Jenki

Nothing really, may be higher sides so the overall height was increased. The original designs are taller and possibly use 7m sheets( very difficult to source up here). But it's not budgged with over 7 or 8 big storms may well extend it in the years to come.once the rest of the projects are out of the way.

Yes to the A2A HP(This was our route) , hot water for showers and sinks will be more affordable with gas.

A side note on the transport, since the restrictions on Red diesel and limited to agricultural use only a couple of companies up here in the far North used to move statics with large tractors and low-loaders, all legitimate, but this cant happen now as they would have to use white diesel so they have stopped moving them. I expect this is the same in all rural spots.

Yes all external walls solid and warm to touch😀. I don't have any wall cabinets in the kitchen so didn't need to. However the steel strips are every 150mm so not too difficult TO locate and the fix directly to them. The TV is fixed to these steel strips, as I used metal back boxes screwed to these strips there is a reference on all walls for a vertical strip, so them just measure across. The polysteel blocks only came in one width (not sure if they are changing with tightening of U values), so it was essential to add external insulation fixed in the same way, with baypole screws and battens, and I added the internal PIR to boosts this and eliminate the hollow wall feel. For a truly DIY build, I found the process, with meticulous planning, a breeze to carry out, and airtightness is easier to achieve with cheep materials.

The polysteel Blocks I used have a 30mm steel web every 150mm, so yes got knife to gouge the blocks for conduit. I added. Layer of 25mm PIR so surface mounted 25mm electrical boxes and these were screwed to the steel webs with lightweight steel wafer head screws. Plasterboard was secured with longer drywall screws for metal studs.

I don't think structurally they would be suitable, during install, you partially fill with water and then backfill, my instructions were very clear, fill say 300mm with water then backfill to that level, and repeat, DO not fill the tank with water without following the instructions.

Firstly, I've read and learned lots from your posts, especially the spreadsheet for heat loss so thank you👍. Insurance claim and let them deal with the clean up and disposal

As said above it's got to be down to budget. I did get some prices for triple glazed timber /Ali however the quote was around 1/3 of our build cost (including the triple glazed UPVC we went for). My view was UPVC hinges, beads etc are easily changeable if needed. I do wish I'd selected a different front door, I went for a slam lock composite door, this was a big mistake with the high winds we get. But you live and learn.

Update: I connected the PC via a Lan cable to the LAN port on the bridge, changed the IP address to static 192.168.188.200. Then logged into the host on 192.168.188.253, this worked and I could login, so followed a YouTube video to reset them and link via a mac address. The issue I had is that you can switch between Host and Client via a micro switch. on one CPE I could log into either the Host 192.168.188.253 or the Client 192.168.188.100, but the other unit was struggling either way, I changed POE adaptors and cables but no help resetting the other CPE, I then connected to the working one logged on to the admin page, but before I logged in, I switched the cable and it tricked it? it allowed me to log in, so reset by following the video linked & paired the 2 units. - I hate this type of stuff..........

@vfrdave The bridges have the IP address fixed (its written on the case. ) for testing I've connected the host directly to the router via the POE injector. the pc is connected to the router via an unmanaged switch. I tried changing the IP address on the PC , but this is where I get lost.

I have a KuWfi CPE200 wireless bridge between a house and a Barn approx. 500m away this has been working for around 8 months with the only issue of connection loss after power cuts, and this was a simple task of timing the switching on the POE injectors. Yesterday the internet stopped working on the client end. (we have been having some issues with slow internet via FTTP, so wonder if some setting have been changed and there is some cache setting in the bridge) The main issue I have is I cannot seem to log into the host and client part of the bridge . my setup is loosely as follows. with the client end connected to a TP Link A1200 access point. The bridge Host has an IP address of 192.168.188.253 and the client 192.168.188.100. When I try to access the either of the settings I just get "site unreachable." I'm sure its to do with IP settings but to be honest my network knowledge is limited and I'm lost at this point - Any help where to look? My PC settings are: Automatic IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 but have tried setting to static IP 192.168.188.100 -with the same results

Do the two need to be close together? If I put the chime in the house the two would be around 20M apart.

@Pocster do you have a Poe reolink video door bell? Looking for options for an external gate camera/ door bell - I could run an external cat5/6 cable and link to Poe switch and then back to NVR just want to know reliability as it will be outside stuck to a post❄️💨💦🌞.

Central support makes a lot of sense, great shout. Not even a compromise, nice feature. I would look at having that open gable split with the master bedroom looking out of that and possibly a balcony. You could probably shrink the length of the house that way. Don't underestimate the solar gain from such an expanse of glass, and losses in winter

This will end up with the structural engineer..one reason we changed from timber to ICF, was the engineer reinforcing the timber frame due to location. He doubled up all the OSB, made some internal walls structural to support the external walls and added proprietary Sheer walls in each gable which were around £1k each, and seemed impossible to get hold of. I'm sure you will end up with a steel portal frame, the detailing to eliminate cold bridging will be essential.

