Light fittings for energy efficient lamps only?

[David WE Roberts]

In the architect's notes on the plan I read:

"Internal Lighting. All new light fittings should be energy efficient. These lights shall only take lamps with a luminous efficiency greater than 40 lumens per circuit watt."

"External lighting - If external lights are to be installed then these lights must be automatically extinguished when there is enough daylight and be fitted with sockets that can only be used with lamps having a luminous efficiency of greater than 45 lumens/circuit watt, in accordance with the Domestic Building Services Compliance Guide 2010,"

Firstly this sounds like yet another set of light fittings which have no commonality with any other light fittings in the house. Secondly, if I can still buy standard large and small bayonet and large and small Edison screw light fittings in the sheds, what is going on here?

Looking at the guide, I suspect that for inside I have to fit for example CFLs in standard light fittings to get Building Regs sign off but then can take them all out if I want. Which I may have to do if I want dimmable lighting in standard fittings without having to spend a fortune on dimmable CFLs.

Is this a sort of reverse wording which really means "no tungsten filament or tungsten halogen downlighters and if anything we haven't thought of turns up then that is banned as well"?

For the external lighting thing, it looks as though Christmas lights and similar are O.K. as long as they are below 100 watts per fitting.

And me with a shed full of various light fittings which now look to be out of date.

Which will obviously not now be used (especially before Building Regs sign off).

Sigh

Dave R

[ARWadsworth]

Well you can ignore that load of c*ck.

That sounds OK.

You have it correct the architect is wrong. You just fit low energy fitting to normal BC fittings. There is no need for special fittings

25% of the lamps can be tungsten or halogen.

They are decorations and not lighting.

Your learning:-)

Now when fittings that only accepted low energy fitting were a requirement (2006 to 2010) I bought 5 of them. They were fitted in over 30 different houses for the BCO to inspect. Sometimes I moved them from house to house while the BCO watched me. Sometimes I told hin the fittings they were on a different job and he still signed it off. Because of people like me and customers buying new non low energy fittings when they bought a house the rules changed in 2010 to something that actually made a little more sense.

[Terry Fields]

reference to farting.

What do you do about farting, Harry, in order to keep your footprint low?

"A zero carbon home has a yearly net carbon footprint of zero. The carbon footprint is the total measure of all greenhouse gas emissions generated or produced directly or indirectly by activities in the home such as heating the home or running an appliance, personal activities such as driving a car, broader services such as the use of public transportation or air travel, and individual consumption of food and other products.[2] A home?s carbon footprint consists of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint, expressed in units of metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent(CO2e). The primary carbon footprint is a measure of the CO2 emissions from the direct consumption of fossil fuels for energy consumption and transportation. The secondary carbon footprint is the measure of indirect CO2 emissions related to the manufacturing process of products used in the home and eventual decomposition of products. Examples of the parts that make up the secondary carbon footprint are the manufacturing of clothes, cars, and furnishings, as well as recreational activities by the inhabitants.[3]

The calculation of the carbon footprint becomes detailed when considering secondary factors. Secondary factors involve the home?s occupant lifestyle such as diet, foods are consumed (example organic vs. non organic), frequency of yearly air travel, commuting mileage to and from work, school, etc., use of public transportation, and number, type, and use of private vehicles. Secondary factors also include fashion or type of clothes purchased and worn, frequency of recycling, recreational activities and use of financial and other services throughout a given year. The frequency of airline flights in a year is considered due to the amount of fuel consumption and other energy usage and emissions generated by one flight. A person that travels frequently may have a significantly bigger carbon footprint than someone who flies once a year for a vacation."

Terry Fields

[Dave Liquorice]

So the building itself is going to be have to be seriously carbon negative to get the overall "measure" to zero.

Strikes me that the greenie lobby have bamboozled the politicians again unless they want all to be dewlling up living trees.

[Terry Fields]

Oh, quite so.

But even living up trees has a positive carbon footprint.

The green people seem to be living up to their name, as it is clear that this proposal has not been thought through. But whenever did we expect that from them?

Terry Fields

[David WE Roberts]

Thanks - nice to know a little sanity is filtering through.

[jgharston]

Concrete absorbs carbon dioxide as it cures, and there are now some concretes that have a net negative manufacturing CO2 emissions as well, so buy tons of concrete and use it to bury a forest of mature timber.

JGH

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

Plant a bunker for the planet.

[dennis]

That won't work as its just lies anyway. Cement is very energy intensive and I don't think there is any CO2 negative concrete out there. There is no such thing as a zero carbon home either.

[ARWadsworth]

So what are you doing? Extention, new build?

You might have mentioned but I have forgot

[David WE Roberts]

Take out wall and chimney breast between kitchen and dining room - big steel to replace. Knock down old kitchen extension (converted coal hole/outside loo). Extend all across rear of house (3 bed semi) out 3 metres single storey, 4.7 metres of bifold doors. Some seriously big steel to hold the back of the original house up as all the ground floor rear walls are history :-)

2m veranda across the back. Build new downstairs shower room front centre of new huge space. Upstairs, extend bedroom reduce bathroom which merges with loo. French windows in bedroom for airy view (balcony planned but rejected). Wood burning stove in centre of new room against wall of shower room.

Plans are online if anyone would like a link - which totally destroys any remaining annonymity from scary web stalkers ;-)

I hope to extend essential services to the Mother Of All Sheds during the building works.

Cheers

Dave R

[ARWadsworth]

So just a small job then?

[David WE Roberts]

Yes, although one quote for £100k including VAT was taken as a sad attempt at satirical humour.

We won't be doing the whole thing ourselves because we want it finished before Christmas (2014)....... .....however we will be doing what we can when we can because it looks as though the chosen approach will be time + materials (which should terrify anyone ever involved in any government or corporate contracts). The minimum will be clearing the site at the end of the day (because why pay skilled workers to sweeep up), may involve a bit of amateur barrow running and the like, and hopefully will include some enthusiatic destruction of the existing kitchen. Also we can remove old radiators, hot water tanks, cold water tanks from the loft etc. to allow the plumber to concentrate on the skilled stuff of running the new pipework and installing the new boiler. Again, why pay the skilled for doing the unskilled labouring bits.

So just enough DIY to keep it on topic.

Cheers

Dave R

[ARWadsworth]

And SWMBO is OK with this?

[David WE Roberts]

We are an awesome team :-) She wields the brush, I push the barrow. Seriously, we do this kind of stuff together, although I (being built somewhat larger) tend to do the heavy lifting.

[ARWadsworth]

Nice set up.

2014 is a long time away.

Should I not be making a comment about large tools and leting the OH handle them?

[David WE Roberts]

Target is to be finished by end of September this year. Christmas 2014 was an estimate of when we would finish if we did it all ourselves.

[Man at B&Q]

Specifying lumens per watt is far better than specifying a particular technology. Why would you want it any other way?

MBQ

[sm_jamieson]

Why am I slightly envious of anyone who fits such doors, although I would not really want them myself ? Simon.

[David WE Roberts]

Perhaps because you could see your self on a sunny day such as today, basking in the sun from morning to early evening? Or more in our case being able to sit inside when it is warm but raining and still have the doors open because the veranda keeps the rain off (I hope).