PeterW

Ok now that is odd as Robin Hood are a reseller ..! So that will be margin on margin. They used to have the old boots printing generation unit in Nottingham too IIRC. Someone said it was part of Notts City Council* but I would need to check *wholly owned and not for profit.. that could be interesting ..!!

I'm on Ebico who are an SSE reseller for electricity as I want a no standing charge tariff but when the time comes I will most likely move to SSE for the house tariff as they are one of the better ones ...

Ok ... is this a "proper" topo survey that shows a large number of contour lines and multiple reference points, or is it a tree survey superimposed over the OS location plan ..? Reason I ask is that "some" arbtech surveyors* can be "artistic" in their interpretation of survey points especially when the "survey" is being used for planning permission i.e. if a tree is in the wrong place then planning may be declined, and most tree assessments for planning these days by LAs are desk based and done using Google Earth and the "report" by a "professional". It pays sometimes for a tree to move slightly so this may be what you are seeing...!! As with everything, caveat emptor... * this is no indication that all arbtech surveyors are of the opinion that customers pay the bills not trees, or that "moving" a tree is of benefit to a client knowing it will never be checked. It is based entirely on recent review of a number of planning "tree surveys" and finding 75% containing inaccurate data....

Will depend who did it and what they used. Modern tree surveys use 12 figure GPS references that are only useful really if you use the same kit due to calibration issues. The last unit I had used to "move" even when you've stood still for a minute so they have to be treated with caution. Much better is finding two immovable objects (buildings are good ...) and using good old trigonometry to triangulate the third point on the ground.

Unless it's a very unusual design then you can do it in a short number of hours - most are a section with the correct labels; drainage runs and soakaways; site layout; floor plans. If the architect wants £2500 for that then I'd be gobsmacked ..! btw I shamelessly copied @JSHarris submission as a guide and the [private] BCO said it was very comprehensive ...

I considered this but..... My ASHP is going to be doing 2 things - DHW and UFH. One at 48c, the other at 35c to maximize CoP. The downside is that to use the DHW temperature I would need the towel rails on at E7 times rather than when I want them (7-9am & pm) so it would be heating for longer and not at the right times unless I zone the DHW and towel rails somehow. Using PTC elements, a timer and an SSD I am putting the two towel rails and 2 electric UFH mats on a separate power circuit and they will basically be controlled centrally. This will be cheaper I think in the long run and less hassle than piping up multiple runs.

One of the only uses Solicitors have is for their professional indemnity insurance - get everything in writing and request everything in writing .... To dispel a couple of myths, most if not all but the specialist solicitors do not do their own searches ..! They use search companies who pay grads to go and sit in Severn Trents GIS kiosk or wherever and look on screen to see if there is anything near your plot. My experience is if you don't ask, you don't get ... TPOs are another classic - most councils "should" have their TPO data available online, but most can't afford the open GIS license needed to do the map displays at the level needed to display a single tree. Our search came back with TPO on it - we have 11 trees - but I knew none of them were covered as I had a tree survey that would have shown them and it didn't. Transpires that if you ask a local authority that question, they return EVERY TPO within 15m of the plot boundary ..! If you are buying an infill plot then look for the tell tale signs on the ground for unmarked sewers and drainage - look over the neighboring fences for manholes. A good rule of thumb - but not a guarantee - is that the "long" side of a manhole indicates the pipe direction. You can ask any council for access to the RoW maps and any local service maps - they may include paths and boundaries that will help you define the correct site layout. It also gives you chance to validate any previous planning applications around the site and see what has been approved or declined before. All of this costs you time but it is cheaper than a solicitor and also may bring up things you won't get from a solicitor search. We found that there is a 63mm gas pipe just over our fence in the neighbors garden - this was from the National Grid online planning tool (free..!) but the neighbours solicitors property search 18 months previous hadn't shown it.....

Thats the one I'm trying to source. Initially they told me that it was 30-70c which was ok, but ideally I want the valve operating in its mid range. The ESBE only fits on the manifold up to 5 ports purely due to the flow rates although I can see that being less of an issue with a lower temperature. Currently ESBE don't supply anyone in the U.K. with those parts unless you are OEM but I've got one from Poland for £53 delivered so I will see what happens.

House design pays dividends here and it's fair to say that the "tea cosy" effect is key. Our design is a big dormer based Build due to it being a conversion and extension. Walls account for much less than you think in this sort of build so I've focused on the roof (190mm Crown 32 lined with 40mm Kooltherm) and the floor with 125mm of PIR plus 25mm EPS. Walls will be 150mm blown graphite EPS as part of the existing building will also be done and I don't want to be mucking about with batts etc. Its also lowered my bricklaying prices and I can also see how clean the cavity is being kept. I've also taken EPS down the cavity below the floor - BC was fine with this but instead of having a concrete filled cavity that leaks heat from the UFH slab to the ground, I've got 100mm EPS that's secured in with a mortar back fill and the benefit of that will be significant I expect - at a cost of £100 which is only £10 more than the cost of a mortar backfill.

very neat !!

