JamieM

@philkenny, did you get a chance to get the number for me? thanks

cheers Nick, very much appreciated

Can anyone recommend a plumber in the Antrim/Ballymena area? Thinking of installing a TS (500L) with an oil system boiler similar to suggestions from nickfromwales in other posts. Would just like a plumber with experience of fitting one and familiar with working with a low energy house. Also going with PV and under floor downstairs. Have already talked to one plumber and awaiting a quote from him and although he said he can install whatever we wanted, he was keen pushing the UVC route telling me that new condensing boilers would be just as efficient as if it was running the underfloor via a TS. I just got the feeling he wasn’t to used to working with a TS. thanks Jamie

No worries, that makes sense. Hopefully someone comes along soon to help with your question.

are you not happy with the MHRV's that bpc offer? (just curious as I'm in the middle of making the decision of which MHRV to go with myself) (sorry, i cant answer your question)

I am in the same boat as you and hoping to make the decision this week or next so will be following this thread closely (similarly sized house (240m2 over 2 floors). I’m more in favour of the radial system though one supplier is saying they are only better for a smaller house (this supplier is happy to provide us with trunk/branch or radial). Anybody have a genuine link (as opposed to marketing from a company that only uses one type of ducting) to actual benefits or radial vs branch ducting? Or even experience they are willing to share? I also need to look into the noise decibels each system makes although we plan to put ours in the roof space above the hall way so not sure how significant this will be? We’re also going to install the system ourselves to save a few pounds.

did you allow for a connection of a MHRV (if your having one though i guess not as i see you have a fan in the bathroom). also if your in the countryside you may require for an eletric cabling to a sewage treatment plant. i'd also add cabling for cctv (if you ever wanted it later on). I'd also add some CAT6 to the main living areas (but thats just personal opinion).

Copied below from ebuild which may be of help (posted july 2014) Teplo wall tie for 200mm cavity ~£1.75 each GRP wall tie for 200mm cavity ~£1.28 each (200mm cavity max) Stainless steel wall tie for 225mm cavity ~£0.62 each http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/13941-cavity-wall-in-new-build/page__p__93473__hl__teplo#entry93473

Sorry @vfrdave I cant remember. There was quite a difference between the steel ones and the teplo wall ties. In the end i just went with the steel ones (my cavity was just 150mm)

Maybe not of help but i'm with BoI and below are my satge payments. · Foundations/subfloor (14%) · Wall plate (18.5%) · Roofed/sealed (33%) · 1st fix (34.5%) · complete (the rest) dont know how they worked out the percentages.

cheers for this. i meant the block walls getting into the airing press hot cupboard were already built upstairs so the door into it is around 910mm wide. As @Temp has said above, this may be an issue with fitting a 400 - 500 TS. (thinking a telford by the way and was going to take a reccommendation as to the insulation to add to it)

I'm also quite lazy when it comes to filling up the stove. All ground floor walls are block, some of the wall upstairs are also. The door into the hotpress/airing cupboard (upstairs) is block either side so cant easily be made bigger. At the start didnt think of potentially having a larger TS. Also directly above a block wall. (didnt even realise unitl I checked there)

@Declan52, did you put your TS on the ground floor or upstairs? @Temp same question to you and what size did you go for? thanks Jamie

But do they not use up a lot more wood/coal when heating up a back boiler?

We could connect the stove up. It's more me being lazy and not wanting to always be adding more fuel to it if it did have a back boiler. Plus we were only planning a small 5kw stove.

