Bramco

I do too but I've always put this down to wearing contact lenses - I'm sure the lenses can cause glare close to the eye somehow. Years ago when we lived in Sheffield we used to go to the Crucible which had thousands of very bright tiny lights on the ceiling. I used to have to hold my hand over my eyes to stop the glare. In the current house we have some rooms without any overhead light, only standard lamps and lamps on side tables etc. - from my eyes perspective, this provides lighting that is much more restful. Simon

Here's another comparison table - quite useful -> https://www.boilerguide.co.uk/air-source/best-air-source-heat-pump-manufacturers. (Not sure if this has been updated recently though.) And something from a supplier (I think), so less independent -> https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/air-source-heat-pumps/reviews Simon

We have a big kitchen/dining/living space with vaulted ceilings and have specified a hidden led strip along the wall/ceiling join that will throw light upwards. We'll also make this dimmable in sections, so the kitchen space, the dining space and the living space. There'll also be 3 dimmable pendants over the kitchen island. We'll add some floor lamps in the living space. You have to get the housings for the leds in place before plastering of course. Simon

No idea where that list came from but our outline permission and another one along the lane in the Green Belt didn't have any of those. And to be honest some of them seem irrelevant to a small plot for residential development. Take a look at some outline planning permissions in your area - do they have any of those surveys/statements? My guess is none of them have, so crack on and apply. Simon Edit PS - you could spend way more than £100k on that list!!!!

Wall mount is the way forward.... Simon

We've had 9mm tiles from B&Q in our kitchen for 10 years. 600x600. Not sure why you'd be worried by wear and tear and cracking? Porcelain tiles are pretty indestructible once they are down. More's to the point, what colour? And how mottled? Kitchens get loads of crap dropped on the floor, so make sure that crumbs won't show until there's a snow drift of them.... Mottled is good. Also go dark, this means dark grouting. You can wash the greb off a tile but not the grouting. Light coloured grouting soon looks... well, grebby... We've got 2 possible tiles for our new build currently in the old kitchen, just sat there, seeing what they look like with splats of stuff, crumbs etc. Might spill some red wine tonight while I'm frying to see what they look like. Simon

One thing to do is to check with the local drainage board what their accepted maximum greenfield runoff rate is. Then check on the Suds site https://bit.ly/3rKBtli what the rate is for your location, it's based on soil types etc. In our case this was less than the maximum. Our engineer gave me the expected runoff rate for the newly developed area of our build. It turned out with a bit of maths that the newly developed bit would put the overall runoff rate 6% above the maximum greenfield rate. We wrote an email to the drainage board, making a song and dance about the environmentally crazy idea of sticking a load of plastic crates in the ground when if we simply discharged straight into the dyke in front of the plot, we would have a negligible impact on the chance of flooding. They agreed. We then presented that email to the local CC flood authority team and they agreed. We'll need to get permission to put a head wall in the dyke but don't see that as an issue. We've already had permission to build a culvert. Interestingly, the flood authority in a separate email conversation pointed out that if we caused any damage through flooding that could be attributed to us then it would be a civil matter for the properties/land owners down stream. Fortunately they all discharge into the dyke anyway, so we're not expecting any issues on that front. Our plot is 1 acre and the newly developed bit probably about 200m2 with the house and patios. Simon

I'm assuming it means a drain down if you want to swap at a later date? Simon

So presumably, those of us building with slab and TF from say MBC would need this type of manifold? Simon

Looks great but..... Ours will be corrugated steel - think cow shed. Also, the roof build up is essentially roof felt above and airtightness membrane below filled with blown cellulose - so maybe less structurally 'firm' than yours? Simon

Nick, my mistake. There's a long email trail on this one and I remembered the mention of durgo valves but that was in connection with internal terminations. As you say, would be pointless if the termination wasn't 2 way. Ours isn't really close to the other properties connected to the main sewer. There's a row of semis with the sewer along the back, then it strikes diagonally across a 2 acre field with the original bungalow and our new build. The manhole we'll be connecting to is about 30m away. Not sure if all that makes any difference. Russel, great idea, I'll mention this to the builders. And there won't be any roof vents as it's all vaulted ceilings and we'll easily be able to get it well away from (and above) the nearest opening window.

Thanks all - great info. Simon

Quick question hopefully. We're keen to avoid penetrations of an SVP through our roof. Seems crazy to put a big hole in a roof if you don't need to. Currently, we have 4 service pipes through our slab that all meet at a point where there will be a manhole and then there'll be a single run to a manhole on the sewer that runs across the property. On eof these was destined to penetrate the roof. BC have said that if we don't want a penetration in the roof, then we could run another pipe from the manifold back to the house and then run a pipe up the back of the house with a durgo valve at the top. We'd disguise this as a drainpipe, so small bore, not a nasty orange thingy. The service pipes that come through the slab of bathrooms and loos etc. would then have air inlet valves. Our M+E consultant is doing the traditional sucking teeth pose 'ooohhh I don't think that would be appropriate' Tbh we're not interested whether it would be 'appropriate', would it work and has anyone done this? Simon

But what's their connection? How did it work for them? Golf club? ..... Simon

Tell them in view of their response, you're thinking of selling the plot for an executive ghetto - bet they'll whoop with joy as it will make their numbers easier to achieve. More seriously, don't let them get you down, make sure of all your facts, try to get the local councillor on board etc. and appeal if nothing else works. Plenty on here have and have won - we did in the Green Belt... Simon PS Also talk to the neighbours and find out how much their back hander was, or who they know in the planning department.....

