Desperate for advice on central heating

[flygti]

Hi Guys My first post!! After extensive research on the web I am close to tearing my hair out. I was hoping you could advise me. I live in a

1950's semi with double glazing - wooden floors, cavity wall (not sure if insulated) and the loft space is not insulated.

We are situated adjoining farmland and regularly have strong winds blowing against the house - which seems to find it's way indoors through the floorboards and somehow even the doubleglazing???? (or it's my imagination).

Our only heating is a few storage heaters which a) Cost us an arm and a leg to run - and b) Don't warm the house up to any liveable standard. So we supplement them with oil heaters. In winter this little lark sets us back around =A3120/mth in electric charges AND most of the house is still freezing! Last winter we changed to a "Heatwise" tarrif that gives us economy 7 heating 3 times a day instead of just after midnight. This helped slightly but still bordering on stupid.

So - I have a few options.

1) Install oil heating. Roughly =A35k. Not so cheap to run I gather. 2) Install more storage heaters. Going to cost me even more every month! 3) Install heatpump and underfloor heating. Cheapest monthly cost but God only knows how much to install. Guessing =A310k+ if you include ripping up the floor to install wet system. 4) Air conditioner central heating (No idea how much this costs to run) And a few other systems which I can't find any info' on.

(OOPS - NO GAS in the village!!)

What the hell do I do!?!? I want the house to be warm throughout but to be able to keep it that way for a reasonable cost.

Anyone with experience in this area please advise.

Many thanks Fly

[Rob Morley]

There's a good place to start then.

[r.p.mcmurphy]

yep, i agree. spend a decent amount on insulating the loft and have the wall cavities filled too. then start blocking the draughts, but not all of them, you need some movement. do you have open fires? if you do and you use them, it is likly that the hot air going up the chimeny is pulling air from inside the house and will cause more more draughts to be felt.

then fit an oil fired central heating system.

steve

[John Rumm]

Welcome to the madhouse ;-)

Start with the low hanging fruit!

Sounds like the first task is reduceing the amount of heat you are currently throwing away. That means insulate the loft to a reasonable standard, and deal with some of the drafts.

That will be your cheapest option in all probability.

Don't fancy that much... Even with te better tarrifs they are never going to be that controllable.

Probably not a sensible choice in an existing house - fine if you are building new.

Good deal cheaper than straight electric heating (you can get approaching 4kW out in exchange for 1kW in), however there are limitations - some systems can not function when the ouside temperature falls below zero for example. Hence they are good for spot heating (and cooling) in things like conservatories etc, but probably not a general putpose heating system replacement.

The only way to do that is make it so that it does not lose the heat so quickly once you have put it in.

[:::Jerry::::]

Not even stored gas, those large (white) tanks that some people (and industries) have when no mains gas is present?

[chris French]

In message , [e-mail] writes

As others have said some sorting out there is needed.

Alternatively LPG gas fired CH (ones that have the big tanks in the garden). Neither of these is going to be as cheap to run as a mains gas CH , but in your case probably one of these is the best option. Will be cheaper than an electric powered system of some sort

With draft proofing, insulation and a decent heating system should be achievable

[Alan]

In message , [e-mail] wrote

12 inches of loft insulation could save around 20 to 30% on heating bills - or equivalent of adding 20 to 30% more heating. This is probably the most cost effective first step.

Fitted carpets

Where are the storage heaters? If not under the windows you may find the cold air flowing downward from the windows makes the room appear to be colder because you have a cold draft at seating level.

[meow2222]

Insulation insulation, as has been said.

If you still want to cut your bills or add more heat, then add flat plate solar space heating. Heres one with 100% pa ROI. Its not a design I'd choose myself, but should get you thinking:

[Andy]

I would add to this that if you have open fires, then fit them with dampers so they can be almost throttled shut when not in use, this'll prevent warm air going up the chimney.

Second, if you have suspended wooden floors, think about putting a vent ( or two ) right in front or on either side of the hearth, so that the fire can preferentially draw air from these, as opposed to sucking in warm air from the house.

The air will be able to enter the underfloor cavity from outside via the airbricks. Of course, the vents will need mesh ( wire ) on them to stop little beasties crawling up, and strictly speaking I believe they should not be closeable, though I personally would make them so to stop cold draughts when the fire is not in use. Let's face it, it would be an extraordinary house that was so airtight that a fire couldn't get enough air without special vents being fitted.

Andy.

[mcbrien410]

As you seem to live in the country have you considered a solid fuel cum multi-fuel stove. I was in a similar situation to you 22 years ago after buying a modernised Granite cottage in Aberdeenshire. Electric storage radiators that were totally useless and a sort of open fire that went right through an end wall to produce a fire in two rooms. This was also useless as 50% smoke went to one room, 50% smoke went into the other room and 10% went up the chimney. Yes that's 110% that's how bad the ***king conversion was.

Anyway I bought a big cast iron Bonte ESSE Mark 4 Room/Space heater with a water jacket that gave out 12kWatts. In 1983 that cost me =A3850 so Gawd knows what the same would cost now.

I had no experience in CH systems but I could solder (Electronics Eng.) and I knew the priciple of a 'U' tube and that hot water rose to the top. I did the water header tank and the HW cylinder myself. That's simple. A local Plumber was removing a Banana skin from the neighbours drain so I chatted to him and he looked at what I'd done and said all was OK. I then popped the question about him doing the actual CH side of things. This was September, he said I can't do anything until after Christmas. He then sat down a drew a system on paper for me saying run two 22mm. pipes a far as you can and 'T' the radiators across them. I did exactly that and 22 years later the system has never even sprung a leak.

I do burn Anthracite at about =A311 per 50kg bag during the winter months and then any fallen Beech bows or whatever during the warmer months.

So basically learn how to solder/sweat a good joint. Learn the principle of the 'U' tube and go for it yourself. It took me three months to do my system but what a difference it made.

Two years later my neighbour got the Pro's in to do thae same to his cottage. That cost him =A33,500 and......... AND two insurance claims for damaged carpets.

IT JUST AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE.

Chris.

[Ian Stirling]

But a poor choice of insulation material.

[Anna Kettle]

There are grants available to help with the cost of this if you have no insulation at all but the grant does seem to slow the whole process down a lot. I applied for my grant in May and the insulation is finally being installed next Monday. Judging by my experience, you might find it cheaper to put in the insulation yourself and save on this winter's heating bills

See

for more info

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Doctor Drivel]

Yes, a cold welcome from one of the lunatic fringe indeed.

[Andy Hall]

Oh come on, you could at least have given a warm welcome - I realise that the other aspect is more of a challenge.

[Doctor Drivel]

I always do, your lunatic gang never do. How is Phil Kyle?

[flygti]

Brilliant! Thanks guys for all your responses. The feedback has been excellent.

I will certainly pursue the insulation option, then some carpets (if only for the winter because we like the wooden floors) and then finally the central heating (although still undecided on which route to follow at this point)...

:-)

[flygti]

Thanks Chris. A bit beyond my DIY skills I am afraid but I am happy to pay for the professionals to do it if not too expensice. I see there are grants if you use solid fuel central heating (or solar or heatpump), but I was always concerned that solid fuel required a lot of manual intervention (cleaning it out - refilling etc) as well as the unknown factor of running costs......

Perhaps I should look into this a little more.

Cheers Fly