ProDave

Almost exactly the same heat input requirement as us, just over 2kW when delta T is 30 degrees. A 5Kw ASHP is doing the job nicely, heating the house and the DHW (in a 300L UVC) Are you doing much of the build DIY? If so when you shop around, the cost of UFH parts is not a great deal so not much extra cost if you were having the ASHP anyway for water heating? We also have a 5kW wood burning stove that is also more than capable of heating the whole house. One thing is pretty certain from our own experience and others is you won't need heating upstairs, so that simplifies the heating to a few loops downstairs.

Or find a better plumber to patch up the old one so it will last?

One comment I heard is due to a certain prominent person reaching the end of her life yesterday, that will likely clog the media for a good while, so the thinking is they won't announce the details of this package until nearer the time it comes into force, giving them a bit more time to refine the details and iron out some of the anomalies we have been discussing.

Some of you will know I did some work in a similar "factory" up here that built modular houses to near passive house insulation levels. One of their builds featured on "impossible builds" or similar. But this company did mainly bespoke so it was unusual for them to be churning out rows of the same thing, and their production line was not as slick or automated. One of the things the majored on was building "houses" that complied with the definition of a "caravan" and installed many at Findhorn. Sadly they went into liquidation a few years ago.

The modular build might improve the quality and speed, but it does not improve the price. That one cost £370K not including the plot and services. So to have put that on this site, would have been in the region of £440K total. That is way over what the market value of the house would be. For the self builder there needs to be a half way version where you can buy the modular building delivered and erected, but as a completely bare shell for the self builder to fit out internally.

I suspect the casual way he just pulled the wires in and connecting it, he was thinking "here we go again, they forgot to complete the install and I am left to pick up the pieces and make it right" When we built this house I routed the cable in even doing the ducting under the road crossing and left the cable coiled up directly above the trunk cable running down the road, and because I was feeling really nice, I left a stake in the ground of the verge marking the exact spot. I was staggered when an OR guy turned up with a shovel to dig the connection pit by hand. He did thank me for making his job easy.

Details are lacking yet but there is talk of all tariffs just being reduced by a certain pence per kWh, which could mean some people (me) on a fixed rate seeing a drop in price when this new cap comes in. That would be nice.

I doubt the grant cares. If the grant is more than your usage, you will just be in credit a bit.

Funny, I was looking at a job yesterday to install a Mains / Generator changeover switch ready for when his 10KVA diesel genny arrives and he gets his tank of red diesel delivered. This is one customer who thinks it will be cheaper. I will watch with interest how it goes.

I would say there is a lot you can do to make a house "high end" by attention to some details and some creative / lucky purchasing. We went for Oak throughout. So Oak floors, (engineered not solid and chosen on price after looking at a lot) Oak doors fitted into home made Oak door liners as ready made solid oak door liners were silly money. Veneered oak skirtings, look good buy not overly pricey. Kithchen was from Howdens but finished with Granite worktops. 3G Aluminium clad Rationel windows were in fact the cheapest of those that bothered to quote. Good air tightness and insulation does not in fact cost much, not if you are doing a lot yourself. Most of getting good air tightness is attention to detail, rather than expensive parts for example. Under floor heating by diligent buying was probably cheaper than a load of radiators, but much nicer. Air source heat pump DIY installed and purchased for no more than a standard boiler. And so it goes on throughout the build, each individual item chosen for a quality finish at a budget price. So I think what I am saying is if you want a nice finish, you need to be very involved in choosing and buying everything, and if you have the skills fit yourself, otherwise you need to only employ trusted or highly personally recommended trades. e.g. there was only 1 joiner out of the many I know, that I trusted to machine and fit an Oak kitchen worktop.

Manufacurers instructions are usually taken as gospel, so if they say it is okay, then use them in that zone.

With the mood music now suggesting there is going to be a long term price cap at the present rate, there are a lot of people on the MSE forum spitting feathers because they just fixed at a much higher price than the present price and have an exit fee, now claiming they were conned.

