and snow for about 10 months. It was the wettest summer in a century followed by the coldest winter in half a century! Yet, despite the elements, the timber frame, constructed by Swift Timber Homes, took shape within six weeks. I also managed to install the airtightness products, R system and the ue for the woodburning stove. We had a water-tight shell by Christmas 2012 but the external stonework was less than half finished. When all the air-tightness measures were complete, the blower door air test gave a result of 0.59 air changes per hour. During the second phase of joinery work, the house was filled with sawdust and nails, while Joy painted the plastered walls and ceilings. Meanwhile, I assisted the joiner in installing the Ikea kitchen units, and the plumber and electrician worked on installing sanitary ware, socket outlets, and light fittings. We moved in on 1 February 2013. Since the chimney for the stove was not yet finished, we had to buy a . kW electric radiator. Despite the outside temperature being -5C, the heater maintained a comfortable internal temperature of +18C. This clearly


showcased the advantages of having high levels of insulation and airtightness. Our Woodfire  room-sealed woodburning stove has a back boiler that provides up to 8.5 kW to heat water in the winter and also heats towel rails in the bathrooms (and a heat-leak radiator in the linen cupboard). It is our only source of space heating. Solar thermal panels provide most of the hot water in summer, topped up with the immersion heater, in turn assisted by the output from the solar PV panels. These had been installed and working since December 2012, but we discovered that we could not get the Feed in Tariff until we had an EPC. We could not get that until we had a completion certificate from the Building Control Officer (BCO), and we could not get the BCO completion certificate until the stoe ue, stonework, roof slates, electrics and rainwater goods were finished. This was finally achieed in October  and the PC confirms our primary energy demand as 16 kWh/m2


/year.


HOME TRUTHS We hae now occupied our homeoffice for  years and are finally beginning


to appreciate what all our hard work has achieved. We keep the boiler stove burning in winter evenings using scrap wood and have no other space heating or fuel bills apart from electricity which is currently running at £100 a month, excluding the FiT and RHI payments. The (silent) MVHR system in effect recycles most of the heat generated inside the house while constantly proiding filtered, fresh air. The recent addition of more solar PV panels on the garage and 10 kW storage batteries in February 2023 has further reduced electricity grid demand. We have managed to self-build the first PC Band  passie house in County Durham and have a warm, comfortable home without any oil or gas bills. More importantly, we have proved that it is possible to build a real low-energy home in a Conservation rea and OB which fits in with the local architecture while addressing fuel poverty issues head-on. In May 2014 the house won Best New Home at the Northern LABC Building Excellence Awards and went on to win at the National Awards in London in November 2014.


“Acting as the designer, project manager, buyer, site foreman, clerk of works, and even labourer, I found myself perpetually exhausted” – Philip


10 www.sbhonline.co.uk jul/aug 2023


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