JohnMo

Doesn't seem to happen in Scotland, we have lots of renewables only days!

I never come across a caulk that doesn't shrink and leave gaps everywhere after a couple of years. If caulk based I really wouldn't bother, will it last? Will you be airtight in a years time?

But that isn't going to happen, there will always be steam turbines, either nuclear or hydrogen as heat source, plus hydro etc.

Maybe still true, but you do get different options and view points on many diverse scopes.

Isn't the telegraph agenda to blame everything on net zero. So just normal reporting from them. So why bother reading it.

Not really, it is being done prior to second fix so will not be valid. So will need to be repeated. It's more akin to a prior to second fix diagnostic test.

Sorry can't help myself We did approx 210m² Durisol blocks (so full of holes) with sand, cement and lime parge, 2 off us a day and half and nearer £200 than £4k. Block work would have used half the parge coat. So not very good value for money.

We're at 200mm concrete below the insulation with 2x rebar, then I put 100mm fibre reinforced over the insulation. Plus there are reinforced strip foundations under that. But we are a sand hill side.

Forgot to mention not withstanding your wee concrete thickness I wouldn't have pipes under walls. Many would, but no chance of hitting pipes if they are not there. And easy to design out now. No need for UFH in the plant room, under staircase or in cupboards. Does your UFH design output enough heat to provide heat for upstairs?

As @Conor we run generally in storage heater mode (on E7 tariff). We have a 13kWh battery, but on a typical winter day (rubbish PV) we ended up drawing in full price electric too often when doing WC. We have a heat demand of about 3.5kW but at -9, and with 6kW we cannot batch charge the floor fully at off peak rates when really cold. Thick floor will buffer heat very well without overheating the house. In March we charged the floor in the day on excess PV. So was getting a CoP of 5 from free electric, running heat pump at 33 to 35 degs. Unlike a radiator system, thick screed allows you to oversize the heat pump with zero penalty. But use a low hysterisis thermostat +0, -0.1 is best failing that +/- 0.1. Is +0.5 degs a realistic design temperature for a heating system? I would be looking at -3 as a minimum - Or are you living somewhere hot? Look on eBay there are 8kW ASHP on there which looks good for less than £1500.

It's part of the combi valve that goes on the cold water feed into the cylinder.

Serious note, the manifold directly above the UVC may lead to a thermosyphon wicking away the hot water. You need to make a heat trap first. Once you have the heat trap you can do what you wish with the piping and have manifold above the UVC without risk of the thermosyphon occurring.

Get those big manifolds and stop complaining 😁

Do you mean, the garden needs building up or the location of the house needs building up? If it's garden you don't want to compact the soil. If where the house will be you will be stripping out the top soil, so you don't want to add more. Do want your structural engineer says to do.

That's why mine is simple - one hot one cold to each wet room only. KISS wins the day

Then bonded poly beads fully filled?

Or prior to installing rivnuts if access is easier.

But before running away think job done and I'll take the easy way out, note what table 4.1 actually says NOTE: To meet the target fabric energy efficiency rate set out in Section 1, the energy efficiency of some elements will need to be significantly better than the limiting standards in Table 4.1. So it's an average, lots of walls at 0.26 means roof and floor have to loads better than min standard. So you may need to get to below 0.1 on floor and roof to compensate, based on what windows you have and area. There isn't really that much wiggle room. Base U value rates are for building regs section 1 in England are... External walls U = 0.18 W/(m²·K) Party walls U = 0 Floors U = 0.13 W/(m²·K) Roofs U = 0.11 W/(m²·K) etc... I really wouldn't compromise on U values or airtightness, it will cost you every heating day there after, plus you will have way more heating days as well.

I would use a rotating wire brush to remove paint over the rust and abrade rust. Then use a rust converter to treat. Then prime and paint. Or use an epoxy primer, as long as it's not exposed to UV will last for ever. If exposed use a suitable top coat. Prior to the above, mark out the timber and drill the wood that will be attached to the steel frame. Use something like 8.8 grade M10 bolts. So drill 10.5mm. Transfer drilling to steel frame. Use M10 rivnuts in the steel frame - like a rawlplug for steel. Once the holes are drilled for rivnuts do the rust and paint then attach the rivnuts. Prior to assembly attached closed cell neoprene foam to steel/wood matting surface. Or an automotive non setting body sealant. Either will stop water getting pulled into small gaps by capillary action.

I opened the document and closed it again, when I couldn't be bothered. If they can't do an introduction in plain English, not worth the time.

You point at building regs, tell them you comply, tell them to put in writing what parts of building regs you don't comply with. Trickle vents doesn't even get mentioned in building regs part F, it just mentions background ventilators. You have to have inlet vents, but they do not have to be in the window. They have to meet minimum mm² requirements.

I ended up looking about locally, as I got the same run around you are getting. A local firm made wooden windows from scratch, about 5 miles from the house. They measured, made, certified and installed. Everything was way easier. Had a couple of alignment issues 2 years after install, they were here to sort, an hour later. But locally made if you can.

But that isn't fully correct and is piss poor advise. The correct wording background ventilators. Which can be through wall or through top of window provided they meet the minimum open volume. Read here, similar rules apply in Scotland. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/approved-document-f-volume-1-dwellings-frequently-asked-questions

The way the humidity control ventilation will work dMEV units are running at minimum speed for room they are installed. The Greenwood CV2 will automatically boost on rising humidity. The inlet vents in different rooms will have a minimum open position (from install manual - "At low levels of relative humidity, the extract never fully closes, providing a low level of background ventilation to ensure continuous ventilation"), so all rooms will have a background ventilation rate. So the ventilation in will wash the room with a small rate at all times. Door under cuts allow air to freely be drawn from the inlet valves. No inlet valves in wet rooms ensures good cross ventilation. When your say in the lounge generating humidity by breathing, drinking tea etc, the ventilation inlet in that room will start opening. More air wash will occur in that area as the ventilation inlet opens, lowering the system resistance compared to other vents in a more closed position. At bedtime your lounge humidity drops and the inlet closes and the bedroom one starts to open etc. No one home all vents are in the minimum position. Take a shower fan in bathroom goes into boost and just pulls harder on the vents in the minimum open position. The inlet vents just provide a variable inlet resistance to give preferential flow in areas of higher humidity.

Why doesn't weather compensation work on all houses? It's just energy in equal to energy out.