Thedreamer

Our house is a recent self build that requires little heat. From about October to around now I heat the house from a central wood burning stove for a few hours in the evening. I have pretty much an endless amount of wood. The rest of the year its just solar gains. This keeps the energy bills to around £60 a month.

I'm two years in with a Joule and working fine so far.

I have a similar set-up. A few comments: We completed our self build in 2020 and have a home with a good level of insulation. I did'nt need the cylinder to do space heating for us. We have three extract points, en-suite, bathroom and utility room. As a way to provide domestic hot water heating for a family of four, the capital cost is cheap compared to getting an external heat pump fitted. Our tank and system is a Joule Aero, with stainless steel cylinder, no need for anode changes. I believe they have now released a new model. I live in soft water area. The system also has a dual immersion electric heating, but never used it and rely entirely on the mini heat pump. All in we are about 10-12kWh of electricity each day, but not sure how much of that relates to the heat pump. I'm not sure why the system is not popular here, when I posted a few years back, one member suggested that I would hear whistling through our trickle vents when the system was running which was nonsense. After living with the system for coming up to two years, I'm so glad we fitted this system rather than external air source heat pump, as it fits our circumstances well.

Our stove installer used that. We have small log store underneath, I just leave a few logs to cover the pipe. On the connection from the slinky pipe to plastic pipe not sure on that as it was all done whilst I was at work.

Surely that includes water as well. There seems to be a belief that any property upwards of Band D is seen as a being a luxury property. Band D rises in Highland Council for 22/23 seem reasonable for me. Council tax/water rises (£40 and £9), although I'll be covered for the three years because of the £150 rebate. My energy costs are about half my council tax bill, but that will be exceptional in the Highland Council region.

Just wondered as our heating is also from a wood stove as well. I have an exhuast air source heat pump on our tank which pulls air from bathrooms etc. I believe they can also be set up to pull air from the outside with a reduction in efficiency.

What do you use for hot water?

I am now using all of our trees. Trunk/branches - fire wood Small sticks/small branches - biochar Leaves - compost/leaf mould

Maybe somebody will correct me, but I thought our space was semi valuted because the roof pitch cuts into the space.

He said it was pointless going further upwards and I sort of agreed. Just wish on the stud on above the blockwork I had doubled/trebled the plasterboard to add more T_ _ _ _ _ l M _ _ _ s. I won't type it.

The wood burnt here is home grown. This winter I burned a lot of branches. Nothing more satisfying then collecting sticks to heat the home. In terms of heating the relative cost is nothing except my time.

We have a semi vaulted living room. Three large velux windows and oak staircase/balustrade add to the cost. The basic structural costs were included in the stick build cost I mentioned in an earlier thread.

Maybe in a urban environment, but in a sparsely populated rural location I would continue to burn and so would everybody else. 😁 If you drove twenty minutes from my house in all directions, I would say 95%+ all burn from a stove or a fireplace. It just so happens that my approach is probably the most efficient from having the wood on site and my stove set-up.

Above the stove. I wanted the builder to go further to ceiling height but he didn't, instead stud and plasterboard after that. No queries from Building control, quantity surveyor, or HETAS stove installer regarding the duct.

What is your budget?

Timber joists. Block and beam is less common here.

The stove blockwork is the small square in the middle. The pipe just ends at that point under that section of the timber floor. I have heavy concrete blocks that surround my stove hence the reason for it's own foundation. All I can say is that the approach works well for our home, another winter done and electricity heating bill is less than a fiver. My floor has PIR insulation (this would be flammable!) but then a layer of glasswool and chipboard less flamable. I guess in the event of fire I would have smoke coming out of my airbricks. 🙂

We have a ducted air intake for our woodburner. A flexible metal duct through the hearth to a plastic pipe that goes under our suspended timber floor, works very well.

Do you have web/online account with them, maybe the invoice would not have watermark on them if you download them rather than have them emailed?

I would ask the building merchant, who received the actual invoice? They probably don't want the hassle of reissuing these to you. They can reissue these to you as all companies must hold VAT records for a period of time. A water mark can be easily removed from an accounting system. Are we talking a big merchant or a local merchant? Try where possible to remove any complexity in dealing with the HMRC. If you do phone and receive the go ahead for an extra supporting document. Quote time, date, case reference per your call, when you do eventually make the submission to back up your approach.

Larry's videos are great. I once watched the entire house build series. Their arms were like nail guns.

Yes, most kit labourers in a factory/shed will be of a lower experience/skill then an experienced joiner. The kit providers are looking to make the maximum profit from you! Some providers will incorporate equipment which injects insulation into the panels (this can't be replicated on site) but PIR/glasswool cut well (by you!) on site, will provide a very good result.

Yes, unless you are feeling confident. I would rather put more money my joiner's way rather than the pay for the overheads, showrooms etc for a kit provider.

A range of reasons. Lack of good quality joiners. They want or like a house design from a kit provider You will need a professional such as a structural engineer to design the structure People don't have the time and want it to be as easy as possible. These are valid reasons not to stick build. I was happy to incurr a bit of stress, work and time to get a very good financial result. I live on Skye where a number of timber frame kits providers exist R/House & Hebridean Homes, for us they were way too expensive. I know folk who are struggling to cover the build cost when they are coming to sell. My life would be completely different if I had gone with a timber frame kit and main contractor or turnkey route. I am 35 and my self build is the first property I have owned but my loan to value is 20%. All my household bills (mortgage, council tax, utilities, insurance) are less than £500 a month. If I recall @Amateur bob from earlier threads, was your budget not quite tight?