Had nearly decided on an MG5 as our new car, but just learnt it doesn’t have a heat pump. Some models do have heated seats though. Interested to hear folks experience of this EV or others without heat pumps to get a picture of how much more of an impact on range that makes in winter. Thanks 🙏

This is excellent from @richardlowes.bsky.social. Absolutely agree that super deep retrofit isn’t always appropriate, but one thing I’d say here is that the heat demand reductions mentioned here as the top end of what can be achieved (40-50%) are lower than what can be achieved at the top end.

How did storm Eowyn impact the heat demand in our #EnerPhit retrofit? Looks like hardly at all! Gale force 💨 yesterday, calm today. ⚡️demand for heat a bit higher today (colder). Suggests impact of even gale force 💨 is small/negligible due to good wind-tightness & excellent airtightness. #Passivhaus

Useful podcast here on some things that can go very wrong with MVHR. I like to think of MVHR as a bit like pneumatic tyres on a bike. Installed properly and maintained they are *way* better than solid tyres, but if you don’t maintain them they are even worse (try riding a bike with a flat tyre).

Hi @evanhd.bsky.social, I tried to send an email to the email address provided at the end of the flats podcast but got an address not found failure. Could you let me know the email address please? Thanks!🙏

Right, side project for the Christmas season is to source a new (second hand) #EV. Current thinking is an MG5. Needs to be able to take a tow bar for a bike rack. I think the more recent ones can, is there a year that doesn’t that I shouldn’t go further back than? #electricCars #EVs

We've got a full year of monitoring for heating & hot water in our #Passivhaus EnerPHit retrofit. Our total electricity usage, for heating and hot water, between 14th November 2023 and 14th November 2024 was just £175!

Stop Building Crap Houses A quick thread 🧵 about the Scottish government consultation on the proposed #ScottishPassivhausEquivalent standard. #passivhaus

Language matters, and to communicate Passivhaus well we have to be mindful of cognitive biases. One example I’ve been musing on recently: To a layperson ‘natural ventilation’ sounds intrinsically better than ‘mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) plus airtightness’.

Just off the phone with someone whose 'forever home' in NW Scotland, built in 2016, is unbearably hot whenever the sun shines and unheatable whenever the wind blows. Now considering major retrofit works. Grim. Designers, please start taking thermal comfort seriously. Passivhaus for the win!

Proper humid in Lochaber today.

On the way back from an excellent cycling trip to Orkney, we saw these massive wind turbine blades. Does anyone know why they have sharp teeth on the trailing edge? The kids thought it might be to stop Danny Macaskill riding along them, I thought maybe something about aerodynamics.

I interviewed Finlay Wild about his amazing recent record run of the Cuillin round on Skye, a place close to my heart. Finlay took a third off the existing record for this monster run. #running #fellrunning #trailrunning #climbing podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/go-...

Today’s the 1st day since start of ❄️ that the #MVHR bypass has opened (cos the house was already above 21° due to the plentiful ☀️). So cool how in most weather from now till next winter it’ll just modulate how open the bypass is and effortlessly keep the 🏠 between 20 and 22°.

Normalize not burning stuff for energy.

New filter day. White ones are replacements. Darkest is outdoor air filter. 4 months of highland winter air. Change your filters regularly people! Also dusted extract terminals to keep everything running silently. #MVHR #Passivhaus

Escaped into the hills with my two eldest yesterday. Stob Ban north ridge. Magic.

Just finished this book about a man forging a life in the wilds near where I live. Really enjoyed it. Highly recommend!

No heating on for 24h and a chunk of heat put into the hot 🚿 (our HW heat pump takes heat from inside) but the 🏠 is still nearly 20°C. Still surprises me after 10months in the house. #Passivhaus. *electricians were in doing some snagging and I forgot to turn heating back on.

Was a pleasure and honour to be a guest on the excellent Energy Transition Show, after years of listening, to discuss radical building energy efficiency and why we should be excited about its role in the #EnergyTransition. #Passivhaus #Passivehouse #Energy #Renewables xenetwork.org/ets/episodes...

Survey of a timber frame house, built in 2000, for a potential retrofit today. Wild that houses were being built in the 21st century with essentially no insulation in the floor! 😳 this is 2mm of foil bubble wrap.

Latest paper …It’s been a long time coming. “A review of the indoor air quality in residential Passive House dwellings” 50 days free access: authors.elsevier.com/c/1iUGB1M7zH...

Bit of morning data crunching. Just £87.58 of electricity used for heating and hot water between 15 Nov and today, including several very cold spells. Most expensive single day was a little over £3! 4 bedroom house, exemplary comfort 24/7 💥 💪 #Passivhaus #Heatpumps

Affectionate cat and cosy window seat currently derailing plans to tidy house after a week of snowmageddon. Adult and kids winter kit everywhere. 🎿 🧣 🧤 🧥

At very low loads our air to air does 5min cycles at 4-500W. Slightly higher load and it goes to steady 200 W. Presumably it’s more efficient at steady than cycling, so why doesn’t it do longer cycles at 200 W instead of jumping straight from off to 500 W?

