Ferdinand

These days you buy ice at any Aldi for about 50p per kilo, or Tesco (including our local tiny Tesco Express) for about double that. No idea how that compares to the volumes @JSHarris used to purchase. Good for cocktails. There are also pretty effective 24 hour+ (depending on required temperature) flasks available now. The phase change cool bags I am familiar with are for insulin and are called Frio. I suspect there are bigger ones that are as good. Or can you DIY a super cool box from vaccuum panels or Aerogel? Ferdinand

Yes, but I bet the slight self-builder eccentricity has bulged out somewhere else instead :-).

Is it not also the "rentseeker" problem ... where the standard setter is such a monkey upon the backs of the regulated that the cost features more largely in the minds of the regulated than the benefit. When the extra cost of PassiveHaus certification is equivalent to e.g. the cost of multiple visits plus paperwork by Building Control, then PH certification is too expensive. We clearly need a market in regulators. Ferdinand

I think this phrase and reflections thereupon may give a good portrait of self-builders and their motivations, when examined by a philosopher. Nah. Everybody here is an internet troll on holiday. Welcome. Ferdinand

Discount Programmes with Hospital Cash Plans eg Westfield Health This thread has been quiet for a bit, but I have a good new one. For some time I have gone green when employees talk about the savings on their staff reward programmes (iirc via "RewardGateway and similar) at various retailers. I seem to recall figures of 5-10%, whereas the rest of us are at about 3% on Quidco. I have been looking for something for self-employed and not-employed-due-to-building-a-house. Anyhoo, Hospital Cash Plans seem to offer similar programmes. These are those plans where you pay £x per month, and get a grant when you buy glasses, a grant when you buy teeth, a sum for each inpatient day hospital etc. Examples are Westfield Health and NHSF (formerly Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund). Usually you get nearly 100% back by just claiming the common grants (there must be a tax shelter or subsidy in there somewhere). Westfield Health offer for example Westfield Rewards, a programme which gives discounts on 600 retailers, including: Boots -15% Sainsbury -4% B&Q -10% Wickes -10% Halfords -10% M&S -7.5% etc It operates via a preloaded cashcard where you get a 10% discount on face value when topping up. So that should stack with topping up using Reward Credit Cards etc. So you may not want to have too many of them as it seems to be a card per retailer, but for the ones where much is spent it looks like a good opportunity. Feedback on other Hospital Cash Plan providers would be useful. I am also looking for a way for non-employees to access the Easy Cash Saver card, which is similar to the above but gives a single card for umpteen retailers saving 7.5%. It is usually a perk in Employee Benefits programmes. Ferdinand

Let me add a little more. I think that you may gain significant value from a small number of face to face interviews. Given your position in London it may be a good plan to aim to speak to BSOs (or perhaps Planners except that fabric efficiency is a BSO responsibility) at a few Boroughs. I am thinking of at least 4 and less than 10. I have worked in commercial construction research, and we regularly did surveys *and* interviews as complementary exercises to provide context and specific insights. You could include one or two questions about nZEB to expose whether it is known, and how BREXIT has affected it. And then include questions about your other related area of focus. It ought to be possible to get 45-60 minutes of time with the occasional BSO. I would suggest starting with a clear hypothesis or two about the status of nZEB in BREXIT context. Ferdinand

Hi Ted. Welcome to the site. I wish you luck and a future MRiCS, but to be honest this won't go anywhere. My attitude to the 2020 EU nearly Zero Energy Buildings Directive as a context for UK self-build homes, is that it is not a context for UK self-build homes because we are leaving the EU in 2019. No one - whether self-builders or construction companies - will spend any time on it. And having gone through the last Zero Energy Buildings Initiative as wished on us by Mr Blair and Mr Brown, which imo was a bit of a dogs' breakfast requiring a scattergun of ideas wished on us by an out of touch Government relying far too heavily on technical gimmicks rather than quality building, I am glad that it is not coming here. The only possible bit of context I can see left is for people importing their kit homes from the EU. Is it possible for you to refocus your project on something that is actually going to happen? For your interest in energy saving there is potential in: 1 - comparing self-build standrds with corporate build. What difference and why? 2 - perhaps perceptions of why individuals feel a need to import "low energy" kit homes rather than build them here. 3 - related to 2, my suspicion is that far too much money is being spent on expensive solutions that happen to have particular country labels on them ,which is a success for Brands over knowledge. There may also be something about a related lack of clear information concerning the UK industry and what is available. 4 - Jeremy's point above about the proliferation of planning and compliance costs is an area that needs work. Could you reframe your project around barriers to achieving high energy efficiency for self-builders and corporates? One angle would be the massive increase in people and bodies who have a right to be consulted in a Planning Application over the last 2-3 decades (this is one of my hobbyhorses). 5 - Exploring the enforcement of building regs standards and declared designs in what is actually built. This is a Jeremy area of interest, but your target audience would probably need to be Building Standards Officers in Planning Authorities as the enforcer, and corporate builders, and self-builders. I think you need a rather sharper focus, and perhaps a project redefinition if it was set up before June 23rd 2016. I am sure that people here would be willing to spend a little time on advising you publicly or privately. There are also people here who could introduce you to the right industry people to interview. Hope that helps a little. Ferdinand