Did you pay any by credit card? P.S, very appropriate company name, surely this was not planned from the outset?

I doubt these were guns you would find used in crimes. One was a very basic (one bullet at a time manually loaded) WWII training rifle (found under the insulation in the loft of what used to be a Police house) and the other was an incomplete (the twin barrels and one other part) of a shotgun. Both dealt with by the owners of the houses.

You should see what I have found under floors or in lofts. 2 guns so far 😮 Not in my house I hasten to add.

Have a read of this thread Some models have an issue with a crankcase heater permanently on that increases the power consumption.

That's the screws ordered. By widening the search, I found someone with M12 by 240mm mild steel plated in stock at a sensible price and acceptable delivery cost, so they got my order.

I agonised over the same issue. In the end I was too stubborn to pay more for a window just for the benefit of it NOT having a trickle ventilator, I object to paying more for something not to be fitted. So standard velux and with the ventilator closed no noticable draughts and no issue on the air tightness test.

So where I am at, I can get galvanised M12 250mm coach screws at a sensible price but they only have 5 in stock, awaiting an idea of when they may get more They are described as to DIN 517 specification. Or Stainless steel M12 250mm coach bolts at a LOT more than the galvanised ones. Stainless and Aluminium spacers is not a good match, though a good dose of Duralac solves that issue on boats.

The ones I was looking at are described as "A2 304 Stainless Steel" I am sure I have been told Stainless is more brittle? Thanks for your link @Onoff, but at £16 per screw, no thanks.

I can get long M12 Coach screws in Stainless steel. Is there any reason not to use those? e.g are they not as strong? No luck finding Dowel Screws longer than 200mm yet.

Hence why I want decent sized coach screws. I am not trying to cantilever the balcony from that, it will be supported on posts that will take most of the weight, so this is to fix it to the wall and keep it there. The holes through the EWI will be drilled snug and bottom out when they meet the ring beam and be sealed to death when the spacers go in, then the coach bolt through the joist and spacer into the ring beam. At the 2 ends where most of the load will be (see joist plan near the start of the thread) I plan on a fixing at the top and the bottom of the 8" joist, so that will cut down the leverage of any bending moment. So far I have found 2 suppliers of M12 250mm coach screws. One only has 5 in stock, I am waiting an answer on when they expect more. Another has them in stock but wants to fleece me more in postage because of my location than the cost of the screws.

Turning my thoughts to hardware to get this project moving. (Timber, joist hangers and nails are easy) I need to attach the joist adjacent to the house, through the wood fibre EWI into the timber ring beam that runs all around the house at inter floor level. EWI is 100mm thick plus render, say 10mm plus a gap (I won't want the joist to touch) so say 130 to 140mm spacers. I am considering aluminium tube for the spacers, cheaper and easier to work than stainless steel. Something like this, 1" diameter, 3/4" bore https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324685597451? Assuming I make the spacers 140mm, then there is the joist thickness, 50mm, and a reasonable distance to screw into the 50mm thick ring beam, plus a washer either side of the joist, I am looking for coach screws about 250mm long. My issue here is by the time you get to the long ones like this, I can only find them in thin sizes. I had in mind M10 or even M12? Any ideas? Largest I have found at 250mm is 7mm which seems too small for the job?

+1 to the above. I think the work done has stabilised it. If as we suspect the present soffits were fitted about the time of that work, then if there had been further movement you would have seen the soffits separating from the walls. I don't think you had seen any movement there which means the stabilising work has worked.

If you paid for the renewable and nuclear at the "correct" rates (cost plus reasonable profit) and only paid for the gas derived electricity at a higher rate, then you would have a wholesale electricity rate of the average of all those, depending how much of each you generate. I guess your question translates to, well if we have been sensible and decoupled our pricing, but the rest of the world has not, then they would all want to buy as much as they can of our "cheap" electricity to the capacity of the interconnectors. Or would they see the light and decouple their prices as well?