Bramco

Fortunately we asked about this and they can fit the latch for the electronic door control, without the electronics - this allows you to put the door on the latch by making the plate floppy - not a technical term but I'm sure you know what I mean. So you have the same lock but the bit it goes into in the door frame is different. Not sure if you can retrofit this, there's a channel for the electrics which goes with it I think. That part of the ordering process was a bit opaque. Truro gave us a list of accessories and parts etc. then the order confirmation came back from Poland with more stuff, different numbers and descriptions, so there were a few anxious days making sure the order was actually correct and matched what Truro had sent through. Your door looks like the one we ordered with the indented handle - if so did you go for the leds? And have you tried them out yet? Simon

Wow! That looks like exactly the same door that we've ordered from RK Doors. Ours will sit on the concrete slab though with a packer which they will be supplying to bring the bottom of the threshold level up so that it will be level with the tiles internally. I think all their diagrams show the flush threshold sitting on the tiling or flooring giving a v small upstand. Simon

We had a cost plan done - maybe not the wisest choice of people to do that but... The daftest numbers they came back with were for the ASHP, MVHR and Solar PV, barmy numbers. I think the lesson we learned was that for electrics, plumbing, tiling, plastering, landscaping folks are in safe territory. As soon as it gets a bit beyond that they rely on sending out aspects to 'specialists' and they load up their quotes when things can be done much more economically. ASHP and Solar are good examples, we all know that if you aren't after the RHI or FiT type subsidies, all you need is a good plumber and electrician and it's just connecting stuff up. Simon

Maybe you haven't got the right shaped bin? Simon

I'll PM you if I can work out how to do that. I'll have to go back to the bits of info we collated. Simon

It was a couple of years ago that we visited. Sounds like they've got their act together. Simon

My point wasn't about them being tired, it was more about the workmanship, eye for detail and I guess attitude - why have a show house that has so many snags? Simon

Indeed. We looked first at German kit houses but given Brexit and the Euro/£ exchange rates were driven away from that. We actually visited HanseHaus and Schworer. Both were very impressive. Schwoerer for example sources all the wood from within 40Km of the factory which employs more people than live in the village it is located at. We discounted Hanse because theirs is primarily meant for a render finish - the insulation is on the outside of the frame. Anyway, having discounted the Germans and really anyone else in Europe, we looked at Potton. Obviously they can do any style you want, from the beams, beams, beams look to a more modern look but.... on touring the show houses we were really put off by the very poor finishes. Light switches on skew, really badly finished skirting boards etc. etc. Our thought was, if that's the level of finish in the show homes ours might turn out to be a Wimpey nightmare. So given the kit house route was going to be a non starter, we started getting quotes for the design from timber frame manufacturers. But given we wanted to chunk the project into a few large chunks we could put out to tender, we chose a company that would take on both the insulated slab and would erect the timber frame for a fixed price. Lots of timber frame companies are supply only, or have a complicated formula for how much erecting the frame would cost. I think if we stripped out the slab and erection costs, the quotes we had wouldn't be far from each other although there were differences in terms of the U values of walls and roofs. Some couldn't get to the levels we were aiming for. Not sure if that helps, but it's how we went about things. Simon

I've no idea what the surroundings are like, so not a clue if it really is or is not in keeping with the area and the throw away comment at the end of the letter that it is 'rather busy' and therefore they will recommend it for refusal is the usual hogwash. Ask them to give you the reference in the Local Plan where 'busy' is set out as a criteria for allowing permission and also where the definition of 'busy' is. Better still use their term 'rather busy'.... Unless they can state chapter and verse what specific policies in the Local Plan this would fail on, it will be passed on appeal. If they can't then they are toast. Although personally I hate those pointy windows..... But everyone to their own. Simon

Surely not - that would be the heating sorted ? Simon

Plug in solar seems expensive. We'll be installing a 4kW ground mounted system. Solar Energy Store is £3150 - https://www.solar-energy-store.co.uk/home/4-0kW-Solar-PV-Full-Kit-ground-flat-roof-mounted-p142551649 Plug in Solar £4680 - https://www.pluginsolar.co.uk/?product=plug-in-solar-4kw-diy-solar-power-kit-with-adjustable-ground-mounts Obviously plug in solar has micro inverters while the solar energy store has a single inverter. I should add of course that we will be installing the system, so I have no experience with buying from the solar energy store (yet!) Simon

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/11/tell-us-have-you-installed-an-electric-heat-pump-in-your-home I'm thinking there may be a lot of members who might want to contribute... Simon

Try Roofmaker in Leicester - imho much nicer than Velux as there's no weird bump along the top of the frame, they are effectively frameless. Simon

Thanks for the input and good to hear you've done lots like ours that have worked. It was an option to have the plant room where the utility is but then we wanted the ASHP on the side wall and wanted to keep the runs to that as short as possible. All these variables that affect the design. My thought earlier though on the manifold, was to have 2, one in the plant room for everything left of the hall/utility wall and one in the plant room for the utility and everything to the right. Will talk to the folks who are doing it about insulating the supply runs in the hall. Simon

Thx. Simon

You can say that again !!! But more on topic, what you are saying is that serpentine is fine with their slabs.. so 'Don't panic!' as the famous H2G2 quote has it. Simon Simon

ASHP - the heat loss analysis indicates we'll only need a small one of course. Did you simply tell the timber frame folks to do the loops the way you wanted them? Simon

Interesting - ours is MBC and they're coming to put in the slab from the middle of next week. Not sure I understand about maximising the water volume - won't this also increase the number of loops? Simon

@Nickfromwales Thanks Nick. One last question, should we get them to lay the pipes in a snail shape or as them have them, serpentine? (If those are the correct terms of course) Simon

Great help - thanks Simon

Talking to myself here but I think it's normal in a 2 storey house to have a manifold for each storey - this may not be true of course... But if it is, then having a 2nd manifold in our utility room for the living space zone would be analogous to what is done for a traditional 2 storey house. Simon

@Nickfromwales passive raft/slab Simon

Sorry if I didn't write that well. I meant that I could do fewer loops but keep them about 100m or a bit less. So 6 loops of 80 to 100m could become 5 loops of around 100m. We'd be losing the runs from the living space through to the plant room - so 6x2x say 6m is about 70 odd metres less. Hope I've explained that better this time. Simon

@joe90 and @Russell griffiths Just been looking at this again and wonder actually whether it wouldn't be better to have 2 manifolds, one in the utility to feed that area and the living space a total of 6 loops which could actually be reduced maybe to 5 as the long runs would be a lot shorter. That would leave a manifold in the plant room itself to handle the remaining 7 loops. Would require a feed and return from the buffer tank across to the utility which could run through the ceiling. And 2 separate pumps the living space would be one zone, so that would be good - I think... Simon

Thanks for the good ideas. I'm still wondering though whether I'm worried about nothing. Would be interesting to hear from anyone that followed a plan like the one we have as to whether it was OK or whether it caused problems. Simon