Building a Rental Holiday Home

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

. . .  no bath takes too much hot water. 

 

 

I've heard this mentioned a few times, and believed it to be true until I did some measurements at our old house to test it. 

 

We had a pretty average shower there, which used about 10 litres/min of water at 38°C.  For anyone with a more powerful shower, say a rainfall type head, the flow rate will almost certainly be higher than 10 litres/minute.   I measured the bath and it held about 80 litres of water at about the same temperature.  I also measured the time that the shower ran for, varied a lot, but the average was around 10 minutes actual shower running time, so about 100 litres. 

 

Unless you have a large bath, it looks like taking a bath may well use less water than running a shower, perhaps by around 20% or so.

 

[scottishjohn]

9 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

I've heard this mentioned a few times, and believed it to be true until I did some measurements at our old house to test it. 

 

We had a pretty average shower there, which used about 10 litres/min of water at 38°C.  For anyone with a more powerful shower, say a rainfall type head, the flow rate will almost certainly be higher than 10 litres/minute.   I measured the bath and it held about 80 litres of water at about the same temperature.  I also measured the time that the shower ran for, varied a lot, but the average was around 10 minutes actual shower running time, so about 100 litres. 

 

Unless you have a large bath, it looks like taking a bath may well use less water than running a shower, perhaps by around 20% or so.

 

I don,t see how 

 turn on shower let it run warm ,get in   --get wet ,then use shower gel -but turn shower off while lathering up --or it just washes off the gel before it has time to be woorked properly -then turn it  on again -staret from top and work areas downwards --

this method came about from being very oily and greasy from being a muckhanic and head +hair could need 2 goes to remove all the crud

then repeat with different areas of body --no way it uses more than a bath to wash 

Edited April 2, 2020 by scottishjohn

[Mugwanya]

I have already seen Vanessa's site, my plot is nowhere near the sea - probably as far from it as you can get in England - but everything else applies.

 

In the same way that I will take the advice about going on grid, I will take the advice of the agents and put in a bath. I agree with Jeremy that they are not that bad, water wise.

 

And LOML would never agree to not accepting dogs.

[scottishjohn]

same goes for the advice to wash hands under running tap 

how you going to get a lather if you running water on hands all the time 

wet hands -use soap for 20seconds then dip to remove it ,then running water to rinse off while sink drains 

[scottishjohn]

Just now, Mugwanya said:

I have already seen Vanessa's site, my plot is nowhere near the sea - probably as far from it as you can get in England - but everything else applies.

 

In the same way that I will take the advice about going on grid, I will take the advice of the agents and put in a bath. I agree with Jeremy that they are not that bad, water wise.

 

And LOML would never agree to not accepting dogs.

then build a purpose dog shower  somewhere--even better selling point

[Mugwanya]

But in a holiday let I can't dictate how, or how long, people will shower for. We don't have a shower at home do if we go away my 6 year old daughter will have 45 minute showers.  I'm in for probably 15-20 minutes on top of that.

 

[Cpd]

2 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

Ps, if you let someone wash their dog in the bathroom you will need to refurb them every year and extra cleaning every week, warm tap outside for dogs, showers inside for kids, no bath takes too much hot water. 

We allow dogs and charge an additional rate for extra cleaning. 

I don’t allow small children or dogs in my cabin  ! Probably because I have had both and know how much bloody mess they create..... I know I loose a few bookings but overall I am happy with the decision as I just could not manage the extra cleaning between check out and check in even if I charged extra. 

[Jeremy Harris]

17 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

I don,t see how 

 turn on shower let it run warm ,get in   --get wet ,then use shower gel -but turn shower off while lathering up --or it just washes off the gel before it has time to be woorked properly -then turn it  on again -staret from top and work areas downwards --

this method came about from being very oily and greasy from being a muckhanic and head +hair could need 2 goes to remove all the crud

then repeat with different areas of body --no way it uses more than a bath to wash 

 

 

That sounds like a "submariner's shower".  They had a water rationing, so adopted a similar technique.

 

I actually measured the length of time that the shower ran for, for about a week, to get an average.  The shortest time was me, about 6 minutes, longest was one when my wife washed her hair, about 15 minutes.

[scottishjohn]

1 minute ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

 

That sounds like a "submariner's shower".  They had a water rationing, so adopted a similar technique.

 

I actually measured the length of time that the shower ran for, for about a week, to get an average.  The shortest time was me, about 6 minutes, longest was one when my wife washed her hair, about 15 minutes.

I may not be scotish by birth -but by inclination  i  am

[Mugwanya]

Maybe I need to look into a shower timer - set it for 6 minutes max, then 10 minutes before the next one can start.

Also 6 inch deep baths - I could claim it makes it easier for old folk to get in.

 

But the warm outside tap/shower for dogs is interesting, I may look at that.

[Jeremy Harris]

I had to fit flow restrictors to all our taps and the shower (nit-picking inspector - not actually needed) and I kept some of them after the house was signed off.  The shower sas a 9 litre/minute restrictor fitted, and it doesn't seem to affect the flow to any noticeable degree.  The 4 litre/minute flow restrictors fitted to the wash basin taps are great, as they stop pretty much all the splashing and make the taps easier to control, so we kept those too.  The only restrictors I removed after completion were those on the bath taps, as restricting the flow through them seemed daft; you want the bath to fill as quickly as possible.

