MikeGrahamT21

Sad I know, but really excited for my bargain MVHR unit to turn up today. Given it a quick test, and all is OK, will be a while before I get everything else sorted out, but hoping to have it all installed before the winter comes this year. Don't think it was too bad for £420, and I had £25 in vouchers to use from Nectar points! Its getting installed in a cupboard in the new dining room, and then all the pipe work and manifolds will be in the loft space of the bungalow.

Will be a bit more sound insulation too from the 15mm

Is there also still some questions over smart meters and Solar PV if you have it? I know at one bit you couldn't have a smart meter if you had PV, as it charged you for your solar generation as well as what you imported, that was many years ago though, maybe they've fixed that now. The only story I have about smart meters is from a friend who's elderly mother got one installed, he always did monthly meter readings before it, then he noticed the amount she used went up dramatically after install, he rung and asked her if she was doing anything different, to which she said no, he rung supplier and they remoted into it and applied some kind of patch!! Following this it went back to what he expected, but if he hadn't said anything she would have been charged more presumably forever! For that reason alone I won't have one, give me analogue any day!

If they are plastic vents, just break them if they don't come out easy with a lump hammer, clean everything out, make a liner out of something waterproof (tile backer board is good for this) to stop anymore stuff dropping down, and then replace the grille, they are only cheap off the internet. if its a terracotta vent, same as above, and then replace with plastic. All done from the outside.

no need to plaster the walls anymore, just use that and then paint it lol Flexible, airtight VCL in a tin.

You haven't got much time between now and MBC starting work to get this sub base in, 240t is a hell of a lot of material, I remember having 21t delivered and that was a lot to move, admittedly I did it by hand.

Might be a good idea for you to model your heat insulation levels using this tool: https://www.ubakus.de/u-wert-rechner/? This will give you a good idea of the rate of heat loss, which in turn will inform your heating choice.

I too have a vaulted ceiling. I'm going for one of these: https://www.myappliances.co.uk/Designair-ART28376-60cm-Black-Stratos-Cooker-Hood You don't have to put the chimney bit on the wall if you don't want to, its a seperate piece

They don't deliver to your area, but just to give you an idea of price. I used this stuff under a block paved driveway, seemed good quality. They bought from a local quarry, so I suspect they add something on, but a lot cheaper than what you have got it at. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOT-Type-1-Roadstone-Hardcore-east-Midlands-Area-20-Tonne-Bulk-Load/252167572303?hash=item3ab65bcb4f:g:NVoAAOxyM1VRY8ew Comes in just shy of £6k inc VAT and delivery for 240tonne

What sort of insulation levels and airtightness are you expecting to achieve? Thats probably the main deciding factor for this.

Looks very smart! Not sure i could bring myself to spend that much on a front door!! Whats the difference between this and my 1.0U Composite door which cost £600? Aside from the fingerprint sensor obviously.

Brilliant, thanks for the info, I really should buy that and get started on MVHR. Priced up all the manifolds, pipework etc as well today, should be no more than £700 all in, plus the cost of this unit, which seems reasonable to me.

Supply Rooms Equate to 55.77m2 Extract Rooms Equate to 17.12m2 These measurements include the proposed extension. Ceiling Height is 2.33m in majority of house, two rooms have vaulted ceilings (1 is an extract room (9.19m2) and 1 is a supply room (7.25m2) Regards Mike

Hi, Theres a Vortice HR200BP unit on ebay for not much money. Spec sheet looks pretty decent: https://www.vortice.ltd.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Vort-HR200-BP_TECH-DATA-SHEET-1-1-1.pdf The only thing I can't work out is whether its big enough for my bungalow. I had a plan done by Nuaire a while back, and they came out with 21L/s intake and extract, but since then i've added the future extension, which adds around 10m2 floor area, which I think equates to another 3L/s in and out. It will be Kitchen + 1 Wet Room (bathroom) (though the bathroom will have two outlets in different places due to extension, so not sure if that will class it as 2 wet rooms). Does anyone know whether this unit would be worth a go, or if its just a bit too small? Regards Mike

If you have multiple layers and you tape all of the joints on each layer, essentially there should be less chance of air infiltration. Thinner layers are easier to cut Possibly will work out cheaper Can't think of any other benefits.

I've enlisted a Structural Engineer to confirm all the loadings and structural elements of the extension i'm going to be building, and one of the things he's suggested is going with Raft foundations, rather than strip foundations which I've used on the other 3 extensions i've built, hes quoted the fact its a coal mining area a raft would be more suitable, and i'm happy to look into it as in my mind there should be less digging and soil removal, and also less concrete used, which has to be a good thing for the planet. So I've been looking into passive raft, though don't have much clue about it having not used it before. Construction is a brick/block cavity, single storey, 5.5x2.4m. The existing bungalow has timber suspended floors, am I right thinking if you have passive raft you have concrete floor in that portion, or can you still have suspended timber? I've not found anywhere who sells the insulation jigsaw bits, so I'm hazarding a guess that this is a specialist design and ship job as a minimum. I've contacted a couple of suppliers who advertise passive raft, but I suspect it may be some time before they reply. There is existing drains where the extension is to be built, which are going to be replaced by new pipes, would a passive raft be OK to be built over the top of these old drains to save digging them out? Currently got block paving down where this extension is going to go, 100mm sharp sand, followed by 300mm MOT Type 1, removing the sand, is this suitable for a passive raft to sit on? Regards Mike

Well i've just hit go on my DIY kitchens order having just had the PIR insulation boards delivered, so its set for w/c 1st June, see what happens!

I'm expecting a delivery of insulation today at some point, hoping it turns up, insulation is in seriously short supply though, as the manufacturers have stopped production and all stocks are getting bought up

Wow, they've just shot themselves in the foot!

I suppose a lot depends on the budget you have. Also theres no room sizes or area on here, so hard to know exactly how big the spaces are. Do you want a huge kitchen? Is the current one limiting you in any way? I think the idea of moving the lounge to the front, dining room to back and knock through into kitchen is a good idea, for not a lot of money. If you want a larger kitchen, smaller dining room you could flip the kitchen and dining having them both at back of the house, and with the wall gone, I suspect you would be able to get an island in to house more seating too. One hint though, make sure you get a door off of the wall seperating dining room and lounge, to stop cooking smells going upstairs.

All about value for money in my eyes, and I think you've got more value from the car ?

Yeah such a shame they dropped the FIT, though spending money on the classic car sounds a good idea! From my experience, the savings for electricity alone were far higher than was ever predicted, so really glad I went down the PV route. I'd love a Battery too from a self sufficiency perspective, but they just aren't feasible at the moment, cost wise.

I take you've not got any Solar PV?

Have a look at going with individual specialist suppliers, worked out cheaper for me. Zog energy for Gas, and Symbio Energy for Electricity. Both have been good for me, especially Zog. Symbio have a weird way of charging, they charge you based on what you estimate to use in the year, divided by 12, and then the following month, if you've used less, they refund you the difference.

I have a funny feeling my kitchen is going to take some time to complete too. All hangs on whether tomorrows PIR delivery comes or not. If it does then I hit go, but I have already thought the worktops might be an issue, though i'm using a seperate supplier for those. Sounds like you've had a pretty poor experience, hope I don't get the same. I've paid for gold delivery, but no idea how thats going to work if they can't come in your house?! Aiming for an early June delivery, I guess things may have changed by the time we get there.