Resale values especially remote islands will be hard to justify. House prices are a lot lower. Our build was on a tight budget, and we have achieved a great performing house. If we had used contractors I'm sure the build costs would have exceeded market value. I understand the double height ceiling concept but with this brings the issues as @ProDave mentions and also complexity with steel, wind bracing etc. these complexities will cost considerably more due to location. We built all on the ground floor so made the house bigger (longer ) than necessary,this was due to future planning, no stairs etc for our older age, I'm only leaving this house in a box, or because I cant remember my name. Structurally the engineers were much happier using trusses. If we would have wanted cut roof and steels I'm convinced there would have been even more reinforcement on the walls( we used around 1.8kM of rebar), also we would have had to use cast in anchors for the wall plates these were ridiculous cost. Our build was 13m long, 2 bed simple design. We could have shrunk that if we went for rooms in the roof. I blogged my build on here look for #thewindyroost. Good luck

Having built ICF on the North coast I'd only consider the lack / difficulty/ cost , of 'pumping' concrete. Everything else is positive especially for a DIY self build. I didn't pump the concrete for the aforementioned reasons and just used a 360 machine and home made hoppers. Transport of the chosen ICF system will also be expensive.

What I did was each invoice even if multiple pages was 1 pdf so multiple pages on one file. And when I got to 20, I then went through there complicated add extra documents, then added the extra invoices and in the description said this was a document they asked for. I uploaded 28 this way.

I have considered hardwiring, but logistically it's a pain. My meter / Cabinet is on the other side of our drive / track and around 50M away. Also we have now concreted around the front of the barn and side of the house. There is an option to get a cable into the ducting that feeds the house, but would require burying the cables under a portion of the track, so this is going to be my back up plan if my very limited ESP programming skills fail implementing my wireless plan. This is a job for the colder winter months so I can look like I'm doing something in the warmth of the house 😂. Today is markedly colder ❄️

The estimate was around 3600kWh so we had a good return. This year's weather was definitely not as warm as last year, but from spring onwards we have had lots of clear skies, and prolonged dry spells. That's all changing now though,just hope it's not as long and wet as last year

I thought I'd publish some rough figures for the running costs for 12 months. Details. 85 Sq M bungalow. North Scotland -highlands All electric (heating/DHW/cooking and running * two self catering cabins) 4 kW South facing solar panels. 0.88 ACH EPC A103 Heating set to 20⁰C DHW set to 43⁰C Year to date: Total Electricity usage 3300kWh ASHP usage 890kWh heat and DHW don't know if Samsung gen6 can split the usage? Solar Generation 4254kWh Solar export (given away) 2359kWh. I'm happy with the house, and the heat retention seems very good for our budget build. Heating hasn't been needed since mid April, and has only been on around 6 days this autumn. Obviously my biggest issue is reducing our solar export. I have done nothing in this regard with the exception of manually loading shifting washing machine / drier / dishwasher on sunny days. My issue with solar diverter is that the meter is located 50M from the house (in an enclosure) the house is supplied separately from the cabins so I can't just monitor the house as the cabins maybe using power. I'm in the early stages of exploring using ESP-Now as a CT clamp monitor and building a diverter similar to how @ProDave and others have done. How do these figures look? *We had around 170 days of cabin usage which use electric for cooking/heating and the laundry.

As @nod says. He should only charge you for materials and labour less VAT, so you won't be adding this to your VAT reclaim. If he is happy for you to settle his merchant account (less the VAT) instead of paying him then that is for him to balance in his accounts, just make sure you get a receipt for payment received just in case down the road things change.

I think there is some program to interrogate the submitted list. They asked us for 26 invoices, some large item invoices kitchen, windows, treatment plant etc, but they also found a duplicate( this was an invoice and a proforma invoice submitted in error, for the same amount different reference. Also they found two invoices that were actually quotes / proforma's) we sent the wrong ones, and the reference were e.g. q123456 and pro9986. . Top tip :double check your list before typing in the the details.

Ours wasn't as quick as that and still. Not resolved yet. Submitted 24th July. Questions asked and answered 7th Aug - this was relating to my wife completing the return but my name being on the the planning application. Chased Oct 1st. Chased Oct 17th. 18th Oct asked to send 26 invoices 19th Oct sent invoices 26th Oct received part payment 28th Oct received letter via post showing items not paid. We are still trying to sort these invoices as it's around 2K on the positive, they found 2 invoices that were incorrect on the Vat and actually increased the claim for those items.

@saveasteading The SS option I suppose was more of a longevity viewpoint. I have zero experience with SS. I know cladding with metal profile would have been exponentially quicker and cheaper. I was worried about it's lifespan being so close to the coast. Who knows I might be tempted to rip off the tiles and clad with metal profile if the tile lift keeps waking me up,might have to go back to work though😔 .