Agree wholeheartedly - we had the same in our appeal which was for infill in the green belt. All the 5 exceptions for permission in the GB are understood not to affect openness as they are allowed, so openness is not an issue. However ....... Extensions are limited to about 50% of the 'original' structure. The 50% isn't written down anywhere and I think might be something based on case law but it seems to be the rule of thumb. Your extension to the back isn't part of the original (iiuc?), so that takes up some of your 50%. They seem to have also taken into account the garage which brings you up over 100% and therefore not permissible. You ask an interesting question about giving up the garage. This might be the way to do it. Our neighbours were recently refused a full planning application to build a freestanding 3 bay car porty thing at the back of their bungalow. While the planner said 'no' due to the same rule your planners are referencing they did point out that what the neighbour wanted to build could be built under PD. They didn't explicitly say that but the letter pointed the neighbours to the PD legislation. PD legislation allows you to build outbuildings for the amenity of the property, so a garage, swimming pool etc. where the footprint of the built up area doesn't exceed 50% of the curtilage. So while the NPPF says one thing, PD legislation says another. Green Belt is the only 'special' type of area which doesn't require a full application, all the others do, e.g. Norfolk Broads, AONB etc. So I would tell the planners that you are going to knock down the garage, make the plans for the extension fit in the 50% rule. A parish councillor in our village had something like 75% extension approved and I bet you can find more examples like that. Hopefully this will then be accepted within the NPPF rule on extensions in the GB. Then, when they have passed the application, rebuild the garage under PD legislation. Of course, once the application is passed, who will know if you actually knocked the garage down and rebuilt it, or if the new one just happens to be a perfect replica of the old one ;-D As with all these things don't tell them anything they don't need to know - they use it against you... So when you talk about the garage and knocking it down use the outside measurements - make it sound bigger than it is. When talking about the extension use the internal measurements - you want it to appear smaller than it is. And build it a bit bigger, no-one will ever check. 10% tolerance due to materials etc. Good luck and let us know what happens Simon

Wouldn't it be possible to have the buffer tank working like a heat bank (albeit small). So while the slab is soaking up the heat, the ASHP will stay on. As soon as the 35' threshold is reached it would turn off the ASHP. Then, when a lower limit is reached, it would turn on again. Simon

So if you were about to install this system again with 20:20 hindsight, you'd leave out the TRV and simply route the lower rail connection to the buffer tank return? Would this be advisable for anyone starting an installation, or is the problem you're seeing only due to the length of the pipes to the buffer tank? Simon

How? I'm genuinely curious - how does the positioning of the isolators impact ease of maintenance? Simon

Great idea - why make a wall wart that you have to plug your table lamp into when you could just have a smart plug. Surely there's some on the market. Simon

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I contacted the IDB with some info from the SE that had done the original drainage plan with gazillions of m3 of crates. He'd come back to us with a revised plan with a water brake and a pipe through a headwall into the dyke. He'd estimated the flow from the newly impermeable area on the site would be about 5l/s/h. The IDB said that the maximum flow they are OK with is 1.4l/s/h which is the greenfield flow rate. I'd worked out that on our 0.4 hectare plot, the increase due to the newly impermeable area would push the overall flow about 6% over this. When I asked if this was OK, they came back saying they were OK with it and as we were about 1.5km from a managed watercourse, they couldn't imagine how they might charge us for the excess. Weirdly, the IDB boundary runs along the eastern edge of our land, which means that the dyke in front of our land is not within their area but the house just down the dyke is. when I questioned why they'd put in a comment on our planning application, they said they tried to comment on most applications, even if they were out of their area - which strikes me as an utterly ridiculous waste of time. Anyway, back now to the SE for re-revised plans and to the LLFA asking for formal permission to put in a head wall in. Simon

We need an student to take on a final year project to trawl through all the really good advice on the forum to come up with some good design patterns or rules of thumb for this. Given a house with x m2, y m3, z heat loss and the price of electricity, cost of a ASHP (parts and installation separately) vs resistive heating (Willis heaters) etc. then a rating for each design pattern in terms of simplicity of implementation, upfront costs against lifetime costs etc. Anyone here a lecturer at a college (sorry university these days..) with some students up for a challenge? Simon

I hesitate to ask this - but is it a virgin router? Cos they do get their MACs confused occasionally. Also what on earth possesses anyone to use fixed IP addresses - just use dynamic IP addresses and get on with the building work - you're just creating diversionary IT management work which ain't gonna get the place finished.... although reading between lines it may never be.... ? Simon

That's a small shower recess at the back! Nice view though. Simon

I've been in touch before about the culvert - so will check with them today. Thanks for the tip. Simon