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Do You Need Planning Permission For A Conservatory?

Adding a conservatory to your home or property comes with a whole lot of benefits. It provides you with the much needed additional living space within your property, add value to your home and creates a link between your home and garden. As advantageous as it is, one of the major reasons why some homeowners decide against constructing a new conservatory is because of planning permission. If you don’t know what you’re doing the entire process can be very tedious and you definitely do not want to go through the stress of completing your remarkable new conservatory, only to be instructed to have it removed again.

Therefore, as a homeowner, you have the responsibility to seek planning permission before you undergo such construction project and that’s more than enough to make some people reconsider the whole project. In this article, we’ll let you know whether you’ll need to apply for a planning permission.

Generally, conservatories falls into the category of permitted development rights which allows you to complete home building projects without having to apply for a planning permission. However, there are some circumstances where you’ll require a planning permission. These includes:

✓ If the conservatory covers more than 50 percent of the land around the main house.

✓ If the conservatory will be placed on the side of the house that faces the road.

✓ If the conservatory will be higher than the highest point of the main building’s roof.

✓ If the main building is lower than the height of the eaves and ridge.

✓ If the conservatory will be constructed to the side of the house and more than a single storey or it goes higher than 4 metres.

✓ If the conservatory will be wider than the width of the main building, if it’s to be built beside it.

✓ If the conservatory will be constructed at the rear and higher than 4 metres.

There are a few trusted companies in the UK that make solar panels. While there are other solar thermal panels out there that are made by Chinese and American companies, we’ll focus on the brands with a longstanding presence in the UK since these are the panels MCS-registered solar companies are likely to recommend to you.

Viessmann, Worcester Bosch, Solar UK and Dimplex make some of the best solar thermal panels in the UK. Dimplex and Viessmann offer both flat plate and evacuated tube solar panels, while Solar UK only offers evacuated tubes. Worcester Bosch’s Greenskies range are all flat plate collectors. Viessmann’s panels come with a 5-year warranty, while Worcester Bosch and Dimplex offer extensive 10-year warranties. However, Solar UK offer a comprehensive 25-year warranty and guarantee that the panels will deliver the same level of performance for 25 years!

We’d recommend choosing evacuated tube solar thermal panels because they are the most efficient. While there won’t be much difference between evacuated tubes and flat plates in the summer, in the winter evacuated tubes are much better at taking heat from the sun than flat plates. Since our winters are long and cold with few daylight hours, we think it makes sense to go with evacuated tubes. However, if your priority is looks over maximising efficiency, you might want to choose flat plate collectors since they sit flat on the roof and look more like solar PV panels, whereas the evacuated tubes will stick out.

You’ve got to admit it that nothing feels better than knowing your house is spotlessly clean and safe. But even at that, only a few truly have the time to scrub, sanitize and clean their living space from top to bottom. If you don’t have the time or aren’t confident enough to tackle this task, then we’d high recommend you get in touch with a professional who can guarantee the best results to ensure your residential space is looking spick-and-span and totally safe. In this guide, we’re going to walk you through a few home cleaning tips if you’d prefer to handle the task by yourself. Let’s take a look!

• Stock up on supplies. Regardless of your home’s size, there’s a need to get the right products for a successful outcome. For a great result, you’ll have to take an inventory of your cleaning supplies and identify the tools that needs to be replaced such as old sponges, dusters, mops and the likes.
• Start by dusting away dirt. Use a microfibre cloth to wipe clean both obvious and forgotten areas around the house like the top of doors, fans, light fixtures and more. For the stubborn messes that just won’t come off easily like on the kitchen counter or stove, you can introduce baking soda especially in the kitchen area.
• Take on the bathroom. No one likes cleaning the bathroom or toilets, however the cleanliness of your entire house largely depends on how clean your bathroom is, so can as well do it well.
• Vacuuming. Vacuum the stairs, upholstered furnitures and the likes to ensure your home is spotlessly clean.
• Treat the floors properly. This involves sweeping, mopping and treating the floor, in that order.

The cost to charge an electric car in the UK varies between home, work and public charging.

For a typical electric car with a 60kWh battery and ~200 mile range:

• Charging at home: Costs about £9.20 for a full charge. *
• Charging at work: Many employers will install workplace charging points and typically offer free access throughout the day.
• Charging at public locations: Public chargepoints at supermarkets or car parks are often free to use for the duration of your stay.
• Rapid charging: Rapid charging points are normally found at motorway service stations and typically cost £6.50 for a 30 min, ~100 mile charge.

