Jimbouk

@ProDave quite understand! Only prompted by the other thread running this morning... @Ed Davies sadly there is no option to turn down. Either on or off, keeping the aerobic bacteria alive is key objective. Especially as during the winter months it will be doing nothing for weeks then have 8 visitors for a weekend.... then nothing for a few more weeks. wondering whether it is better to do 15 minute on / off cycles or 1 hour or 2 hours. Guess it is a balance of wear on pump when it starts versus settlement.

Thread revival. Condor all installed and now been running for last six months. All good. Can confirm it seems to use circa 2kw a day. Noted that @ProDave was looking to install a timer to reduce consumption. Have you had a chance to do that? Or has anyone else? If so how, as simple as a three pin plug in timer from ikea? Our unit will only be used for a couple of weekends over the winter, so seems wastefully having it running the whole time, equally I don’t want to save £50 electricity only to cause it all to sludge up and fail! Thoughts and advice welcomed.

Tyke2 I relate to your adverse experience of ‘eco’ commercial buildings. I have enjoyed operating a number of Bream ‘very good’ designed by award chasing architects, then specified by value engineeers. Not a pleasant experience for the wallet! I vowed that that my build would be ultra simple, however I have ended up with ufh, mvhr and passive inspired design. The difference is that this time I am (vaguely) in control of the specifying and can directly equate to the benefits I hope to experience over future decades. I’m not procuring my solutions from the cheapest suppliers of obsolete or unproven products, nor am I buying cheap solutions with backend loaded maintenance contracts / Warranties. I would echo the keep the control side simple, I’m astonished at how little heat (and in turn control required) says the man with 8 zones....

I think I maybe looking for something that does not exist.... I’m sure we are all familiar with the 180 degree kitchen carousel units that make the most of corner storage. I’m looking for storage units that sit on the rotating shelves. At present I can find lots of wirework and plastic ‘shelves’ that rotate out. I need some containers that fit on / in these, think of a plastic crate with 20cm sides in the shape of a pizza slice. I know in the brochures they look organised and simplistic, in reality I have a car crash of 10 different packets of flour and a similar number of different sugars, all end end up lumped together.... easier to buy another packet than look to see if we already have the right one. Then add it to the pile.... Propably indicative of my lifestyle, but a organisational solution might help..... google is is failing me...

We were having a problem with seagulls and pigeons sitting on the very end of the ridge over our decking. Used a metre from https://www.birdspikesonline.co.uk/Bird-Spikes/Products has worked perfectly. Not beautiful, but not that noticeable and cured the guano problem!

How timely... I can relate to so many of these posts. Like Joe90 I have waited and worked for decades to do this build, but I’ve fallen out of love with it. At second fix, sick of people telling me how fantastic it is and how luck I am. Currently only see the annoying bits, unfinished pieces and problems. Timber frame started just over a year ago, it takes time, life is busy and I’m meant to be doing this because I want to not because I have to... I don’t think anyone that has not taken on a project like a self build can understand the rollercoaster ride it is. Yes it is a ‘fortunate’ problem to have that most will never get the chance to do and even fewer take up the opportunity, I have some good friends that are determined to get me over the line, then I will fall back in love!

I was tempted by a similar approach, house has been steady above 10 degrees all winter despite , sitting there empty with no heating all all. The cost of a gas connection and boiler really irked me, however unless I choose to retrofit a pv system there was no way I could get a high enough TER (?) to pass building regs....

I did at one point wonder if the fact that the aluminium frames where probably colder than the internal air temperature and may have been causing an air current themselves, as the warm air rose against them. Hence not an air tightness issue at all.....

Well if you wave it around manically or have the shakes yes. I tend to leave the sensor in a location and then look at the iPad, so no localised movement of sensor or air around it. Not very scientific, but is a good indicator so far. Some of my contractors are convinced that I need to get out more....

Nothing sophisticated. I’ve got a testo anemometer, which links to iPad / iPhone. I’ve just prodded the sensor into various parts of the house to see if there is any airflow. In turn found a couple of spots that I think should be draft free that aren’t. At some point I’ll have to learn how to use it properly when I set up the mvhr.

Thanks, will do!

Thanks all. Vanatape purchased!

