ProDave

The "mistake" there was ending it with > 6 months notice that caused a boom, followed by a bust when the double MIRAS ended as everyone that wanted to buy had bought and did not want to move again because they would loose the double MIRAS. Does anyone else think the present stamp duty holiday to "get the market moving" has also caused a boom, and will likely cause the very same bust when it ends in March. I wish they would stop trying to "help"

Lockdown guidelines in Scotland at the moment are tradesmen should only enter a residence for emergency work, so he is being quite correct. But my understanding is commercial work is still okay.

And I would move the door to the dining room left by 600mm so the run of units can continue all the way to the end behind the door.

I can't answer for the English regs, but no problem in Scotland. If there was an issue, then you would not be able to put switches or sockets above a worktop by the same argument.

I am not disputing that trades may be flat out in some places, but not here. 2020 has been my worst year since the 2008 crash. Thank goodness for the SEISS scheme. Generally I am finding domestic customers don't want you in their house at the moment, only for repairs that can't wait. Very little normal domestic work. I have done an unusual number if shed and summerhouse wiring and commercial is still carrying on, but very little indoor domestic. Who knows when that will return to normal and if there will be a boom as a pent up demand is satisfied when people feel it is safe once more?

As long as the ASHP can do cooling, then it will cool "enough" But the heat delivery system, typically UFH may not deliver that cooling to the building very well. From my brief experiments, it is upstairs that needs cooling when it gets hot (and the cool air will find it's way down) which is the exact opposite of where the heating is. So I would provision for taking flow and return pipes from the ASHP to the upstairs ceilings where you can install a couple of fan coil units to deliver cooling. And provision for ducting to take cabling and power feeds for them.

ASHP does not need any space. Get a monoblock type then it is all outside, including any noise it makes. Consumer units go on the wall just above worktop height, so can go above the worktop behind the WM etc (just not behind the sink) WM and TD are both 600mm wide under worktop units so fit in a run of units containing the sink. One of them can go under the draining board if needed. The cupboards and wall units above should give you storage. It's a shame the top left door in your picture is not 600mm out from the corner then a run of units could go all along that wall. Is it built yet or can you relocate some of the doors?

Travis perkins were the cheapest I found for the Conder.

Yes the Conder is quietly doing it's stuff, no issues. It is due for a pump out but I could not find anyone that would do it last year (quite why a 1 man outdoor essential job was shut down I just don;t know) so will try again when we get a dry spell hopefully in the spring.

Perhaps rather than a grid switch, two 4 gang switches one above the other would achieve the grouping together while making the logical separation and understanding easier?

The public swimming pool seems infinitely more inviting. Or the sea but only in high summer up here. The local river has a deep pool suitable for swimming, by boy that is cold, only for the very hardy.

Time to learn Braille? Seriously, there is a time and a place for a bank of grid switches, and house lighting is usually not it. Light switch position should be obvious and intuitive and close to the entrance to the room etc, i.e. more switc locations with fewer switches at each location.

This would not happen in Scotland, your Design SAP would have to pass before the building warrant is issued. Agreed some PV to sort it will be a useful addition.

All my thermostats are more like 1.5M above floor level and BC have not (yet) raised any issues with this. But I still think your best bet is change for a different thermostat. A thermostat that is using enough energy to self heat itself a few degrees is both wasteful and a flawed design.

Yes my wood fibre is directly attached and then rendered no cavity anywhere. https://www.natural-building.co.uk/system/timber-frame-render/

Take the plastic part to a good plumbers merchant and see if they have an adaptor.

You can set the temperature to change with outside temperature, it is called weather compensation, but that generally makes the water temerature higher as it gets colder outside. What you are describing sounds like as the heating load increases, the ASHP is not able to keep up and maintain the set temperature.

My thought is send the thermostats back as not fit for purpose and replace with something else. You should not have to bodge them.

I am nervous of change. When I bought my first house the RATES were £220 per YEAR. Then it changed for the poll tax. Great, everyone will pay not just the homeowner so it will be cheaper . WRONG. Then it changed for the council tax, back to a lower figure like the rates then? WRONG So if it changes again, which way do you think the cost will go?

Nice to see someone with ambition. I hope you achieve what you want. I suspect your house is going to cost more than I have earned in a lifetime.

I hope so, I have several B&Q "till receipts" you can't get anything else from them. Also annoyingly on line orders from Toolstation, the invoice comes with your address but no name.

It would be cheaper for me, bring it on.

Very often an ASHP comes with it's own sensor to measure the tank temperature and it is a pre made length, often 10 metres. I think some people don't realise you can extend this which you may need to do if the tank is further away.

If it is like our utility room, the issue is with such a large percentage of the room taken up with cupboards etc, barely half the room area has UFH delivering heat to the room. All other rooms have a very much higher percentage of the room area delivering heat, even the kitchen. So we find the utility does take longer to heat up because it has less watts per square metre of room heating it than other rooms do. It is also north facing so never gets any solar gain. We just accept that on a very cold day it might never reach it's target of 20 degrees and might only be able to reach say 19. That is still warm enough.

I am looking at alternatives. Any recommendations for UK made aluminium clad?