PeterW

Yes and I've done it...

@JSHarris @Onoff @ProDave so other than a Megger, what is the view on a decent meter that can do the basics that isn't eye watering on price..?

@Roz how close is the studio to the house..? Could be a candidate for your plant room..?

Right... possibly a quick chat with @Nickfromwales as that will easily take a sunamp and you could hide it in a kitchen cupboard and run with electric for your hot water and ASHP for the heating. Looks like lots of glass in that build too so I would have a chat about upping the spec in the roof insulation.

MDF windowboard is so much easier to work with and more stable as it doesn’t shrink or move like timber. 2 coats of gloss and it’s as good as waterproof too.

Building Control

Was that the lesson from Little Willy..??!

@newhome A picture of beauty that they actually work ..!!! @lizzie tbh if the installer is showing signs of not returning soon, I would advise Robbens and suggest their system isn’t fit for purpose either as they can’t dodge this one. And that pipework is lovely - I’d hate for me and @Nickfromwales to have to come over and turn it into a scrap pile .....

Timloc do a vent with 180mm from memory and it has reducers to take it down to 100mm in stages. 180mm is a big duct - what’s the flow ..??

@Roz have you got any floorplans...?

Same company here

The concrete acts as a big storage heater - what is your expected method of heating..?

Yes just put insulation in first. Check the roof build up as that can be easily improved.

Make the slab structural and get rid of that screed !!! Gives you 140mm kooltherm with 100mm concrete. Massively better performance and quicker as only one wet floor trade. Roof doesnt make sense either as if you use a 200mm joist then you can get 175mm of mineral wool In there then add 40mm of kooltherm and you are 30% better than the spec already. Can you post plans...?

@Roz are you taking the roof off and digging up the floor..? if you give your build a big woolly hat and a warm pair of boots then you will mitigate the loss through the walls. Then make it airtight and you are well on the way to reducing heat loss. So if you can increase floor uValue and roof uValue then the 0.3 wall value become less of an issue

@Roz how much space do you have...? Air tightness is equally if not more important as insulation so if you get that right you can reduce the airborne heat losses . What is your proposed wall build up..?

@Nickfromwales to explain ... - on a Genvex in heating mode ( a la @JSHarris) the heat pump element of it sucks as much heat as possible out of the exhaust air so it’s near freezing. - on an ordinary MVHR, the exhaust is ordinarily cooler than the input by a few degrees however it’s flow is very low compared to a normal heat pump. Its the reason the Genvex can’t put large quantities of heat into the air flow as it’s flow rate is so low. Clearer ..??

As per @Triassic says. Clear the soil so you get to concrete then it’s a test drill to see what you’ve got. Is the underside easier to see...?? I’d be looking to both core it wider than needed then use some sort of waterproof membrane such as a self adhesive rubber on the sleeve and the roof junction and back fill around that area with clean stone. Keep the soil clear using a bucket with the base cut out of it. Should be easy enough to put a flue through that with a collar.

Surprisingly yes..!! Incoming air at 12c, exhaust at 5c after exchange is fairly common however as @JSHarris says, the trick is to get the heat out of it with a heat pump. Downside is with MVHR is that the flow is low - a standard Heat Pump will shift 50-70 cubic metres per minute through its coils, far more than an MVHR

Circa £2k according to this

@K78 this looks a bargain Hitachi ASHP

@chrisb this is the one I was thinking about. Buffer

I fitted this a while back as it was the best value we could find - the big issue with any of the 3 channel stuff is depth. We ended up having the ceiling overboarded to get the depth and that probably cost more than the track did ...! Its 33mm deep and that means either you have to counter batten your ceilings or plan to just run it between the joists and fit noggins. On another job the spark did he fitted timber battens to the correct width and depth and then got the plasterer to skim up/over them and pulled them out afterwards and slotted the tracks in. As many will tell you - track isn't the cost, its the lights that will be the pricey bit !!

Thanks all - TS it is for extension pieces and 75mm screws !

Anyone got any of these or a link to where I can get them in less than packs of 100..?? I only need 6 as I’ve got a couple of faceplates that are inside cupboards and 75mm are just too short. Happily pay P&P for them