Mr Blobby

The M and E guys are very keen to do the services applications, I think because they think I'll mess it up and leave them exposed, so I'm happy they include this in their fixed price package. We are at 265 m2 area so I'm hoping a single large MVHR unit will be ok. I'm thinking the Zehnder 600 unit. My M and E guys, who will be doing the ventilation plan, have said I need two units. I'm not so sure, but decision yet to be made. We need all the help and advice we can get, so yes, we would really like to come see your build. I'll pm you.

PV array size is yet to be decided. We are not constarined by the 4 KW limit but will not have the demand to justify more than 10 KW, so maybe 9kw, 3 per phase? Demand in the summer will come from 2 EVs, but with working from home the new normal, and even if diverting excess PV into the DHW, then we may be struggling to use it all in the summer. Unless we are also cooling the slab maybe. Where my understanding expires is how we can run a single phase divertor to the EV charger and/or the DHW (myenergi products do this) from CTs on a 3 phase connection coming into the property. I am paying an M and E consultancy to figure this out, so I look forward to learning how they put all this together. Back up battery is on the list of things to discuss with the M and E guys. Again, this is where having a 3-phase invertor and DC battery failover (I would like failover if ossible) makes my head spin. Maybe seperate invertors on each phase? With invertor reliability, would that be a more sensible, or even possible, approach? What invertor / battery system would you recommend, if any? Thickness of slab? No idea yet, the SE work is some way off still, but I would expect that the UFH pipes will sit in far more concrete than the 'standard' 5cm of screed in a traditional floor. Which I hope will help regulate the temperature.

I am very interested to hear about your external blinds. What supplier did you choose? Warema look good, and probably cheaper than internorm, but I can't find any suppliers in Northern Ireland. Do you know any?

County Down. We are building in an urban area, demoloshing ands rebuilding so no problem (unlike more rural parts of NI I imagine!) getting services in. NIE quoted just 4k for a 3-phase connection to replace the old songle phase. The old water connection is just half inch pipe so that is getting upgraded to 2 cm pipe which I think is required to improve flow rate. I have an M and E team on board and they want to do the NIE/water applications as part of their service. Agreed, the applications will be going in as soon as realistically possible.

I have been lurking in this forum for some time, and I have to say, it has been a really useful source of information and advice. I am grateful to @Jeremy Harris , @Nickfromwales, @joe90 and many more for their many informative posts on ASHP, UFH, insulated slabs and so much more. Our plan is to build a masonry cavity two-storey passive house on a KORE insulated slab. Plans are approved, construction starting hopefully in the spring. The heating system will be ASHP to buffer tank to single zone UFH downstairs (to the horror of some of my paid professionals) with some electric towel rails upstairs (more tutting from the M and E corner). I'm keen to fit external blinds (architect not quite so keen) on the South facing glass but need to research this some more and decide pretty quickly. Warema? Internorm? Gaulhofer? KNX will ideally be controlling the ASHP and MVHR as well as lower the blinds and cooling the slab when the sun is out. Which after this summer looks like it could happen more often than one day a year, even in Northern Ireland. The house will be connected to 3-phase power, with two banks of solar on the roof. WIth divertor(s) to EV charging and immersion heater, this is way beyond my level of knowledged so hopefully my M and E guys can spec this all out to work nicely and balance the phases etc. Generally speaking I have no idea what I'm doing so expect to see lots of stupid questions from me in the forums in the coming months!