Woodgnome

Thanks Never did get round to coming and seeing you! Who did you use John?. Looks like orange lorries, Mr Vanstone?

Finally getting round to doing the drive to the house, will be about 175 SqM Anyone have any ideas of cost to lay that size area. I will do prep etc. South west area.

My 2 pennies worth. Mr Mrs is a country girl...originally wanted an Aga/ Rayburn and Woodburner. Its what she grew up with. I persuaded her that the Aga was too expensive, and the woodburner wouldnt be needed. Explained the principle of the house i wanted to build ( based on Denby Dale/ Golcar and " Tonys " house). Told her how the chimney ( she wanted big hearth etc) would be a pain in the ass to build and keep watertight as we are in a very exposed place with driving rain pretty common. Money saved could be used on other stuff..kitchen, furniture, kids rooms etc Currently have the coldest weather we've had for a while, snow last night. Im sat here im my T shirt, i have a GSHP, which i realise not everyone has the space for...running low temp UFH in a 100m2 slab and about 225mm thick including screed and floor tiles. No heating upstairs at all. MVHR. I asked her about the woodburner.... Shes glad we didnt bother...it would get too hot too quick, would mean trapsing in and out with wood, and just be another thing to clean/ dust. In my view, in a well insulated airtight house, a wooburner would be something to look at and once youve lit it, you would be opening the windows because its too hot. Spend the money on something else. Just my view on things.

Do people insure the VAT reclaim paperwork when posting? I'm nearly ready to send mine and i think Jeremy said he insured his? Just wondering if i can get insurance for a package potentially worth about £25K. Guessing recorded delivery is the way to go? Thanks.

Ok Cheers, just wondered if anyone had claimed and been successful. Ill just claim for the extractor. Not sure about the warming drawer though..

Looking at the VAT notes it says you cannot claim for " free standing or integrated appliances such as ; cookers fridges, freezers, dishwashers, microwaves"...etc Has anyone claimed for intergrated ovens and hobs?... I know i can claim for the extraction hood, but not sure if its worth chancing it for the " intergrated" stuff. Has any one claimed and got the VAT back?

Are you ready for your air test yet John?

"This is encouraging to hear and I hope air tightness is where a rookie like me can make a difference by prowling around after 5pm with an array of sealant guns. I cannot find public domain info covering airtight techniques for conventional brick & block designs." if you are trying to seal tbe house with sealant the horse has already bolted. Airtightness needs to be planned from the start of the build. Google " Denby Dale passive house" or " Golcar passive house" or " Tonys house" lots of info on traditional block and cavity build and how to make them airtight.

If its any help...my BC didnt ask for the comissioning certificate.

Thanks, instructions on anemometer don't mention anything about the x10 part. Lot less windy today so I'll try again and round up to 0.018 as mike suggests. Only flow rates I have are the ones BPC gave me so im just going by these. Thanks for the replies.

Just checking my calcs. 150mm diameter duct that im using to hold the anemometer in, which gives an area of 0.01767sq M. I've rounded it off to 0.017 when I put the area into the Testo anemometer. Reading on the anemometer is selected for m3/h x 10. Does this mean a reading of say 2.345 is actually 23.45? Thats how I'm reading it?

Struggling to get my extract rates anywhere near regs, ( on boost) even if I screw the centre part right in, there is still too much airflow. Guessing these white bits are used to restrict even further, but can't figure out where they fit. Readings are all over the place, might be because it's quite windy outside? Any ideas please.

Thanks, so when I start to set it all up...i set my boost ventilation rates to be well in excess of BC requirements...then put the unit on normal rate and adjust to get my whole house minimum Supply rate.( which happens to be more than my minimum extract on boost). Once I've balanced the normal rate..and BC are happy, people usually turn down the fan speeds on normal rate due to the numbers in the regs being in excess of whats required when you are actually living in the house?

Struggling to get my head around the set up. My minimum whole house Supply low rate is 49l/s Minimum extract high rate ( boost) is 43l/s So if I put the unit on boost to adjust the extract valves to get the required rate in each room, which will be a minimum total of 43l/s ..then whilst still on boost do the same for the supply valves to get as close to the extract rates as I can to balance the system. Then...my minimum whole house Supply rate is 49l/s...which is more than my minimum extract on boost. I will already have close to that figure as I will have hopefully already balanced it on boost to get to the minimum extract ( boost) rate. In this case do I have to have way over regs required for my flow rates on my boost settings? So once i go back on normal rate, I can achieve my minimum Supply rate for the dwelling on normal rate whilst keeping the extract and supply rates balanced. Vent Axia unit...current settings for fan speeds are 30% normal supply and 50% boost, but can be adjusted. Thanks.

Thanks Just spoken to vat helpline...said he wasn't sure if it would be allowed....depends on who is looking at the claim, although i wasnt claiming fraudelently, if it was rejected my invoices would be destroyed and advised me to keep copies... waste of time calling them to be honest.