In the next couple of weeks, we are going to be talking to plumbers about getting a quote for our 1st fix plumbing. At the minute the architect has specified a UVC (300L in size I think) and a GSHP. We are no longer getting a GSHP due to cost and the government incentives removed here in NI. And we are now thinking of a system oil boiler. I am aware that oil prices will continue to rise. (Would also consider an ASHP monobloc if we could find a local plumber willing to install/configure it and if the install cost was similar to the oil boiler (I’m not sure that is likely)). I do have a few questions below which I am going to ask the plumber but thought I’d ask on here first just encase the plumber I talk to isn’t familiar to more insulated/sealed houses. 1) UVC/TS? - Any thoughts on which would be better for us? I had thought a TS and maybe a larger one (say 500L) be good for storing heat for a couple of days generated from PV? 2) Where to put the UVC/TS? Hotpress/airing cupboard(which is upstairs) or the utility or garage downstairs? (if its upstairs and the size is greater than 300L I may have to check the joists can carry the weight) 3) Thermostats in every room? We had thought of just going for one downstairs and one upstairs though our spark had never heard of this and he said he has always provided the electric cabling for one in every room? The reason we had thought of just one for downstairs was because I was once told that having thermostats in every room can cause and oil boiler to be starting and stopping a lot and short cycling which isn’t the best way to run an oil boiler efficiently? 4) Is it worth making one shower electric encase anything happens to the boiler? Bit of background on the build 1 bathroom downstairs with a shower 2 bathrooms upstairs - 1 with a shower and 1 with a bath and shower Overall house size is 2600sqft Currently just the 2 of us but do plan a family in future – 2 or 3 kids. We are planning on getting PV though won’t be till the end of the build – want to make sure we don’t run out of money. Insulation - Floor/roof/walls around 0.13-0.15 and the windows averaging around 0.8Uw (Ug =0.5 and Uf = 1/1.1) Heating outputs - Underfloor downstairs and radiators on the 1st floor. (no idea if we’ll need the radiators or not but the missus is insisting) Air tightness – trying to keep it reasonably air tight but it is a block built house. We are also having a Wood burning stove though it isn’t going to be connected to the heating system. We have no option of piped gas now or anytime in the future. This would have been my preferred option. Keep meaning the check the water pressure we have but haven’t got round to that yet. thanks Jamie

If you know where the electicity is coming from, could you provide ducting for that also? you've just reminded me that i still need to sort my phone line

Cheers @vfrdave, though I'm just after having 200 planks ordered there this morning from the local BM. They're arriving first thing in the morning.

cheers, our price dosnt include delivery. though we could arrange to collect ourselves (so many at a time though that would depend on what price they charge for deivery)

I have now managed to get some scaffolding (or rather my girlfriends fathers friend has some we can borrow (so we'll get a professional to install and certify)) but we need to get scaffolding planks as he doesn’t have any. I'm struggling to find some second hand ones (though manly been looking on gumtree) - so may just have to buy new. Anybody any recommendations on where to get them? We got a quote from Norscaff which were £8.50 per plank + VAT. Also, would anyone have an idea how much people would pay for second hand planks? as we will hopefully sell them on afterwards. (though I’m guessing the price varies depending on the time of the year – supply and demand sort of thing). thanks DeeJunFan – tried D-Scaff (cheers for the suggestion) – nothing available till after Halloween though (like most of the companies i'v been ringing).

I got a quote from PVNI at the end of June - was for £4,900. he said on the phone he'd come down a bit after we got talking to other companies. I’d imagine it'd be possible to get a good bit off after getting quotes from other companies that but I’m not ready for pv yet so didn’t follow up any other companies. is the deadline the end of this month when the roc payments reduce?

We are.. i will keep this in mind when it comes to the screed thickness. The sand cement screed is currenlty 100mm on the plans so there is a bit of room for it to be slightly changed if needed.

I'd also add a small window to the small upstairs ensuite.

Cheers Nick. That's good to know. I told them 15mm including adhesive so close enough. :-)

Well, my quote is thankfully less than £30k but that's a hell of a lot to knock off. Must be a crazy amount of windows. I think this thread has went a bit off topic, so I'll post up in the NI thread how I get on with supply/fit. I can say that within 2 days of me confirming I was going with them someone came out to measure up. If use want to know my prices, feel free to pm me. Don't like to post up on a public forum.