[ProDave]

People will get really P'd off with a shower timer.  Imagine the lady of the house is having a good shower, hair all lathered up, and the water goes off, and it will be 10 minutes before it comes back on.

 

You will probably get an irate phone call reporting the "fault" and a lousy review.

 

In the accommodation business you just have to suck up the fact that guests have no interest in energy efficiency  Like the guests we had that would turn the thermostat up to 30, then when it got too hot, open the window, but leave the thermostat at 30.

 

I share the views of a few others that if you are going off grid, LPG should be in the mix somewhere.. 

[Mugwanya]

Sorry, the shower timer and bath depth bits were not serious. The outdoor dog shower was serious, if it can save on internal cleaning and wear and tear.

[scottishjohn]

1 minute ago, Mugwanya said:

Sorry, the shower timer and bath depth bits were not serious. The outdoor dog shower was serious, if it can save on internal cleaning and wear and tear.

If mon ey is a problem --build 2 now and third later and have mains power

[Bitpipe]

1 hour ago, scottishjohn said:

I don,t see how 

 turn on shower let it run warm ,get in   --get wet ,then use shower gel -but turn shower off while lathering up --or it just washes off the gel before it has time to be woorked properly -then turn it  on again -staret from top and work areas downwards --

this method came about from being very oily and greasy from being a muckhanic and head +hair could need 2 goes to remove all the crud

then repeat with different areas of body --no way it uses more than a bath to wash 

 

Very economical and practical. However the other 99% stand under the shower for as long as they like. My teenage son is a prime offender, I've now taken to going into plant room and killing the hot water supply so he gets a blast of cold to remind him to get out.

[Mugwanya]

@scottishjohn 

I'm only planning/able to build one at the moment, the other two will start in 2 or 3 years time.

[scottishjohn]

1 hour ago, Mugwanya said:

@scottishjohn 

I'm only planning/able to build one at the moment, the other two will start in 2 or 3 years time.

so is the 23k for a supply to one uniit or all three ?

and do they know its to supply 3 units

 

[Mugwanya]

Western Power know that there will be three properties eventually but only one built this year. The quote doesn't explicitly say it is for just the first property, but it is for three phase so I assume that that will handle all three houses. 

[scottishjohn]

12 minutes ago, Mugwanya said:

Western Power know that there will be three properties eventually but only one built this year. The quote doesn't explicitly say it is for just the first property, but it is for three phase so I assume that that will handle all three houses. 

but if not applying for 3 supplies there could be more costs late rto connect to other houses,thats all I,m highlighting --ask more questions

 once you make real application you hsould get a drawing shoqwing all lines they are installing and where they terminate --could be all are quoted for is power line to site ?

Edited April 2, 2020 by scottishjohn

[Jeremy Harris]

£23k for power for three houses seems reasonable, to me.  I think others here have paid more than that to get power to a single plot.

 

FWIW, the cost to supply mains water to our site was going to be about £23k, the cost of running mains drainage was going to be about another £14k and the cost to run electricity was about £3.5k.  That was for a single small building plot in the middle of a village. 

[Thedreamer]

Few comments earlier about showers running out of water putting customers off etc

 

Depends whether it is marketed as being off grid.

 

 

 

 

[ProDave]

43 minutes ago, Thedreamer said:

Few comments earlier about showers running out of water putting customers off etc

 

Depends whether it is marketed as being off grid.

 

Outdoor solar shower with a small and clearly visible reservoir of warm water.

[Russell griffiths]

8 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

I have a serous allergy to dogs.  While looking for a holiday rental earlier in the year, I had to discount the vast majority of them.

 

 

That’s ok I put you on the banned list already. ??

[scottishjohn]

my brother had a customer for his hoilday let ,who when they came decided it was no good ,cos thier old dog could not climb stairs --and they expected a full refund 

2 chances of that 

 

slight and none 

even though details clearly show it is 3 storey 

[Russell griffiths]

10 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

I've heard this mentioned a few times, and believed it to be true until I did some measurements at our old house to test it. 

 

We had a pretty average shower there, which used about 10 litres/min of water at 38°C.  For anyone with a more powerful shower, say a rainfall type head, the flow rate will almost certainly be higher than 10 litres/minute.   I measured the bath and it held about 80 litres of water at about the same temperature.  I also measured the time that the shower ran for, varied a lot, but the average was around 10 minutes actual shower running time, so about 100 litres. 

 

Unless you have a large bath, it looks like taking a bath may well use less water than running a shower, perhaps by around 20% or so.

 

That would depend on if you use the Australian government guide to showers 

while I was over there they sent to every household an egg timer with a rubber suction cup to stick to the shower door, you flip it around as you get in and take a 3 minute shower. 

 

We had two girlfriends of my wifes staying and they asked what the egg timer was for, I explained and the said how do you expect us to have a shower in 3 minutes. 

 

I thought of how to explain and did a little demonstration that went something like. 

 

Armpit, armpit, fanny, bum and now your done.   I don’t know if it was the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or what but they where all rolling around the floor. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Russell griffiths