LnP

Is it the three fins (labeled F4) which prevent the twisting, or the seven pieces of angle (labeled B8)? What are the B8s fixed to?

CVC included the humidity sensor in my quote for the Brink, recognising that you do need one. It’s not integral with the unit though, not that that matters.

I’m close to placing an order and agree with all of this. I’m planning fit and forget. Keep it simple. Additionally, from my research: The Brink doesn’t have a humidity sensor built in as standard. You do need one and need to specify one to be fitted in the return duct just in front of the unit. The Zehnder has humidity control as standard. I’m not sure I’ve fully got my head around this, but I think the Zehnder has a more advanced algorithm if you have active cooling (via your heat pump or multi splits). It’s something to do with how it looks at outside and inside temperatures and controls the bypass.

You’re not only being a nice fellow, you’re complying with the requirements of CDM to create a Health & Safety File. In principle, this is one of the jobs of the CDM Principal Designer. Do you have one of those or are you doing it yourself? I included the requirement to provide H&S File information in the scope package I sent out to get quotes for demolition and groundworks and got feedback I was scaring people off.

If you were persuaded by Steve Koonin's views on climate change, but are open to the possibility there might be another side to the argument, you should watch Dave Bourlace's analysis of Koonin's points in his Just Have a Think podcast.

I can confirm that the advice I got from Gus was helpful, and the more so because he does it for a living. I'm sure the administrators are well able to spot when people are on the forum motivated by commercial interest rather than collaboration.

Makes sense. So is this the type of pipe you'd use, insulated MLCP? Would it be reasonable to assume you could get this type of pipe all the way to the fan coil without having to use any fittings, e.g. elbows to get round tight corners? Otherwise how would you insulate the fittings? Would you need to make the insulation air tight so you couldn't get moist air behind the insulation?

Fair point and thanks for your helpful interpretation.

Yes, I get it. Thanks for your alert. Choosing the foundations is one of the most important decisions in the project. The best one can hope for is to become an "intelligent customer". That's why I'm talking to people and asking questions on here.

There are two ways for me to understand your question. If it's a straight one, the straight answer is, no I don't do it for a day job/business and yes I'm a genuine self builder, whatever that is. But since I opened my post by explaining why I'm asking my question, the straight answer should already have been clear. So I'm wondering if your question was rhetorical and intended to demean and denigrate, which would be a pity. Thanks for your comment. Useful to get your opinion..

@JohnMo One insulated form work system provider I spoke to, said that NHBC and other warranty providers are not comfortable with having the masonry outer leaf sitting on a different foundation than the timber frame. They're concerned about differential movement. They could supply their system with a separate outer ring beam for the masonry, but recommended a toe off the raft similar to the Build Lite one I shared, for an easier ride past BCOs and warranty providers. One such local builder I spoke to came by with a machine with a large (1.5 m long?) augur and drilled some holes to see what kind of ground conditions I have. He was polite about my interest in insulated raft, but was of the opinion traditional foundations would be a doddle. I'm aware that there are those on here who say that insulated raft is cheaper, when you account for not needing screed, can fix the UFH pipes to the rebar etc. And I've heard it from insulated raft suppliers. I'm getting quotes both ways so will soon find out how it is in my case. Maybe insulated raft is best suited when you don't have the masonry outer leaf to worry about.

@-rick- Thanks for your comment. Just checking, did you see the whole image? For some reason, after I uploaded it, I only see the whole image if I click on it and open it. Here it is uploaded a different way. Does that answer your question? They have a toe on the raft which the bricks sit on, but with a course of Marmox blocks.

I'm shopping around for foundations for a timber frame structure with brick outer leaf. I don't plan to do it myself but will engage a ground works company to do the install. I've not had a ground investigation yet, but indications are that I have good ground conditions, about 600 mm top soil with compacted gravel and sand below. I've had to dig holes and trenches down to about 1.2 m around the plot for various reasons, and never seen water. I'm most interested in speed of installation, simplicity and cost. Regarding energy efficiency my expectation is that whatever foundations I go for, they can be made be good enough. So I'm not wedded to any particular type of foundations and have been getting prices and talking to installers, suppliers and structural engineers to make my decision. I had been talking to AFT and an installer they had recommended, but as I mentioned in a previous post, AFT have ceased trading in the UK. The recommended installer is looking at carrying on his business with a different insulated form work supplier and is looking at Build Lite. I'd be interested in thoughts or comments on my approach but also on the Build Lite insulated raft system. I've attached their sketch from their website. Thanks

Frame Technologies are still in business, but with only two employees, Simon Orrells and his wife. Everything is sub-contracted out, including manufacture of the frames, albeit to a manufacturer who I believe is STA Gold. I think a previous incarnation got into trouble when a large order with a developer customer went bad. The consequence was that he had to sell the factory and let go all his employees. I'm sure it must have been a traumatic experience and he must have considered finding an easier way to spend his time, but he decided to get back into the business with this company structure - no fixed assets and no employees. He's a tremendous guy with huge experience which would be an asset to any project. I'm sure he has happy customers and could deliver a service as good as any other frame supplier and maybe better than some. But you need to do your financial due diligence and satisfy yourself you're happy doing business with a supplier with this rather unorthodox structure.