What are you cladding it with..???

I know the Melton were superb but just after ours was approved they stopped going direct. They had one guy in Grantham doing applications and he was stacked out but theirs was one of the last advance mortgage products. They are very switched on when it comes to processing but I guess it's easier to let a broker do the donkey work. I've yet to meet their assessor for the stage payments but we will see what happens then ..!

You've got one of the old ones - the new ones are by ESBE for up to 5 ports and don't go lower than 35c Chat with their tech department was interesting as his view was just run at 35c and it will just reach temperature quicker - didn't seem to grasp the concept of not going full chat and over heating.... The whole low energy house thing seemed not to be of interest.

Right.... Wunda aren't able to help here - they only have the smaller one in the 35-65 so I'm trying an alternate source. @joe90 I will order one and see what the score is - I may end up importing these things by the sounds of it !! The other one will get used as the TMV..!

Ed if you think Faye is going to buy the ".... but if I leave it on the floor love it dries better..." argument then you need to think again!!

Talk to @Trw144 as he knows a lot about stoves ... And you also may find he has a stove or two at a price that is just too good to miss ... and yes I know as I bought one ..! Also bear in mind that if it's less than 5kw it doesn't need any external air

It's about double the price it should be. I've used some very nice units from a specialist and it came in at around £3300 for similar to yours. Sharps do a 50% sale in the summer normally - just tell him he is £2k too expensive and he will come down in price...

None that I am aware of ..! They use a simple pipe stat to regulate the water temperature - I've come up with a change over relay scenario that when the 3 way valve changes over then it also connects a relay to move from a low temp 35c stat to a high temp 47c stat. That allows me to have dual flow temps.

After a weekend of kneeling on UFH pipes and other things that crucified my knees, has anyone got any decent recommendations for knee pads ..? They have to be the ones that slot into a pair of work trousers as I can't wear the ones that go around the knee with elastic or the like as they cause me problems with the tendons in the back of my knees.

Or use a standard tank with a normal coil and a solar coil to do the DHW uplift. Or use a standard 90 litre indirect tank and use the heat coil as DHW uplift and the bulk of the water as buffer with the ASHP connected directly. This would mean the ASHP could potentially connect directly to the UFH in the event the buffer was cold.

Ok I cannot condone this behavior as it would be unprofessional of me however ..... Build up the topsoil and mix in some good rotted manure and make the planting bed 150mm ABOVE the level of the pavement - batter it back to stop it falling forward. Top dress with a bucket of pelleted chicken manure and fork it in. Buy 20 of these 1.2/1.5m bare root plants and plant at 90cm intervals along the back row. https://www.hedgesdirect.co.uk/acatalog/bare_root_hedging_range.html#hawthorn Under plant with 90cm bare root whips of hazel and hawthorn with the odd beech mixed in at 30cm intervals. That should give you a pavement to top height of 160-170cm, and exceeding the recommended spacing for planting of hedging at 600mm. That should discharge your planning condition too as there is a substantial element of that hedgerow that is at the height required. Unless the space between the fence and the pavement is 140cm or more then there is not enough space for a double row anyway so planning are wrong....... hope that helps ...

Time to sit them down and explain ... I have a very traditional brickie (55 years old, 39 on the tools) who's had to learn some new stuff - air tightness,in slab UFH, self compacting flowing concrete and insulation below ground in founds amongst other things. I've taken the time to explain the reasoning and he's got it - in fact he's picking stuff up to reuse in the future as he sees the benefits. Its probably cost me a day or two of day rate to get him up to speed but the benefits are self evident - sometimes it's human nature to not ask questions, especially as your contractor may think you don't trust them if they have to ask about basic details which to you may be self evident. Taking a break and explaining the reasons as to how the build is designed end to end may help everyone understand the big picture and get you a quality delivery.

Sometimes a quick design change pays dividends. We have moved our dormers back so they stand on the inner block skin. I may use a thermal block to reduce the thermal bridge (or just a well insulated timber wall) but it meant that the front wall of the dormer became load bearing and the cheek rafters only take half the load from the walls - greatly simplifies the calcs..!

@TerryE I have but there are a couple of differences : - we are not passive slab - heat losses are slightly higher due to conversion / extension rather than air tight new build. The ASHP needs a minimum flow so whilst I could just plumb direct into the UFH it would stop every time the DHW called for heat. We also have most of the solar gain in a morning (in fact we gained 0.8 bar in water pressure on Monday just from the sun before we cast the slab) so there are benefits from running the pumps independently. Final benefit for me is running everything on the heat pump side at around 1 bar (as per @JSHarris design ) then I only have limited need for antifreeze and inhibitor as it's the ASHP circuit only rather than the whole system.

That is a very odd construction ..! What does the solid surface sit on ..? and have you got a cross section drawing you can share ..?