ProDave

All I can say is don't use Baumit. You can search the forum for my threads if you want to find out why.

SEPA are at the moment toothless. I know 2 septic tanks draining to a watercourse and they have no intention of upgrading. when I spoke to SEPA they said they will only investigate in case of a report of pollution. Otherwise they leave old systems undisturbed. I do HOPE this is going to change and they start enforcing the law. A treatment plant has to be 5 metres from a house and 10 metres from a watercourse, even if discharges into that watercourse. My guess is in practice your neighbours will sell, nobody will be interested, the new owners will use it as it is, leaks and all, and probably won't bother even emptying in, probably like the present users never empty it would be my guess. And SEPA will do nothing. I guess what they can do in relation to alterations depends on the wording of the agreement that allows it to be there. If the agreement shows a plan showing the location of the tank, then they just can't go and put the replacement somewhere else. They would have to negotiate with you. The best outcome for you would be they replace it with a treatment plant discharging into the watercourse. You say there is no room and the ground is unsuitable for a soakaway.

SWMBO would disagree with that. Only underwear, socks and towels go in the TD, and only then for a short time, not enough to dry them thoroughly. Just trying them any other way they does not meet the softness test. But even a short spell in the TD then letting them finish drying naturally and they are deemed soft enough.

The only reason you might want 3 core is if you plan to have a light fitting that needs a permanent live, perhaps it has a sensor for automatic operation? or perhaps you want a light and fan? If you are certain it will just be a light controlled from the switch on the wall then no need.

Yes I fitted the same Aico hard wired smoke alarm in my utility room. It was not required to have one there by building regs but I wanted early warning of anything smouldering in a tumble dryer. And we NEVER use the TD when we are not in the house.

Mine is a little different in that in has 4 selectable speeds, and I use one of the faster ones as boost, but the principle is the same. I use 2 of these, one upstairs, and one downstairs. https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/SMSTBT4.html They are meant for powering an immersion heater so have a 13A switched 230V output. In my case I use relays to switch my volt free contacts, but if you have an option module that accepts 230V switched live in, it should connect straight to that. One is in the kitchen to boost the mvhr when cooking, the other is on the landing to boost the mvhr when showering. I didn't want it on the lights, you don't want to boost it every time you go for a pee. For wiring, a 3 core & earth 1mm from mvhr to the boost switch is all you need.

Are you planning to build on this existing slab as others seem to think? My mind must work different to others as I had assumed you wanted to keep the slab as a handy parking / storage / work area so that only left you a narrow strip to build the house alongside this existing slab.

These from Bimble Solar https://www.bimblesolar.com/solar/large-panels/RCM405-BLUE Buy 10 for £49 plus VAT each = £588 plus delivery. Similar large size panels. I bought my first lot from bimble.

This is the best value PV panel on City plumbings website https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/longi-solar-hi-mo-5m-410wp-full-black-pv-module-lr5-54hpb-410m/p/787545 (without this thread I would not even have gone looking a a plumbing merchants site for PV) Technical specification Width1134 mmSTC Maximum power Pmax/W410Panel TypeFull BlackNOCT Maximum power Pmax/W410Length1722 mmHeight30 mmCertifications MetMCS: BABT8771-29/00Manufacturer Model NoLR5-54HPB-410MBrand NameLongi So that's £158.14 per kWp I would probably want 10 of those for a second 4kW PV system to that would be £648.40 Getting tempting. Anyone find anything cheaper? These are much larger panels than the ones I used a few years ago on my solar shed.

I have the browser add on "Bypass paywalls Clean" installed Which might be what allows me in.

Ok can everyone start posting links to the cheapest panels they can see on sale? Might be time to buy some more ready to go on my car port when I build it, hopefully later this year. I am more interested in cheapest ££ per watt, £/m2 does not bother me.

The key to the project is the right opportunity, and that may take a while to find. Unfortunately you can't do much actual planning until you know what that is.

On a related point, even passing meter tails through separate holes in a steel cabinet can cause issues. If you have to do that, put a hacksaw cut between the 2 holes.

Recirculating cooker hood with carbon filters and MVHR extract vent nearby but not directly coupled. Boost the MVHR rate while cooking if you want to.

I would never mount a CU on plasterboard fixings. Mark out the exact size of the CU on the wall, cut that shape out of the plasterboard, and extend the cut out sideways to reach the centre of the adjacent studs. Fill your hole now with a sheet of at least 12mm plywood, securely fixed to the adjacent studs. Fix CU to plywood. I would probably even attach a batten to the inside of the plywood in line with the mounting holes so the screws can go through the plywood into the batten. Fill joints and paint plywood.

My house and many others have proved you don't need "thermal mass" to keep a house a constant temperature. It's insulation and air tightness that does that.

Well I did it on mine and on every cylinder I have wired. NOBODY should be using a 3 port mid position valve, the work of the devil. 2 or more 2 port valves for me always. I wired the hi limit stat in mine because that is what you are supposed to do, and one less thing for BC to find to fail it if they are looking hard enough. Just because a lot of people don't bother is not reason to copy them.

WHAT temperature does she need to be comfortable? In a well insulated house, forget the concept of fast heat. A properly well insulated house will keep it's heat for a very long time, so forget the old concept of turn the heating on in the morning (when you might well want it to heat quickly) and turn it off at bed time and let the house cool down overnight. A well insulated house simply does not work like that. It heats up and stays warm. So just choose what temperature she wants and set it. It does not matter if on first heat up it takes a while to get there. It barely cools down any overnight so takes little time in the morning to heat up again. Or just leave the ASHP running 24/7 just controlled by a thermostat.

So it boils down to the definition of a "bend" Certainly 90 or even 45 degrees is a "bend" but 15 degrees?

I don't have that particular stove but I am struggling to see how the airways fill up with soot and ash? They are supplying air into the stove so so no combustion products should be going through them.

Hi and welcome. If the budget it tight, I would have thought the obvious answer was split the plot, that has PP for 2 houses, sell one half and build your house on 0.8 acres? Anything else and you are effectively paying for another building plot, just to get a bigger garden. a 56metre by 6 metre house is an odd form factor, not the most energy efficient, there must be a reason for that?

Yes there should be a duty BC officer available to take queries but his answer will be to the book, only your normal attending officer can "interpret" the rules in a more flexible way.

I don't know if I mentioned, but I used to like when we had an outside boiler in a rental house. If it ever gave problems, you could pull the burner out, point it away from the house and turn it on, and see exactly what it was or was not doing. Don't try that with an inside boiler.

It think the rules just literally say at "change of direction" On my first build, it was not possible to dig the trench right where we wanted it so we had to have a shallow in line bend, and there was much sucking through teeth from the BC inspector who said I really shouldn't allow that, but he did in the end.

Well he definitely won't get paid now.