Very excited to have electricity monitoring for the air to air minisplit heating up and running for our Passivhaus EnerPHit Retrofit! emoncms.org/app/view?name=…

This is horrifying

Beautiful morning here today after a very cold night. First time I’ve seen frost protection activated on the MVHR. Love this time of year.

In 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 there is a £1250 grant and a £4750 interest free loan for solar PV, with the same again available for home battery systems. Great. Requires that you fit a heat pump first. Also great. Turns out heat pump installation needs to be by someone MCS accredited. Less great.

Beautiful sunny autumnal day here. Chilly though, high of 10 °C outside. ☀️ was enough to get the house up to nearly 22 °C. This is only a degree cooler than when it was 28 °C outside and sunny in the midsummer heat wave. Careful shading, appropriate for the orientation, works. Remarkable to live in.

Passivhaus is so luxurious. Left the house at 10am at 21 °C, having run the heat pump on cheap tariff overnight then off at breakfast. Cool, grey, super windy day out racing bikes. Back mid afternoon to a low of 20.2 °C. Now back up to nearly 21 through cooking and occupancy, heating still off. 💪

I don’t like to pick on this thread cos it’s excellent in many respects, but it drives me nuts how often people talk about solutions to seasonal demand mismatch without talking about fabric efficiency in buildings, so I’m going to try and chirp up when I see it happening.

Never did get round to reading that ridiculous Civitas net zero hit job. Unfortunate shortening of the name in my files. Climatesky

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... Lots of obvious terrible things going on here, but knowing you’re doing a crap job is also terrible for the mental health of tradespeople. Let’s sort it. #Passivhaus for all new build.

Thinking about this from Sarah Price’s presentation today at #UKPHC23. Showing that the cost of saving a MWh of electricity through Passivhaus methodology is cheaper than any of the forms of generation.

Had to leave halfway through the last session on delivering PH equivalent in Scotland, which is the one I was most interested in, will hopefully catch up on recording later. Annoying but it’s kids half term so nights away are a limited resource. #ukphc23 Long train back to warm #EnerPHit 🏡 now ☺️

If you haven't yet, check out @estresidder.bsky.social 's inspirational DIY Passivhaus EnerPHit retrofit www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibF1... Looking forward to your feedback during your first winter in Es!

Here’s a second shot of the eclipse where you can see “Baily’s beads”… the sun shining through the mountains and valleys on the moon.

Mechanical ventilation, done well, is both healthier and ‘more eco’ than ‘natural ventilation’. #Passivhaus

Looking forward to joining in on the Passivhaus conference tomorrow. I think the last time I was in that hall may have been my graduation, ahem, 20 years ago! #UKPHC23

🚨 Long shot!: I picked up two German 🇩🇪 hitch hikers on Saturday evening in Glencoe, they left something valuable in the back of my car when they got out. Anyone know a couple of German men, in their 20s or 30s, from Hamburg, currently on a hiking 🥾 holiday around Glencoe/Fort William?

Was musing on how ‘being the change’ makes it much easier to imagine how that change is possible and better than status quo. Are there any UK politicians with #heatpumps / #EV /solar #PV / #Passivhaus or deep #Retrofit? Perhaps coming from a place of direct experience would improve discourse.

Always exciting to get the first snow! #Passivhaus

An oft quoted (and valid) reason to go for triple glazing is winter comfort- comfortable to sit close to🪟even when 🥶 outside. But it’s also better at moderating 🌞 gains. It’s 10°C outside here but periods of intense sun. Lovely & warm, but never too warm, on window seat in a T shirt. #Passivhaus

Apparently #Proofofcat is a thing.

This is despite deliberately locating MVHR intake & exhaust ducts on wall furthest from neighbour’s chimney. Really noticeable compared to the excellent clean air most of the time. #AirQuality

Am getting a smell of wood/coal smoke from neighbours early evening every day. Wondering if should shut #MVHR off for an Hr or 2 at lighting up time, and also getting some better monitoring than my nose. Was it you @jurajmikurcik.bsky.social who had an IKEA air quality monitor? Any good? #Passivhaus

Didn’t think much about televisuals in the sitting room before the retrofit. We now have a portable projector and a blackout blind that works as a screen, all good, but sound is still through laptop. Looking for recommendations for Bluetooth speakers, ideally two so can work in stereo.

A friend commented the other day that Grand Designs (UK TV programme on people building their dream homes) should relaunch as ‘Great Designs’. Couldn’t agree more. Modestly sized houses that perform exceptionally should be the focus to shift aspiration in a #ClimateEmergency #Passivhaus