BBC 2 Series 1 Episode 14. http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/cxnvp5/building-dream-homes--series-1-episode-14 My kitchen table. Mothers' Day this w/e ... so we are getting a very posh lunch with a side order of Gin From The Gin Menu.

Just caught Building the Dream with lunch. They built a Passive Haus certified home to meet Mobile Home regs on a 5 acre site in the New Forest. For £350k. Apart from an I "Omigod This Is So Difficult and Unique and Has Never Been Done Before and PH Is So Revolutionary" stance from the architect (generally rather exaggerated), it seemed quite interesting. Tempted to look up the PP. Ferdiinand

That is one good strategy to find a plot that hadn't occurred to me ! I am reminded of Henry VII marrying Elizabeth of York. (Takes care to choose relatively admirable English King who did not behead the wife). Now where is an heiress who owns half of Gloucestershire and has the fortune to pay for me to develop it? Ferdinand

+1 electric boiler possibly unless EA says it could scare them off. Would count against new wiring needed for E7, perhaps.

That - sorry - made me giggle, having also spent much time stripping woodchip. Will buy you a pint if we ever meet.

Well. I have plumped for the 3 year deal, saving me a couple of hundred pa over Standard Rate, but approx £150 over best short term fix without Switching. IMO it would not be worth the risk of a tangle for that difference.

PS Unused multifuel stoves can be quite attractively left exactly where they are, black-leaded with a flower arrangement on top, or as a "focal point to make you feel warm".

Pleasure.

Are you sure? What about secondhand E7 heaters that look suitable for a "lived in" bungalow? Here is a bloke in Wakefield offering 9 Dimplex at £20 each, for example: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dimplex-Night-Storage-heater-radiator-fire-/252819667035 Can you just pass the Free Tank offer to the buyers if you sell sharpish?

