Mark W

I have to agree with JS's statement 100%. If you are starting a project always go out to at least 4 or 5 merchants and let them know that you are getting other quotations. I would split mine up, depending on what materials are required, You can always look at using an independent freelance buyer as sometimes they can get even better prices than you can or the merchants you are using. They will charge a % for their services but it is worth it at the end of the day as you don't have to do all the hard work in trying to get the best prices in. When I get any quotation back I would always tell them that need to sharpen their pencil.

That is one shop I would never use, They are criminals when it come to competitive pricing. They are not interested in the self builders of any other builder. there is no reason to discount, they make far more profit selling to Joe public who have no idea what the proper price should be . I tend to use independants

Yes you can only put so much insulation around a thermal store, I remember we had a meeting with Gledhill regarding a solar thermal store while working for a hospital trust,, at the end of the day it was just not worth it . Hospitals use lots of hot water and it is stored at high temperature, most of their system worked with HTHW from the main boilers, this also ran the absorption chillers . at the end of the day we ended up putting in two large GHP units and re- used the waste heat from them.

This is very interesting I now know how it works as I have been looking into this, It works with PCM's, looking into it further you can cool with PCM's as well, I would love to hear how you get on with the Sunamp over the next few weeks, it all works in the phase change, I would be mrse interested in the cooling applications of PCM's, will need to do some more research.

I need to do some more reading up on this.I must say that 20000 cycles is very good, I was actually saying about the efficiency as they class it as a battery, like a normal deep cycle 1.2v cell you need to put in more power than you get out.

Thanks for that JS I have not found that much technical information regarding the efficiency of the unit. I see it can supply 4-5 KWh worth of hot water . It would be interesting to see how many KWh of electricity you need to put into it to get 4-5 KWh of hot water out.

PeterI have not looked at it that much yet, does the unit have a life expectancy time. and what would be the cost including all the controls and plumbing to install this unit, have not been able to find any costs I always like looking at alternatives.

Hi all and thanks for the kind welcome. Yes correct form South East London. Well to be more precise Bromley Kent, I have be spending some time reading lots of the threads on here especially the ones on renewable energy as I am a fan of this, I Still don't know what to make of this Sunamp battery ! and if it has any advantages. I have lived totally off grid while overseas, the water was catchment as well so I have a good idea what works and what is a waste of time and money. Anyway many thanks for the nice welcome. Mark

Nice to have found this group, just saying hello to all of you self builders. I am in the early stages of planning my self build, and hopefully for next year fingers crossed. I have been in construction all of my life, I started in the early days on the civils side, road construction and concrete and progressed onto building construction and refurbishment and project management. It has always been a dream to build my own house and the time has now come where I now have the time to look into this as an on going project. I have had enough of blocks and SIP's, to be honest I like all timber construction, I have been in contact with a company in the US regarding their kit houses , I have helped construct one of their houses in Canada a few years ago and I like their design and easy of construction. The big question is how would they go down in the UK with the latest design and planning requirements What do you think, would I have problems. Here is the company's website http://www.smilingwoodsyurts.com/ I Looking forward to being an active member on this forum Mark W