Withington Co-operative Eco-house - velux

Velux smoke vent system

Robert — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:17:48 +0000

Today we took delivery of the Velux windows (and additional slates, to replace broken ones).

There are two electronically-operated opening windows to be installed at the top of the stairwell, these will be connected via a Velux-supplied control unit to the fire alarm - and also switches to enable the people in the house to open and close the windows (pretty much like electric windows in a car).

What I didn't realise until it arrived was how big and heavy the control unit is: looks like it's built to withstand World War Three!

It was good that we found this out before the meeting with the electricians; I told them that the box would be going in the plant room, and they'd have to run cables up to the roof from there, as it would be too big and heavy to put on the wall at high level, as originally intended.

The rest of the meeting with the electricians went well - I just need to confirm a few details with them ahead of them starting on-site a week on Monday.

Incidentally, Velux provided stickers for the smoke vent control box in numerous European languages, the etymology of which I found quite interesting:

Velux windows

Robert — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 17:27:42 +0000

With the roof fully stripped, we discovered a purlin running right behind the original skylight at the top of the stairs (which we couldn't see before because it was behind plaster). This meant that the larger replacement Velux window could not be accommodated. As this is a smoke vent window and part of our fire safety design, this was a significant issue. I phoned Velux customer support, and they helpfully suggested that two smaller windows and a separate control unit could be ordered (one window above the purlin and the other below), together performing as per the originally specified window.

Having taken up this suggestion, in order to avoid too many windows on the roof (for both aesthetic and structural reasons) I decided to change the two originally-specified windows in the front bedroom for one larger window.

In addition, the joiner had built the platform for the rainwater header tank whilst I was away at Redfield, and not done it exactly how I'd envisaged (serves me right for not providing a drawing!). However it will suffice, and the way he's done it means we can put the top floor bathroom MVHR underneath (rather than next to) the tank - still need to finalise the ductwork though.

All this was agreed verbally on-site with the builders over the space of an hour or two. Then I had a shock when I found out that the price of the two-window solution for smoke vent, as suggested by Velux, is significantly higher than the single window we were originally to use; this combined with the extra slates required has now pushed the roof works about £2k over-budget!

So I (re-)learnt the lesson: preparation is key, don't be making - or worse, changing - design decisions on the spot.

Meanwhile, we got a business card for yet another tradesperson claiming to do tree works - several phone calls and voicemail messages later, no call back.

Laundry

Robert — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:24:41 +0000

Today I took the plunge and ordered an ISE Drying Cabinet which is the best - if expensive - clothes dying solution that I could find. Clothes drying is a major source of moisture, which in an eco-house won't be able to escape, so hanging up clothes within habitable rooms won't be allowed - hence the need for the drying cabinet. This is something like a modern-day version of an airing cupboard, with moisture from the clothes taken out via a duct to outside air.

Like all the other large and/or novel elements of the design, I'm taking the approach of buying things in sooner rather than later, as physically having the items helps understand what's required to make them work as intended, and avoid "gotchas". With the drying cabinet, the manual isn't clear on how long a load of clothes will take to dry, so we're going to set it up at my house initially, to see how it performs; there's also a height issue, as the basement ceiling is only 2m high, and we need to be careful with door lintel heights etc, that we can actually get the unit in!

In other news, the Velux windows are now ordered, roof work is ongoing. Also got an email from the neighbour, so we're now in dialogue via email.

This weekend I'm going to visit Redfield Community - a housing co-operative that's been going 35 years.

Starting work on the roof

Robert — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 21:47:03 +0000

The builders have started work on the roof today. Straight away we've found out that we aren't going to be able to salvage as many slates as expected. Apart from that, it's so far, so good.

I finalised the Velux window specification, including adapting the internal studwork slightly to accommodate the 1m2 smoke vent window. I took the rainwater header tank to the house and went through the design of the tank cupboard etc with the builders, in the space.

The MVHR units arrived - physically, smaller than I was expecting (even though I knew the dimensions!). I'm still to figure out and then order the ductwork. I've pretty much settled on siting the top floor bathroom unit in the to-be-formed plant cupboard.

Meeting electrician and fire alarm guy on-site next Saturday (6 July).

Spoke to the letting agent for the house next door, having had no contact from the owner after the initial phonecall; he was similarly disinterested, and suggested I email the landlord once more (which I duly did).

I was considering a very impressive 1.5 litre vacuum flush toilet called Propelair, which I'd seen at Ecobuild. The downside, apart from cost, is that they only currently do a concealed cistern version - but if we are going ahead with the smaller top floor bathroom, a concealed cistern could be used. However, when I spoke to Propelair, they didn't seem to have a distribution channel set up, and the guy on the phone was quite short with me when I pointed out that neither accepting credit card payments nor offering credit yourselves was not conducive to getting business! Seemed like a startup company (apparently the toilet was only launched at this year's Ecobuild), and although I really like their idea, I was reminded of the risk of buying immature technology, and of buying from a startup company, who could easily go bust/discontinue the product/etc (I was told last weekend at Old Hall that they had to decommission their solar hot water collector because the company had gone bust and they couldn't get necessary parts).

A day of dealing with various things

Robert — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:53:00 +0000

Set up a basic site office in one of the bedrooms - desk, chair, whiteboard, drawings on wall.

Had another meeting with the sprinkler company - pipe runs etc pretty much all worked out, and agreement for first fix to start a week on Monday (1 July).

It's awkward to get sprinkler coverage in rooms with sloping ceilings (as we have on our top floor), and as sprinkler coverage isn't required in rooms less than 5m2, I came up with the idea of making the top floor bathroom slightly smaller, to get it under this size threshold (it seems pointless to have sprinkler coverage in a bathroom, but at the end of the day we need to say we have complied with BS9521). This would necessitate omitting the bath from the design, which I didn't see too much of a problem with - and that top floor bathroom was crowded anyway.

The rainwater harvesting system arrived (everything but the underground tank, which is being held back until we get rear garden vehicle access). I specifically wanted the header tank on-site to ensure that the joiner builds the cupboard that will be housing it to the right size. And it was a good job I did, because I found out that, including its lid, it is just a little bit too high to fit in the space between the top of the doorways and the underside of the existing ceiling - so the ceiling will have to be raised in this area. I also hadn't realised that it has a 40mm overflow.

On similar lines, I ordered two of the single-room MVHR units (Manrose HR100RS), which should be delivered tomorrow.

I called Velux technical support to try to understand their somehow rather incomprehensible code numbers; good job that I did, as the guy helpfully pointed out that a smoke vent window is required to have at least 1m2 of opening area, and none of the Velux range with a width that would fit within the existing top floor stairwell would match. His suggestion was to have two smaller windows in-line; the other option would be to adjust the stairwell enclosure (which fortunately is all timber studwork). Need to investigate this and come to a decision ASAP.

This evening I had the future occupants of the house come round and discussed various things with them - all went well, apart from the omitting the bath idea, which they didn't like. We discussed various options including having a bath in the ensuite bathroom, and having an over-bath shower in one of the bathrooms (which I really don't like, as in my experience they always leak sooner or later - structural timbers soaking up water in an eco-house would of course not be good at all!).

Obviously it's not good to be firming up and making adjustments to the design at this stage - hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Withington Co-operative Eco-house - velux

Velux smoke vent system

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Velux windows

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Laundry

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Starting work on the roof

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A day of dealing with various things

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