As systematic answer as I can think, as I was trying to think this through. As ever, ignore the bits that are gibberish or irrelevant. 1. You don't want the highest price, you want the highest net value add (= extra price over current value minus cash you have to spend to reach that price), balanced against your time. 2. You perhaps don't want to spend time on it over the minimum because you are nurdling the new one. And for you, time and money are both things to maximise(?) 3. ISTM that there are three options: a - Sell as a 'wreck' in current state. b - Sell as a 'liveable but needs work when they have thought about it'. ie Good enough that they can move in and say wait a year, c - Sell as a "it has been done up". It *will* sell in each state, but at what price? I think your obvious choice may be 2, given the 30k or whatever 3 would take and the risk of not getting it back, and the time involved. Spend your time and money on the new one. 4. Budget. When we sold our tired house (albeit different: 5000 sqft former small manor) - the Estate Agent was adamant that we spend *nothing*, because we would just be limiting the options of the new buyer and not adding much to the likely price (2013: difficult), as the buyer would be wanting to do a full renovate and would not give us money for the bits we second-guessed they wanted to do. In the end we just spent on necessary repairs, and replacing the grotty bathtub. Plus a *huge* amount of decluttering, including sending 3 vans of furniture to auction. The photos are online here - that is after 3 Luton van loads of furniture had gone. No point in expensively poshing it up beyond 'liveable' if the reality is that it is a project. Lower the price slightly and attract a wider range of buyers. In the end we had to drop our price by 25%+ to sell, so it was a good recommendation. It felt a huge reduction, but now there is a new bit of HS2 close enough to (unnecessarily) unsettle buyers - glad we escaped. 5. What to do? I would draw 2 Golden Rules and a PS. 1 - Do not spend on anything that moves beyond "liveable", or your target buyers might want to remove (leave that as available negotiation). 2 - Do things that will stop people buying it ie remove barriers or anything that will appear in a Homebuyer's Report. Don't leave stuff that will obviously need doing in the next 12 months .. replacement cost will just come off the price. PS If there are easy clear value-adds or increase-sellabilitys, perhaps do these. Example: if you had an ensuite that was plumbed in but in use as storage not a shower, put a shower in it, or board out a loft ready to be boarded out. Clutter Or rather declutter declutter declutter. We tried to touch each item just once. It went to 1 - Keep 2 - Auction 3 - Burn or skip. Didn't manage it entirely, but it helped. Cosmetics Is there simple stuff to make it easier to sell. Lick of paint? Room sized rug on a threadbare carpet that you then take with you? New doors for the kitchen units? Outside needs to *look* manageable even if not. Advice Get a couple of Estate Agents round to look early - it will just take a promise to give them a run at selling it when the times comes. Personally I am quite impressed with the likes of House Simple. Timing. If you really intend to shift it, *shift it*. Now is a good time - low supply. Can you get it on the market by April 10th - the big buying season is Easter = April 14/15 when you can have an open day. It can be done. Or at least make the May Bank holiday. Price. Suggest price to sell, and sell to a cash or non-chain buyer. Is it perhaps worth losing 5-10% on this to save waiting for an extra 6-12 months before moving into the new one because you haven't released the funds. For most people, 12 months would be up to 5% of the time period between retirement and the move to a very small wooden house indeed. Sell quickly not next year to have that extra year in your new house not the old one . Ferdinand

Good comments and a fantastic question to ask. You haven't said when your PP runs out, which sets a limit to procrastination ! I say take a break and relax for 2 or 3 months, away from your design, so that you can recharge your batteries and allow subliminal insights you have gained space to surface. Then think and make a decision or some changes. Or not. This is also for hinterland ... which helps give a more rounded judgement. Architects get it through variety, and the sheer length of their training. eg In the 1950s when traininng my father was sent from Sheffield to I think Edinburgh with a group of students to do a site survey of one of the Civic Buildings by crawling all over it. I think taking a break gives self-builders a chance to reflect and perhaps rethink. Isn't there a French slogan "reculer pour mieux sauter" about pausing your horse slightly better to jump the fence? If you have sufficient time and have had your heads under the bonnet (so to speak) looking at spark plugs, then perhaps there is merit in stepping away and looking at the whole car. Have you been heavily house-focused for so long that you may have allowed your "life we want" compass to be obscured a little? Perhaps focus away for a month or four and do something completely different or that you love. Go on a weekend course about to learn about oil painting, butchery, or a new skill, cycle down the Rhine Path to find some Euro-architecture, or go on a cruise, or to Le Mans, or spend a week at Iona, or go to Barcelona to visit the Pavilion, or on a theatre binge. And come back refreshed in June or July to make any changes or get started in autumn / spring. And/Or spend some time "window shopping" to see other people houses (see eg http://www.themodernhouse.com/) or there are various distinctive modern / innovative houses owned by the National Trust (Willow Road, The Homewood, Red House, or Hill House for the NT for Scotland) which may differently inspire. The Landmark Trust also has a wide range of contrasting houses where you can stay, such as Anderton House in Devon by Peter Aldington. I still like Aldington, and his own modern house can be visited, and is in a village setting. Are there not also some "Grand Designs" which do B&B? Here are eleven in a slightly out of date article. Who knows .. you may find just the thing to soften your house into its setting. Not so much about finding new ideas, as setting a deliberate semi-colon and seeing some different ideas - for an extra contrast and perspective now you are slightly different people. Vive La Difference ! Ferdinand

