Been off social media for a while for various reasons. Hoping to be able to engage a bit more from now on. Here’s a blog I wrote about two recent site visits: www.highlandpassive.com/how-big-is-y...

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.

Energy Transition Show@transitionshow.mastodon.energy.ap.brid.gy · last yr.

Heat is the largest end-use of energy, contributing 40% of global CO2 emissions. And heat pumps are one of the cheapest and most versatile ways of decarbonizing heating. In Ep. 243, heat pump policy expert Dr. Richard Lowes outlines how to design policies to encourage the adoption of heat […]

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).

Nathan Gambling@betatalk.bsky.social · 2y ago

Is MVHR suitable in homes?🎙️ Latest BetaTalk renewable energy podcast discusses Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery ❓Do they cause black mould ❓Do they help heat the home ❓Do they cause health issues betatalk.buzzsprout.com/509671/episo...

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.