shuff27

Another possibility if it's happening regularly - Legionella boost setting for the ASHP? I've recently changed from Agile to Cosy for the heating use months - my ASHP was set by the installer to heat DHW from 3am to 4am so I changed that to an hour later to suit the Cosy tariff. But I was still getting a power spike once a week at 3am - I eventually realised that the Ecodan FTC6 controller had been set up to do the Legionella boost then.

We're also next to fields but find neighbour's BBQs more of an issue. Our Zender can switch ventilation mode from 'balanced' (i.e. normal supply & extract operation) to extract only via the app - this mitigates the issue effectively. It runs automatically on a timer (1 hour by default) so you won't be deprived of fresh air if you forget to switch it back! I'm guessing that other MVHR brands would have the same facility.

I bought my bricks from Jewson. They have a dedicated brick rep who covers the Midlands - he was very helpful & happy to deal with a self builder. I was sourcing materials during lockdown when UK factories weren't producing. He eventually found me some beautiful bricks from Belgium at a great price - my brickies said they were better quality than most UK bricks they'd ever laid.

Just finished mine last week - slabs on full bed of concrete ballast laid on thick layer of wacked type 1. Ramp slope is approx 10 degrees, I believe the permitted range is 7-15 degs. There's about a 5mm gap between the slabs & door cill to allow for drainage although the oak porch canopy keeps it virtually dry in any case. The slab path is 900mm wide & extends for 8m along the front elevation, so long enough to park parallel & get out of the car straight on to the path - final driveway finish will be 20mm stone chippings, i.e. not wheelchair compatible. Apart from the air tightness test this should be the final element before BCO completion sign off - probably a common situation for us self builders.

Hopefully BG will actually turn up for the installation, in my case they didn't despite their online support lying to me that the engineer was on the way. £30 compo & switched to Octopus to do it.

Seconded. No aerial nor landline for me & don't miss either - fortunately my village got FTTP while I was during construction stage. Getting Gigaclear to acknowledge that my house exists (their computer said no) was a painful process but all sorted now.

Once Octopus gave me the meter installation date I called their contractor to ensure they knew I needed a 3 phase meter. Apparently not all their installers are qualified to fit 3 phase meters so they allocated me one who is - he did a really neat job.

Why is that problematic? I have 3 phase & Octopus arranged for their contractor to fit the appropriate meter. I'm on the Agile tariff atm which suits my consumption pattern (no gas & EV). May change tariff in winter once ASHP heating is needed.

I'm in a Western Power area so got 3-phase supply installed as standard last year. The only elec suppliers willing to install meters at the time were EDF & British Gas but neither would install a 3-phase meter so I got a single phase dumb meter. BG offered the earliest appointment so I went with them. Since I recently bought a used EV I need a smart meter to use off peak tariffs so next week BG are returning to install a 3-phase smart meter. I'll then switch to one of the Octopus tariffs - will probably start a new thread about which one will best suit me as an ASHP user.

Almost time for my 1st filter set replacement, G4 + F7. The oem filters are approx twice the price of generic ones (ventilationland.co.uk) so I'm wondering if the generic ones would be fine or a false economy - I assume other MVHR owners have had the same decision to make so any comments?

If it helps, my 3ph box (as supplied by Westen Power) is approx 54x78cm - the one in your photo looks tiny by comparison.

Or use one of the LVT brands that have underlay built in - we chose the Malmo Rigid Comfort range as it comes in tile format as well as plank format.

That's what I used on recommendation of my MVHR kit supplier. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it - practice on an offcut. Also good idea to cut the ends that are going into the manifold long initially, then trim them all down more accurately once you're ready to attach them all to the manifold. I had to do this anyway while waiting for the MVHR unit/manifold to be delivered but it turned out to make the final connection of the 15 ducts into the manifold easier.

Our frames are grey external & white internal - some suppliers, like ours, offer this as a no cost option.

We wanted grey but not the ubiquitous 7016 anthracite so chose 7012 basalt - happy with the decision.

We moved in to our new self build about 3 months ago & the last inside trade has just finished. Loads of decorating left for me to do but no more cost except decorating supplies. Outside we have a usable driveway topped with mot type 1 but rest of landscaping still to finish (estimated cost of £10-15k depending on how much I take on myself). Total house build cost came in at £383k including all fees for 218 sqm (including single attached garage) so £1757 psm. I went over budget by approx £60k largely due to increased material costs & delays (started groundworks in Nov 2021). Build process was self managed and employing subbies direct. Expecting around £13k back in VAT reclaim...one day!

We have alu cills with our Norrsken windows - the only noisy ones when raining are the small GF windows in the gable end; the FF windows in the same gable (including the one in our bedroom) are not affected, presumably they get enough protection from the roof eaves.

Ours is 600 deep as our kitchen fitter made them out of the same carcasses he used for the kitchen. Our kitchen/dining/living room has a 1.8m wide opening to the hall (no doors) so the storage unit matches the kitchen units & island. Anything less than 600 would be too tight for winter coats.

Yep, I'm sure contractors should carry their own - but guess what, they don't. Of all the trades I've used only the timber frame erection team & the window installers had their own first aid kit. All the others were 1 or 2 man band self employed subbies, not only without a FAK but sometimes no eye protection or masks either (I had these available on site too). I certainly didn't get involved in applying first aid either, it was a case of saying "here's a sterile swab & new sticking plaster, help youself". I also had an appropriate site insurance policy, thankfully never needed to call on that.

I don't know if this is specifically covered under CDM regs but I would advise all self builders to have a decent first aid kit on site & make sure contractors know where it is. Mine was needed on several occasions, generally for minor cuts, and my subbies were appreciative that there was a better option than just wrapping a used hanky around the cut. I recorded any such incidents in my site diary.

Mine was 12.5mm - as you'd expect 15mm is proportionately more expensive but I still reckon I got a good price. Some materials such as plasterboard seem to exist in a more competitive market - I told my Jewson rep the best price I'd found online & after a bit of haggling she agreed to beat it.

I paid £6.52 per Gyproc plasterboard sheet back in May this year from Jewson (your order is in a similar format - was that Jewson too?)

I have the N70, only moved in 3 weeks ago but so far it seems to be working pretty well. There are 2 MVHR extract vents in the ceiling at the kitchen end of the kitchen/diner, within a meter or so of the hob. As the hob vent sucks downwards, my kitchen fitter cut a horizontal section out of the island plinth on the hob side. It's recessed so invisible. When the hob extractor is on a high setting it vents through there & gets sucked up into the MVHR vents especially with the MVHR (Zehnder Q450) on boost for a bit.

Just wondering, do you think you'll need rads upstairs? I decided not to have them, just heated towel rails & elec UFH in the upstairs bathrooms. Downstairs is 8.5kW heat pump with wet UFH in the screed. MCS signed off this arrangement after some discussion (I provided my own heat loss calcs based on Jeremy's spreadsheet).

Re SD vs HD lintels, I was advised by Catnic (who will produce a schedule FOC if you send your drawings) that SD is suitable for brick & HD is required for stone due to the extra weight load - but you should check with your architect/SE as there may be other factors e.g. span length. My facing walls were designed as mainly brick with some stone panels in between the GF & FF windows but in the end I went 100% brick to save on labour & materials cost.