Charging an electric car at home costs about £9.20 for a full charge* and is the most convenient and cost-effective way to keep your car fully charged. Most drivers will charge their electric car overnight, waking up to a full battery every morning.

Average domestic electricity rate in the whole of the UK is about 17p per kWh.

Fully charging a 60kWh electric car will cost between £9.00 and £9.90 (depending on where you live) and give you about 200 miles of range.

* Costs calculated at 17p/kWh based on usable battery is ~54kWh (90%).

In this day and age, not having an air conditioning system installed in your home will be quite odd and strange. And even more interestingly, air conditioning systems happens to be a necessity at the present time rather than a luxury. However, there are still several people who’ll forgo the option of installing a good air conditioning system in their homes due to the fact that it’s nothing but an extra cost they just don’t wish to incur.

In truth, the cost of purchasing, installing and running an air conditioning system can actually be a turn off to several homeowners, but the numerous benefits you will enjoy by having it installed largely outweighs any drawbacks the system might have. Now let’s consider the benefits associated with AC systems.

✓ It minimizes the risk of dying. Thousands of people die every year across the globe due to the constantly deteriorating temperatures. According to the experts, too much heat can lead to heat strokes and a great way to prevent this from happening is to invest in air conditioning systems.

✓ It improve the quality of sleep. A good quality sleep simply can’t be overstated as it leaves you feeling fresh and revitalized. However, this can be greatly hindered when everything around you is hot. For a good quality sleep, you might want to invest in air conditioning systems as they happen to be best way to have your home feeling cool and super comfortable.

✓ It prevents your devices from overheating. Electrical appliances can also suffer terribly under great heat and are vulnerable to overheating. In fact, devices such as microwaves, PCs, mobile phones and more can get damaged due to heat. The cost of replacing all these appliances will definitely be greater than the cost of installing an air conditioning system.

Chimneys are certainly on top of the commonly overlooked features when it comes to cleaning a house. This is quite understandable given the fact that they’re not readily accessible and not in plain sight, hence, home and property owners tend to overlook the relevance of any chimney cleaning effort. But this can be a grave mistake! The importance of having your chimney swept on a regular basis cannot be over emphasized and even more so if it happens to be on a wood burner. Not only can a dirty chimney constitute fire hazard, but when left uncleaned it can also give rise to blockages which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact, from 2014 to 2018, one of the top factors contributing to about 25% of home heating fires is due to lack of cleaning, mainly from solid-fueled heating equipment, mostly chimneys. Therefore, sweeping your chimney regularly is a safety precaution and when they happen to be on a wood burner, this exercise becomes a lot more important. With that in mind, the question that arises is just how often is sweeping of a chimney on a would burner needed?

Well, it’s strongly advisable to sweep chimney on a wood burner at least twice a year by a qualified professional depending on the usage. If you happen to own an oil burning fireplace, the same also applies. In other words, this means that regardless of the type of chimney you possess, the cleaning must be done regularly. However, most chimney would only need to be swept once in a year by a qualified professional.

Converting your garage into a habitable room can be an option that’s too good to pass up especially when you’re in dire need of more living space in your home. If you’re in a similar situation and considering the cost of a single garage conversion in your home, then you’ve come to the right place! The fact is, the cost of a single garage conversion is dependent on a number of influencing factors which includes your specific plans as well as your location. Generally, the price of garage remodel is expected to cost about half of what you’ll incur when building a home extension or addition from scratch. However, before commencing a project of this magnitude you should put into consideration some things.

A single garage conversion is a huge job which typically involves wall insulation, floor raising, heating addition, cool and ventilation as well as updating doors and windows. Before you get started you should consider if converting your single garage into a room is a good option, whether a permit is required to convert a garage, the type of room a garage can become, does it add value to your home and how much its going to cost.

Just like any other home improvement project, garage conversion cost varies depending on several factors like your garage space specifications. Other factors include the general condition of your garage - the condition of your foundation, walls, floors or roofs, the ceiling and more, planning applications, your location, the services of a structural engineer, internal or external garages etc. According to Santander, the average cost of converting a single garage costs approximately £6,300. However, considering the aforementioned influencing factors we’d expect the cost of a single garage conversion to cost within the range of £5,500 to £10,500.

Not always is the answer, unfortunately many of the products sold for household use by untrained professionals may not get rid of all the fleas in your home. If some fleas are left they will reproduce and you will end up with a flea infestation again.