Mugwanya

The other consideration was to use something like a Sunamp thermal store, again with the aim of using the unoccupied days' sunshine to prepare for dull but occupied days. That also means a large-ish initial outlay - over £2k for the equivalent storage of a £500 cylinder, but the heat is retained for a lot longer so there is a trade-off. My thought was that two UniQ 12s could store 2 or 3 day's worth of hot water. But I'm looking into how long they can store the heat.

I will have mains water. The water company have been extremely helpful; I just need to install three standpipes and they will put in supplies for all three houses, even though two of them won't be started for a couple of years. I've built the standpipes but need to build secure housing so I've got to ask them if I can do one housing for all three or if they need to be individual.

I have a friend with an array close to where my plot is and from his figures for last winter I'd worked out that a 10KW array would see me through most of the winter with the odd bad week on the generator. Also as a holiday home the winter is likely to be the least busy time; if it is a week between lets then it does become an issue of storage. But I accept the advice that on grid is the way to go and will look at reducing the cost of getting the supply to the site. Thanks Derek

So I guess it won't be cost effective. I'm planning to build just the three bedroomed house this year, and had hoped to put in 17KWh of Solax batteries, or the Pylontechs, which list at under 7k, and the comfort cooling adds maybe 3k to the cost of the MHVR, either by adding a heat pump or an evaporator. You're saying I'll need twice as much battery storage? I am building as a business and am aware of the VAT implications. Thank you for your input, particularly if it stops me going in the wrong - expensive- direction. I will pursue quotes to get a trench dug.

I'm not planning to give them air con, just comfort cooling in the summer. Maybe knock 4 degrees off outside ambient. I've been quoted 23 grand to get electric to the site. That buys a lot of battery. Now 14 of to go elsewhere to get it done cheaper, running the lines 25 metres down the road, so I might end up being able to do that. But I'm attracted to being completely off grid, batteries plus a generator.

Hi All Attached are the plans for the homes that I have permission for; I plan to change the three bedroom one so that the rectangle is completed (which would allow for en-suites to the relevant bedrooms) and also to have a flat sloping roof at an angle of between 20 and 35 degrees (dependent on what the planners will allow) so that the whole roof is available for solar panels. The structure will use SIP panels with a U value no more than 0.13, a SIP roof, triple-glazed windows (Munster Joinery seem good but I haven't obtained quotes yet) and insulated foundations. So not aiming for Passivhus on my first build but I want to try to get close-ish. I'm looking for MVHR for a bit under 200m2 of floor area (but bear in mind the high ceilings on the first floor). I'd like comfort cooling for the hopefully hot summers to come. Water heating needs to support three showers/sinks in the en-suites, sink and bath in the bathroom and sink in the kitchen. I'm not planning underfloor heating but infra-red radiant but that is under review. The property will have no gas and probably no grid electric, so lots of solar panels and big batteries. So the plan was to have an Ariston Nuos cylinder with built-in heat pump, immersion and 200l (or 250l) of water storage plus a 300l indirect cylinder with an immersion. So the Nuos could be used to heat the water in the second cylinder and in itself using its heat pump, but the immersions could be used if needed. But I'm also talking to Total Home about their systems (PKOM4, Joule and heat pump MVHRs) because they look interesting. I'm working on the basis that these are holiday homes, so likely to have gaps between bookings. So the hope is that a lot of the time the batteries will be full and the solar energy can be used to just heat up the water. And I want to cater for the booking that has 6 adults, 5 of whom have showers in the morning and one has a bath. So lots of hot water needed, hence the two cylinders. The house will also need a sewage treatment plant; I'm currently favouring the new Solido over the Vortex or the Graf though I don't know enough to justify my choice; I think they'll all do the job and in the end I just had to pick one. Would have liked to have had the choice of one of the non-electric plants but they seem to be about £2,000 more than the electric and I don't believe the savings are worth it. Anyway, nice to be here listening to you all Derek Mugwanya A.02_First_Floor_Plans_and_Elevations.pdf A.05 First Floor Plans and Elevations.pdf