Looking around, I seem to be able to save about £8-10/month over the new price for a 12 month online fix tariff by First Direct (pre their 9.7% price rise coming in on 1st April), via IRESA, SO Energy, Flow Energy. I am happy with the service, so rather than flap around with a switch and Meter numbers and so on I have just asked them to match the same £40-50 cashback deal on offer to new switchers via Quidco as an (I hope) easy to accept lollipop. (Update: they said No unless I go through Quidco as a new customer. Need to reflect as I can see that getting tangled up in tracking verification). Current Options: 12 month fix: 853 ((Iresa), 901 (So Energy), 972 (First Utility) 18 month fix: 946 (Flow Energy), 1045 (First Utility) 3 year fix: 1087 (First Utility) That 3 year fix is tempting given possible inflation. Update: In the end went for the 3 year fix. F

Visit your Council Website and read some Planning Permissions? Many of those will have Topos in the attached documents for some more comparisons. Ferdinand

Sorry I have expanded the thread into dual fuel. Feeling guilty so I did a Single Fuel search. * Single Fuel Running them through my process (MSE Cheap Energy Club) the best Elec Only deals seem to be SO Energy for Good Customer Service and Good Price, or Scottish Power for Good Price and Poorer Service, with possibly NPower also for Good Price / Poor Service (but I had awful problems with them seizing next door's supply by mistake for months). These are the numbers for my area Elec Only - "Elec Only SO energy Fixed for 12 Months". Cheap Exit Fees. Electricity standing charge (p/day) 18.90 Electricity unit rate (p/kWh) 12.16 An address in Ardross gave me: Electricity standing charge (p/day) 18.90 Electricity unit rate (p/kWh) 13.93 Cashback appears to be marginal for all of them, but some of the comparison services offer their own £30 or so for Quidco / Topcashback. * Duel Fuel Looking around, of the fairly biggies First Connect are offering £90 cashback on long-term (3 year) contracts for Dual via Top Cashback if you want longterm. Or a £50 cashback for a 12 month fix at a competitive price: "Home Services Fixed May 2018 Online" - Dual Fuel Elec Unit rate 13.859p per kWh Standing charge 14.35p per day Gas Unit rate 3.056p per kWh Standing charge 14.22p per day They are pretty competitive and I have been happy with their service, but as an existing customer I do not qualify for the cashback, so I am probably switching to Flow Energy. Tip: Get another 1-2% off by paying with a credit or Amex card well in advance and getting them to reduce your DD to almost nothing. Or 5% for the right Amex Cashback in its intro period. Need to trust the company to stay solvent for no sleepless nights. Slightly hardcore if you have average bills. Ferdinand

I thought smaller companies were exempt from some levies made on the Big 6. My current deal (half of a dual fuel - First Connect First Fixed 2017v3 Electricity) is: Elec Standing: 14.42p/day. Elec Unit: 11.016p per kWh. East Midlands area. Iresa is my cheapest charge offer via MSE Cheap Energy Club, at Elec Standing: 12.72 p/day. Elec Unit: 10.9p per kWh. But they are 25% more on the gas/unit than current, and are not stellar in reviews for customer service. Tariff: "IRESA Flex 4 12 month Fixed Direct Debit (Dual Fuel Single Rate)" F

That is about right I think as to people's thoughts. Ferdinand

I don't know the firm answer to that; I have not had a conversation with a relevant professional yet. But on a 0.1 u value wall the difference in thickness between EPS and PIR (other things being equal) is over 100mm. 2 sides of a room would make an extra 200mm inside - which seems significant to me. I have just *not* bought a terraced house because the necessary extra insulation to be added to make it legal to rent out in a few years would turn a just-double bedroom into a single. I would love to build 2 semi-detached houses side by side with the different types for comparison. It is just the kind of thing I would do, too ! But let's not derail this thread - was just throwing in a concept for the OP to consider. F

@Gorlando My two comments: 1 - To get some idea of balance between spending money up front on better fabric, and energy costs that will save you, I suggest doing cost models of your house including the first 10 and 25 years of energy bills. There will be assumptions, but you will get a feel for the cost/benefit. 2 - Think about extra floor area from better insulation. It is true that EPS beads or pumped cellulose will completely fill your cavity, but a more effective insulant will make your walls 50-100mm thinner for the same performance and give you more space .. you will be surprised how much. And you can mulitply that extra by perhaps £3k per sqm to work out the increase in value, everything else being equal. I am thinking of materials such as Kingspan Ecobead Platinum or Celotex sheet. Ferdinand (Sorry - the thread title makes me think of Doris Stokes' Sherry Consumption.