in to comparison to the carbon usage of a passivhouse regardless of it's construction? (please note I have no data to back up that theory)

you won't be disappointed. (I hope!) we love our Norrsken windows. we also saved a lot of money by not having opening windows! a lot of ours are large fixed panes. we have very few opening windows.