As I said I would, I made an enquiry on the Jackon Atlas website. I got a call from them and they referred me to ICF Bondmor for installation in the UK. I was also contacted by a very helpful builder via this forum who uses the Jackon system for ICF and insulated raft foundations. I'm also finding that you need to find a structural engineer who's familiar with insulated rafts. I'm making progress with that.

@JohnMo and @Beelbeebub, all fair points but I recommend you read the piece by Dieter Helm I linked to and I'll be interested in your thoughts about his arguments.

@IanR My criteria are cost, speed of installation and simplicity. Energy efficiency performance is interesting but won't be a deal breaker. I was speaking to AFT recently, before their decision to cease trading, and they were not interested in installing, a change from the past. They did however provide some very useful information about expected installation costs, and the name of a local ground works company they had had good experience with. I was definitely interested in going further with them, but sadly that won't now be possible. That's a useful list in the post you linked to, thanks.

Interesting. I've not come across these people before. Their website gives the impression they don't have a presence in the UK, although it's all nicely presented in English. I'll drop them a line. Thanks

Would you be happy with your electricity supplier cutting you off 4% of the time? I doubt it. Filling the last few % of the intermittency gap is expensive and the renewables generators are getting it for free. If they were required to deliver firm power, they would have to back up their wind farms with CCGT or batteries. Amortising that capital cost over 4% utilisation is expensive. At the moment they don't pick up the cost. Well, yes, all generators need to pay a share, but if money has to be spent on the grid to accommodate newly connected renewables, their share should reflect that. At the moment, renewable electricity which we've all committed to pay for with CfDs is being curtailed because the grid can't take it. The grid was completely fit for purpose before renewables came along. Dieter Helm explains it very well. Current peak demand: 45 GW Before renewables, capacity installed to meet the peak with a security margin: 60 GW Current installed capacity: 120 GW requiring a much larger grid for the same demand. And we have to add the cost of the batteries, storage, CCGT etc. to fill the intermittency gaps. I'm fully in favour of decarbonisation, but we need to be clear about the costs and how we mitigate them.

Since it keeps coming up, and I got no response when I made these points before, I'll briefly repeat them: 1. Renewables aren't cheap. They appear cheap because the generators sell their electricity without having to be accountable for the system costs they incur, which are intermittency and grid capacity. A kWh of electricity from a firm power generator (nuclear, CCGT) which is connected to the grid close to consumers is worth more than a kWh from an intermittent generator in the North Sea off Scotland. 2. The issue of North Sea oil and gas prices peaking with global prices at the whim of geopolitics could be easily solved. The government could issue licences to the oil companies which would work similar to CfDs for renewables, fixed price for a fixed period and conditional on being landed in the UK for UK consumption. It's been done before. That's how it was in the early days of North Sea oil and gas production.

Which others do you think came close? I'd like to know who I should add to my shopping list. Thanks

I'm shopping round for insulated raft suppliers and had been talking to AFT. I just got this email. I wonder where this leaves any customers who have orders placed with them. Dear Customer / supplier, It is with regret that we at AFT have decided to cease trading with immediate effect. AFT was formed to bring to the UK the considerable benefits of Swedish style insulated raft foundations. To a large extent we achieved this successfully, and for the completed foundation we are confident in saying we achieved a 100% customer satisfaction. Whilst the EcoRaft (and Groundshield) remain in our opinion the very best product for constructing structurally robust and energy efficient foundations, the uptake in the UK has been disappointing. Due to this, and the general economic climate in which we find ourselves, we have decided that we shall no longer trade in the UK and close our books, as it were, with immediate effect. We would like to thank all of our valued customers, particularly those who chose EcoRaft for repeated projects, and those who helped AFT promote EcoRaft to a wider market. We would also like to thank our suppliers and partners for the last 10 years, and wish you every success in the future. Olof Christiansen Managing Director AFT Ltd.

Climate change is due to the changing chemical composition of the atmosphere, which causes heat from the sun to be trapped and the planet to heat up. It's not due to the heat which is released from human activity.

There are a couple of exhibitors at the NSBRC who do external blinds, for example, this one.

Congratulations on your metal bashing skills. Is it a normal part of an install to have to fabricate distribution boxes? What is it about the off the shelf ones which makes them not suitable, like these Ubbink ones?