I’ve been going around with an anemometer and have identified a slight draft / air leak coming through the join between the screed / vertical insulation / patio door frame. Just wondering on the best approach to seal this as I don’t want to create a thermal bridge? Will be trimming back the insulation prior to laying engineered oak boards.

Yes, they go through to a plant room, which is the other side of the airtightness layer.

Looking for the best way to achieve airtightness where pipes and cables go through joists. I have used Pro Clima cable grommets elsewhere, but these cable and pipes have been installed already. Wondering about cutting a grommets and sliding over or maybe using Tescon Vana tape? Was planning on puttting some felt pipe insulation in the hole too. Thoughts?

Thread resurrection! Having spent a day early last month trying to find the existing gas supply by our boundary for West and Wales Utilities to connect to, and failing. I am trying to resolve the gas connection issue. Will start a different thread on this. However visited the house today, no-one has been there since before Christmas. Just starting second fix, walls plastered, no heating source in place. Located near the coast in East Devon, with a fairly sheltered Southerly aspect, has a large overhang to the Southerly aspect, providing Summer shading, but allowing solar gain in the Winter, this elevation being almost all glazing. Despite being in the low single figure temperatures outside the last few weeks, with a couple of frosts, I was amazed to discover the internal temperature today was 12 degrees! I was expecting 5 or 6 at best, and had been worrying that the ufh system might have frozen... So this indicates to me that all the insulation and solar gain is working brilliantly, and that I'm probably not going to need much additional heat to get it to a sensible habitable level. Even more reason why having to go to the expense of gas supply, gas boiler, maintenance and standing charges is grating... as per earlier in this thread, a willis heater and immersion look as if they will be solution except for the fact that I will fail the final EPC, unless I install a pv system. Surely there must be another solution? I need some creativity!

Has it already got planning consent for conversion to residential? If not try and delicately establish the view of the Council Conservation Officer as to conversion.

Thanks all, looks like I have choice of reverting back to main gas and associated system or install a 2Kw PV system. Gas it is then...

About to do airtightness test on our site near Exeter, google provides a number of testers? Anyone recommended in that area? regards James

Main contractor almost finished their work, second fix down to me. Before I settle their account, minus 6 month retention, what should I check with regard to building regs? Thanks James

Having seeded the lawn immediately in front of the house, almost two months ago, the time had come for a cut. Managed to bribe my daughters to remove numerous bucket loads of pebbles from the surface, took an old mower from home to site this this morning. As a treat between sanding and priming skirting boards, I decided to cut the grass, all going well, even getting stripes. I start getting over confident going into the longer grass around the edges and on the banks, all good what can go wrong? BANG, that’ll be the crank bent then! Oh well it could have been worse, I’d been concerned about firing a pebble through the very expensive glazed frontage.... So what was the verdict on a cheap petrol mower? Buy now or wait until the Spring? I’m going to use a Robomow ultimately for the lawn by the house, with a ride on for the bulk of the rest, but need something for the fiddly bits.

Only fair to update this, finally got round to sending two of the dead drills back to Makita. Someone had thrown away the third. They returned a few days later, fully refurbished, no charge. Great customer service!

Thanks, guess I’ll get back in touch with the surveyors that are doing the building regs and warranty inspections. I have all the data from the PER, which says the TER also, is there such a thing as an online calculator I can use? I understand I’ll need to get the final version done professionally. I assume that if I don’t meet the TER, then no building regs sign off?

Thanks, but what is an OCDEA?

Am I correct in thinking that there are two SAP assesments, one prior to starting and one when actually built? Since our initial assessment, we have progressed with the build, now at second fix. Unsurprisingly we have made some changes to the original specification. We have increased the amount of glazing to a Southerly aspect, now have underfloor heating installed rather than radiators. Now looking at not installing a gas combi boiler, instead a couple of Ellis water heaters for the ufh heating and a hot water tank with an electric immersion. It is for a holiday home at present, so not going to get intensive use. Can always install the gas fired solution in the future if required. Also, owing to some project scope creep, funds are dwindling, so the log burner may not be installed as originally planned, once again maybe in the future. On the plus side I’m hoping we will be a lot more airtight that the 5 used in the original SAP. Just wondering how this is going to impact on my final SAP, do I just wait and see? Can I end up ‘failing’ ? If so what then?