ProDave

And if the design of that cabin puts internal walls within that span, that are helping tp support the roof then that puts extra load on the floor joists to take account of.

Hi and welcome from another Highlander. Highlands is a big place, I wonder where you are?

I doubt it that directly qualifies as a "caravan" I doubt it is built to be lifted in one piece without falling apart. However I am fairly certain you could make it so by placing it onto a base that was designed with lifting points to allow the whole thing to be lifted in one go by a crane.

I have camped (in a touring caravan) on a croft that allows 3 caravans at a time under that rule.

Isn't that the order that generally makes a presumption in favour of PP for up to 3 caravans on a croft?

Here is Highland Councils definition of a "caravan" https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/1346/bst_018_caravans_and_mobile_homes Didn't someone on here look into "log cabin caravans" ang got agreement from BC that they complied?

Yes my OSB racking layer is on the inside of the frame. A nail penetrating the VCL is only an issue if you remove it. A squirt of sealant before driving the nail in to ensure it seals.

If you are trying to make your new build energy efficient why not do the whole job and fit MVHR?

In my case it's easy. there is OSB directly behind the VCL at the back of the service void so I can clip to that. but it is surprising now few places I needed to do that. Most light switches are close to a door so that means right next to a stud so right next to a batten so straight up clipped to that in the safe zone. Most sockets down or up in the corner safe zone then around the room at socket height in the safe zone,

Hi and welcome. What part of Northumberland? I have relatives there and visit frequently.

Sometimes I despair at the thought process of programmers. If I let the battery on the laptop get too low, up pops a box, telling me I must either choose to shut down or suspend the computer. All very logical. Except they forgot the third option. Plug the bloody charger in. Even if you do that, there is no way to dismiss that pop up box from your screen, other than by shutting down, or suspending the computer.

Yes that meter is set to DC volts.

25mm is fine for cables and 25mm plus 12.5mm plasterboard comfortably takes a 35mm back box nicely. 25mm is also fine for soldered 15mm copper pipes, I ran the hot and cold drops to the kitchen in that. The only place I used deeper, 50mm service void was the utility room where 22mm pipes run up the wall, and in any case that room was not in any way tight for space.

I am just going to throw in a length of multicore control cable for now and see what connections the thing has when it arrives.

It does seem a pretty poor setup. But I can only see the one "interlock" (call for heat) connection so I can't see what else it can do. The default set temperature for heating is 55 degrees, same as the default set temperature for DHW so unless you change those it's immaterial The install I am about to do the customer is using radiators to heat the house so will want high temperature heating water anyway, so probably not a big issue. It would not exactly have been difficult when designing it, to give it two call for heat inputs, one for heating and one for DHW then it could easily run at 2 different temperatures. I would not be buying one of these for my own use. The more I look at that wiring diagram the more it puzzles me. I have never yet seen a cylinder thermostat that needs a L and N as well as com, no and nc. This one is going into a 3 bedroom semi detached house. It's near identical twin is having a Mitsubishi Ecodan heat pump and cylinder. It would be interesting to compare the heating bills between the two down the line.

That's probably a similar gap that we would have had to make up, and for very similar reasons. I went for strip foundations and a suspended timber floor.

That just sounds like peat to me?

The Tower units are a cheaper (almost) copy of the Honeywell valves. You have to take the cover off the actuator and there are then 2 screws that hold the actuator to the valve body. You can get the Tower units cheap on ebay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOWER-MOTORISED-ZONE-VALVE-ACTUATOR-HEAD-2-PORT-22mm-28mm-CAN-REPLACE-HONEYWELL/392072887213?hash=item5b495d7bad:g:sIAAAOSw37tWAsTx

My immediate thought is wow, why is your heating demand that high? A constant 3kW from hydro would power my entire house with energy to spare.

Looks easier than a static caravan, just 4 points of contact (I have a total of 12 piers supporting my static caravan, I don't think it is going to move)

Router problems seem common, in the last few weeks of us being in the caravan, the router used there as an access point started dropping out with regular monotony. If you sat and watched it, every few minutes all the lights would flash very briefly as it seemed to re boot itself and then take several seconds to come back on. I never did find a cure for that.

Most (though not all it would seem) heat pumps operate at a lower set point when doing heating, than when doing DHW. So they run efficiently. However, a thermal store is a poor choice for an ASHP. you need the water in the thermal store a lot hotter than your target DHW temperature, otherwise your hot water will start to cool down quickly. An UVC on the other hand you can heat the water in it to 48 degrees and then draw off hot water and the water you get will remain at or very close to 48 degrees constantly until the cylinder runs out of water and it will turn cold very quickly.

I have started to look at this in more detail as I will be pre wiring for this Cool Energy ASHP verry soon. This is the wiring diagram from the downloaded manual: It looks VERY basic to me. In particular, the only actual connections to the heat pump appear to be power and a pair of wires labelled "interlock" These appear to me to be just a "call for heat" and seem to be the logical or of the hot water and heating valves plus thermostats. So as far as I can tell, the HP cannot tell if it is being asked to heat DHW or space heating. Which is strange as when you look through the parameter list, it has separate set temperatures for DHW and heating. And it is most definitely NOT an inverter driven heat pump. It will be interesting to see how it performs, but it would not be my choice.

Indeed oil prices are falling https://www.boilerjuice.com/heating-oil-prices/ Can't say I have noticed much fall in petrol prices at the pumps?

I am not sure what you are asking? You talk about building your house so you have the perfect opportunity to get the insulation right and design it to work from under floor heating to which an ASHP is perfectly suited. But I am confused because you mention replacing an oil boiler, so is this a new house and old house or 2 separate houses?