Blynchy

After reading a number of posts on this forum, it has convinced me to go with UFH downstairs only with cabling left for electric rads upstairs. I'll probably put in electric loops into the toilets and ensuite. I have a question regarding the spacing of the UFH pipes. The calculated heat loss for my house is 3kW for the ground floor and 1.7kW for the first floor. Should I space my underfloor heating pipes on the ground floor to accommodate 3kW or 4.7kW or somewhere in between. My plan is to set up two zones with a manifold for each as the house is an "L" shaped house with one side being single storey and the other being two storey. The single storey element accounts for 1.8kW of heat loss. Thanks for your help

Thanks a mill for your help folks. Regarding the single stat, does that mean run the temp of the buffer tank higher than the under floor heating? What would you recommend the delta T of the stat being? Where would be the best placement then around the middle of the tank?

I am currently trying to design my space heating. I am putting in a buffer tank on my primary heating side. I haven't decided the size yet but it will be somewhere between 60 and 80 litres. I'll add a sketch below. Through the excellent advice I've read here, I'll have the room stat call for the UFH pump and the buffer will call for the ASHP when required. My question is what turns the ASHP on and off? Are two stats required?, one at the top of the tank to let you know that the hot side is not warm enough which will engage the heat pump. The heat pump then runs until the stat on the lower (cold) side reaches the required temperature of the tank. Is there a way of doing it with one stat? Am I over complicating it? I pan on running the UFH on at 32 deg and off at 27 deg. One other question regarding the diagram below, do I need a stand alone pump just after the buffer tank circulate the pumps or will the manifold pumps be enough. Thanks in advance.

Hi conor, That's gas, we are going for a lot of the same finishes. Just poured the first floor today on Kingsland multi deck. What was the make up of your metal stud partitions?

I'm looking into designing my internal studs. I've decided to go metal based on all the comments. Living in rented accommodation at the moment in a standard developers semi-d. Even though the inter stud walls don't crack, they do have a feeling of movement especially if a door is closed with any small bit of force. What would be the best way to overcome this? Is it doubling on the plasterboard? or larger steel sections or more fixings? Has anyone advice of the build up that they used for the bedrooms and toilets?

This was a fantastic thread with some great info. I was stuck trying to figure out what heating I was going to install upstairs but now I have my answer as I was looking for coolign as well. I have two quick questions for @joth 1. How are you controlling the hot water heating element and the cooling? Do you have a 3 way valve separating the hot water tank from the buffer? and if so what controls that valve. 2.In the summer, how quickly can heat pump go from heating to cooling operation? Does it bring up the hot water tank to temperature and then switch to cooling if necessary. I presume there is a bandwith of temperature on the hot water tank? I was at the Self Build show in Dublin this weekend and spoke to a few manufactures about this idea and they were all very much against it and against underfloor cooling. To me they don't seem to understand the engineering and are just trying to flog heat pumps as easily as possible.

So I've had a good go at the phpp, and you weren't kidding. My over heating was up around 25%. To reduce this, I'm going to put shading over the south windows from the living room and dining room. I'm questioning whether do design something temporary or go with a retractable awning of some sort. Had anyone a preference or know of a good company that do sturdy, well made shading products

Thanks for the feed back, that's a no to bi-folds. I studied structural engineer as an undergrad and even though I have varied away from it to more energy and project management but I availing of my brother's help who is a full time SE. We are fairly confident of the details we have come up with. Regarding the overheating, I did a passive course a few years ago and trying to get a grip of it again and use PHPP. I'm finding it hard to get passive PSI values for window details I want. Does anyone know where would be a good place to get the building modeled to understand what will be needed regarding shading, glass type etc?

Hi Folks, I am looking for any advice you can offer regarding the corner window I'm going to install in my living room. I will be constructing the building from ICF so I intend to create a hidden cantilever from both sides within the walls meaning I won't need a corner post. My thinking at the moment to make this stand out would be to put a glass to glass corner in. Another option would be to have two sliders meet in the corner and when you pull them back, it will be an open space; the only problem with this is that there are two frame meeting in the corner and the majority of the year it will be closed. I also considered Bifold but I can't seem to convince myself they are right for this situation. I would love to hear anyone's thoughts or ideas and if they have done something like this before. Finally, I would love to hear thoughts on the layout itself Layout of Living Block.pdf Elevations.pdf

I am looking at the Amvic system myself. I haven't fully decided on Thermohouse yet. My one gripe is that the internal leaf is only 50mm. This leaves very little roof for a window board. The flip side is that I always believed it was better to have more insulation on the outside so once the building heated up it would retain the heat for longer but I could be very wrong in that assumption as the gains might be minimal. I am also in another conversation with a separate builder who will only use Altherm. I guess everyone has their own preference. Like you I think the Kore foundation slab is a excellent idea, In my case I didn't need deep footings so doing a cost analysis proved it was cheaper to go with strip foundation and a 75mm subfloor. Im then going to put in 180mm KORE silver and finished with a 70mm screed. Some areas will be 50mm where I'm putting in a timber floor. I would very much appreciate an update on the roof. Thank you

Hello there, Came upon this website trying to do some research for my new build. I still have a lot of items in the air and I'm trying to gain some clarity. Starting my new build in the coming months and the only thing I have nailed down is that the construction will be ICF. I'm also strongly considering constructing the roof from 250mm EPS Panels supplied by Thermohouse. Has anyone used these or similar and how did you get on? As I mentioned I'm trying to gather information on everything from solar PV, to heating systems for hot water and space heating to window sill details. From my brief look at some of the posts, it appears that you are a knowledgeable bunch. I'm looking forward to delving in deeper and adding where I can

How are ya, I'm based in Cork, like that I'm starting out on my build. We are in the final stages of getting the mortgage sorted. We are going to go with an L shaped ICF house. I'm finding it hard to decide of the best way to heat the building and produce hot water. That SunAmp looks very interesting. Have you looked at the HONE system?, it looks very interesting. I'm also trying to figure out if I'm going to go for underfloor heating. I wasn't initially but being in one or two of them last winter, there seemed to be a lovely warmth from them.