An outline of the house
We have designed the house to generate more kWh of energy than it uses in in a year. The energy generation will be measured by the amount of energy generated by the photovoltaic system. The amount of energy used will be the metered gas usage for hot water and heating plus the electricity use for cooking, appliances and lighting. An allowance will also be made for any wood used in the wood burning stove.
The electricity used for charging electric cars will be recorded but not counted in the net zero calculation.
The house is a built off a piled foundation with a beam and block floor. Then Kingspan TeK SIPS with extra internal insulation and triple glazed windows and roof lights.
There is a small gas boiler for the under floor heating and hot water. The electricity supplier (the DNO) at the time of construction was unwilling to accept a heat pump installation. No, we don't know why either!
There is a ventilation system (known as MVHR) to take out stale moist air and replace it with fresh air. The fresh air is automatically tempered (cooled in summer, warmed in winter) by travelling through a 30m underground earth tube.
There is a Roof Integrated System that comprises around 9kWp of photovoltaic panels. This supplies the house and any excess is exported via the mains and any extra supplied by the mains.
Great care has been taken to reduce the risk of overheating through a number of means. There is fixed shading to reduce midday summer sun intrusion whilst maintaining high light levels. In addition there is a roof light to vent hot air, which hopefully we will get to be thermostatically controlled, as well as the ventilation system bringing in fresh tempered air. This is not full air conditioning. Windows are also openable as normal.
The hot water and heating system has a normal programmer. The PV system does its own thing with no need for any human interference. The ventilation system runs automatically and the holiday maintenance team will clean the filters every few months.
So no app, no complex controls for the house. Probably the most complex piece of kit will be the television remote control or possibly the Siemens oven....