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Brochure says ' Corrosion protection - Magnesium rod'. I guess this means it is not a stainless tank and rod acts as an anode? Routine replacement would most likely get overlooked so not such a good idea. But maybe there are other types with a stainless tank.

Has anybody fitted one of the combined DHW and ASHP units? Was at NEC show last week and saw a unit made by Haier - CURV - HP200M3 that seems a neat solution optimised for DHW use. For my set-up the air inlet could be linked to a bathroom and would replace a wall mount extractor fan and allow the unit to recover heat from extracted air as input to DHW as well. It would also allow main ASHP to be smaller and used only for UFH. Any experience good or bad welcome.

Can anybody offer guidance on options for ground floor screed. I was planning to use one of the many self levelling types as final finish will be porcelain tiles. But my builder advises these can’t be laid thicker than 50mm and even that will take ages to dry ready for tiling. So any recommendations for a 75mm layer and I've got about 100m2 to lay. I was planning to do this pretty late in the build after the ceilings have been plastered at least to maintain a neat floor for tiling.

Ended up with the same pipe size as you and yes it is buried in the ground and runs inside house under floor slab. I didn’t use anything special for trench so just relying on the insulation around the pipe.

Thanks for the feedback so I'll try to answer the various questions: For CCTV I've allowed for PoE cameras to various external locations. I was just planning to get a package solution with cameras and recorder to be located in central cabinet from Reolink (or similar) so was assuming this is all self contained for the POE bit. Router (BT or Sky) will also we located inside the cupboard with the cabinet etc. so I've allowed for the option to add WAP to hallway and landing areas to boost the signal. Currently this is just a spare port which ill put near to a socket but I like the idea of using a PoE WAP instead. Do these need to be celling mounted or are there basic units that can go on walls etc.? If I go with PoE WAP idea I assume I need to chose a Switch that supports PoE on some ports. Spec for these units seems very complex to me. So If i need to allow for say 4 PoE WAP devices (and maybe 6 PoE CCTV cameras if my suggestion to use a package is a bad idea) then what size/capacity switch would I need? Some other questions from me: Any recommendations on best places to source patch panels and switches? Any suggestions to help with sizing of cabinet etc. Should this be freestanding or fixed to wall? Is it best to go for more smaller patch panels or a few larger ones? i.e 2 x 24 port or 4 x 12 port panels? Which is easier to connect up? Any recommendations on best type of panels for a newbie to use for DIY set-up? If I've got 40+ Cat6 cables to terminate into a patch panel there is a lot of scope for things to go wrong! Was interested in the Connectix express system as DIY friendly. Seems easier to be able to terminate the cable to a connector when its a loose cable and then mount into panel frame rather than fix cable into the panel when its fixed into the cabinet with maybe limited access to the rear if its mounted to the wall. Any tips on how to label all the cables so it's easy to figure out what came from where?

Thanks for guidance. I've got to the 40+ on the basis of putting 2 x RJ45 ports at least in almost every room, these will all feed to central cabinet and only the ones needed will be patched to a switch. But based on advice for port location I may add more ports in places like the study so have the flexibility to put printers etc. wherever makes sense.

Hi Guys, I'm trying to work out what is the best cable to use to connect the Openreach Fibre supply point that will come directly into the house, with the LAN switch in my media hub. The cable that joins these two together will be about 15 m and I was planning to use just CAT6 throughout the house for all LAN connections. Current plan looking is looking like 40+ LAN points. These wont all be in use at the same time but it seems like I should be running a bigger cable into the media cabinet but not sure what? A second and related question is can a take one of the outputs from the main switch in the media cabinet to be the input to a secondary switch ( e.g in my office) if I need additional ports at some point in the future? Would Cat6 cable be sufficient to connect these two switches together? Sorry i these are dumb questions but this is my first time trying to put in a structured cable network and just want to make sure the right sort of cables go in from he start.

Hi guys, Has anybody used the Kitchens4DIY brand? They have a stand at the NSBRC in Swindon and look to be very competitively priced but again not certain how the build quality stacks up against others. I was going to try Howdens or Ikea as alternatives but I've seen on other threads that the Nolte brand are highly recommended so will be investigating further. Would supply only be an option for Nolte as I understood that German brands usually only come with fitting?

Hi Guys, Has anybody got any experience of using the new type of large format ceramic tiles for a kitchen. I'm trying to find a tile that can be used for complete ground floor area including living areas and kitchen. The current favourites are 900 x 900 x 9mm tiles. Other tiles we've looked at come in more size options (smaller and larger) and are typically 12mm thick but are quite a bit more expensive. Has anybody experience of using these types of tiles in a kitchen space? Would a 9mm tile be too thin to survive the likely knocks and wear and tear without cracking? Would the 12mm be a safer option? Would smaller format tiles be more suited to a kitchen space. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks guys, I will have solar PV so that seems to point in favour of the air-to-air option. Never considered this before as assumed it to be expensive. Build location is Shropshire so any suggestions on where to go for a design/quote?

