Planning

Planning your installation well can save you a lot of money and can save you a lot of grief as well. We were very much constrained by the moment our house was transfered, and if I could do it again I would choose to have it happen a bit earlier in the year. If you already own the house that you wish to convert then that is probably of no concern to you.

Make sure you have a well laid out plan on what goes where and the order in which you will need the various elements. There is nothing more frustrating than to have to wait for some delivery and to see the whole plan slide days or even weeks into the future without being able to do a thing about it.

Make strict agreements with your various suppliers about when you can expect the various pieces, if possible have them confirm these dates in writing.

Make sure you actually have the time that you will need to do the job properly, or subcontract someone who will do it for you (and make sure that if you subcontract that you pick an entity with experience!). There is really no point in doing a sloppy job, the amount of money involved is too large to make this a saturday afternoon project, though if that is all that is available to you there is no reason why you wouldn't spread the installation out over a number of weeks or months.