domestic fuel system planning/ sourcing

[pycoed]

Unless you want to spend a LOT of money, then if your existing oil system is fine & working then leave it alone - just use it for background heating. Set thermostat to maximum of say 15deg & use non boiler wood stove(s) to ensure winter temps can be 20+ in the rooms. Thick stone walls will store a lot of heat if you never let them get cold, which the oil background heat should guarantee.

Get as much insulation in the loft as you can & make sure windows are all at least double glazed.

Oil fired AGA cost the same as a decent pickup & cost as much as a Bentley to run, but unless she was brought up with one, I doubt you missus would welcome cooking on a solid fuel fired range?

[djbobbins]

I was about to say the same, with oil prices where they are at the moment and a working setup, there's no financial reason to change. Maybe save some sponds, take the time to plan and only switch if oil goes in price or the oil boiler goes up in smoke?

[cornish wood burner]

I've also read this but assumed the edge insulation needed to be sunk down a few feet??

 

Also not a good idea if the floor needs venting as it's over granite.

 

Of course you have a very big surface area to perimeter ratio compared with a house so heat losses to the sides are small in relation to the heated area.

 

I do remember digging in a large barn near here which was open at the sides and being amazed at how dry the soil was so our sandy soil would be good to create a large thermal store.

 

Of course you currently heat the house with the flooring as is so there's still a gain from the comfort of having the heat at foot level and I would expect the additional losses to be negligible if the slab is only heated to 25C.

Certainly in an ideal world the outer insulation should, as you say be dug down a few feet to retain as much heat as possible. Perimeter to total area is key so not

really cost effective for us considering glasshouse sizes.

I don't think Dean has underfloor at present though, so insulating could be difficult for him as an add-on. However the thermal store effect should help and I agree the losses should not be too bad if the temperatures are limited to 25 deg assuming a dry base. I have installed some underfloor heating pipes where possible at home and can confirm it's difficult to beat a warm floor even if it does cost a bit more to run.

[Commando]

I would steer clear of Aga type stoves, they are uncontrollable and guzzle oil at approx 8- 10 litres/day...fine when it's at 40p/litre but at 70p.... That's for a room heater/cooker alone. There are plenty of other options that will still give you the same look, but also controllable separate burners for cooking and heating/dhw. There is certainly no cheap and reliable option though. Why have you discarded solar thermal?

 

 

 

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[openspaceman]

I don't think Dean has underfloor at present though, so insulating could be difficult for him as an add-on. However the thermal store effect should help and I agree the losses should not be too bad if the temperatures are limited to 25 deg assuming a dry base. I have installed some underfloor heating pipes where possible at home and can confirm it's difficult to beat a warm floor even if it does cost a bit more to run.

 

I installed underfloor heating in a small annex at work, it's heated by a gas boiler but I had always intended to link in the woodchip boiler to the return .

 

The thing is you start trading thermal mass against warm up time. So a large thermal mass, and in effect the infinitely deep soil mass under an uninsulated floor is a big thermal mass, is slow to react to heat input. This is great for a constantly occupied building for a family but can be a bit wasteful for a couple that are away 12 hours a day.

 

Underfloor heating doesn't depend on a large thermal mass to maintain comfort levels and can be done with pipes in aluminium plates with just a carpet on top.

 

The point is that having feet warmer than head is comfortable at a degree or so lower overall temperature than vice versa. Thus given the same overall losses for the same comfort level the room can be a bit cooler, so heat input can be lower.

 

Having said that, given that I burn 2 transit loads of logs a year, this house is uninsulated solid walls , poorly insulated roof as the ceilings are combed . I have not plumbed in the woodburner as it has had gas heating and it is tiny. The bills are small because we only have a radiator on in kitchen and lounge.

 

So imo best bang for buck is a simple centrally placed log burner and I still wonder about a bit of warm air ducting.

 

New build I would do underfloor as it is so cheap to install in screed.

[MonsterMonster]

Don't do it for the RHI payment. A compliant MCS installation is anything from £15k upwards which can buy a lot of oil at today's price. RHI payments have now been degressed to make payback not worth the hassle. On top of that BSL regulations make log burning on RHI a red tape ball ache. I've done it and regret it!

 

Unless you have access to lots of free wood, don't mind a heating system that needs hand holding everyday, you don't go away for more than two days during winter, you like lots of red tape bureaucracy (if RHI) then you'll find oil a delight, cheaper and a lot less hassle.

 

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[kevinjohnsonmbe]

Don't do it for the RHI payment. A compliant MCS installation is anything from £15k upwards which can buy a lot of oil at today's price. RHI payments have now been degressed to make payback not worth the hassle. On top of that BSL regulations make log burning on RHI a red tape ball ache. I've done it and regret it!

 

Unless you have access to lots of free wood, don't mind a heating system that needs hand holding everyday, you don't go away for more than two days during winter, you like lots of red tape bureaucracy (if RHI) then you'll find oil a delight, cheaper and a lot less hassle.

 

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It's a real travesty, a perfect example of bureaucracy gone mad and a complete disincentive to move away from fossil fuels, but totally agree Monster!

[Dean O]

thanks for all the discussion guys,

sorry I haven't piped up much - haven't had chance to look on the forum this week.

 

Dean