Hi Guys, Looking for some advice on options for heating a small 1 bed flat being build above my garage. Space comprises open plan living/kitchen area with adjoining bathroom and separate bedroom. Approx 50m2, U Values roof =0.13, Walls = 0.13, Floor = 0.19, roof lights = 1.0. Heating needs to be electric and a self contained system. Options I was considering were either electric UFH or electric radiators. Preferred floor finish would be engineered timber so not ideal for UFH I am told. I've just learned of a third option using a small electric boiler and traditional wet radiators. This seems to be the cheapest to install. Does anybody have any experience of this type of system? Thanks in advance.

I'm trying to work out best option for external render onto an ICF woodcrete block (Isotex). Architect has recommended K Rend but their tech suppot does not seem to have experience of the woodcrete type ICF block and their recommended build up is based on a Polystyrene type ICF build. Has anybody used K Rend or similar on a woodcrete type ICF block? What basecoat/topcoat would work best?

Thanks Dan, Very helpful, Seems Loxone can keep control if I pick the right extra component's .

Hi guys, I'm needing some help to figure out how to make the most of smart wiring for my new build. Network I think is all sorted. Where I'm getting stuck is how to make the most of power circuits. Favouring the Loxone system for lighting/heating/security/audio. But not found a neat solution for control of sockets - I need option to control selected outlets for lighting - table lights, xmas lights etc. where i need ability to schedule on/off etc. I don't like the idea of stand alone plug in smart outlets and trying to find an integral option for the sockets. I've looked at various Smart sockets that seem to have the required features but trying to avoid multiple systems/apps with multiple control points. Anybody found a way to connect all these together in a common interface?

But i cant seems to get any response from the company so maybe they are another casualty of the covid mess.

Thanks Nick, I checked Vaillant install instructions and that uses 32mm so will go with your advice. Regards, Chris

I'm trying to figure out what size Mibec twin wall insulated pipe to install as part of the groundworks before I've actually chosen an ASHP or had a proper design. First budget design suggested a 12kw ASHP would be required for UFH (approx 120m2 floor area) and DHW. Pump will be positioned about 10m away from the house and advice elsewhere on here suggested Mibec twin insulated pipe seems are the way to go. But should I allow for 25mm or 32mm pipes to connect from ASHP to the manifold inside the house? Any advice much appreciated.

Has anybody installed the radiator panels from 3Thermo that are designed to built into studwork walls and concealed by the plasterboard? Seems an interesting idea so wondered if anybody has tried to use them. https://3thermo.uk/

As a matter of interest if standard ventilation flow rate is 0.5 ACH what sort of flow rate do you need to benefit form the heating/cooling potential from the air supply? I will take a look at the Blauberg range but I'm interested in both winter heating and summer cooling options and the cooling bit seems harder to achieve.

So I'm guessing you are happy with the Lossnay unit? Did you source this through BPC? What size ducting did you install? If I was to install bigger ducts this should make it possible to move more air around without it becoming noticeable if the MVHR is sized form the outset for peak flow. But that is just theory and I have no idea if you can get bigger ducts and vents for domestic use that wont make the install look like an industrial unit. All part of the research. Comments greatly appreciated

I'm still trying to figure out how to best combine a regular MVHR with an add-on to provide for additional heating/cooling if required and have come across the Mitsubishi Lossnay system that includes the option of adding a GUG Air Processing unit (datasheet attached) that can combine with a small ASHP to provide direct heating or cooling of the supply air. I'm guessing this unit could be added to any MVHR provided the system had been designed in the first place to allow for increased volumes of air flow to move hot/cold air around to achieve an effective cooling/heating effect. Has anybody any experience of such a system in a domestic house setting? Or is this kind of set-up mainly used for commercial buildings? GUG-010203SL-E_PI_SHEET.pdf

Cost mainly and I've heard they can be noisy.

Local BCO has approved a Septic Tank, so do not intend to go down the STP route.

Looking for a bit of guidance on choice of Septic Tan and whether i need a vent pipe.. I've already installed the drainage field as pic and this includes a vent pipe on plot boudary at the lowest point. There will also be a vent pipe on main soil stack to house. So my question is do I also need to attach a vent pipe to the Septic Tank? Or is there a brand of tank that will allow airflow through the tank using my existing vents? Max occupancy will be 8 people for christmas etc. but regularly there will only be 2 people. I think the recommended tank size would be around 3750 - 4000 litres and it needs to be a low profile type to minimise excavation as site is on shale with limited topsoil. Any recommendations on which brand is most suitable would be much appreciated.

Thanks guys very helpful as always.