Calor central heating

AidoX

Im doing a self build starting next March and right now Im looking at my central heating options. Since the build is outside the reach of Bord Gas lines I was thinking of running with Calor central heating... having a gas tank which Calor fill similar to OFCH. I have lived with OFCH and solid fuel in the past and hate them. I know there isn't much of a diff in the price between Calor and OCFH.. so Im looking for some comments/experience

Firstly, I know its cleaner and faster to heat... but compared to OFCH does it offer a better mpg to say the least

The house to heat will be roughly 2500 sq. ft dormer, with 12-15 rads, standard rads. Thanks

Borzoi

AidoX wrote:

Im doing a self build starting next March and right now Im looking at my central heating options. Since the build is outside the reach of Bord Gas lines I was thinking of running with Calor central heating... having a gas tank which Calor fill similar to OFCH.

To be honest Calor pretty much peg the price to compete with OFCH.
There's a couple of diffs:
Calor allows gas cooking which is a definite plus
Calor requires a large white tank, which the truck driver must be able to see from the road - a safety thing when filling I presume
From a heating point of view they both suffer from the bulk load will probably run out a very inconvenient time - sometime. But in most heating situations are approximately the same.

have you fully explored options like heat pumps and underfloor heating? They might be worth a look

Lex Luthor

guy working with me is using the calor option and he seems to be filling the tank every 2 months. I have oil and only fill twice a year. I used to use a lot more until I got wise and fitted a digital room thermostat with timer included to control the heating and it made considerable savings. I know this guy hasn't one of these fitted so it's not really a comparison.
Personally I would have preferred the gas option as it's cleaner and gives you the option of the gas cooker.

harto

The people at Sustainable Energy Ireland have compiled a very useful info sheet on energy costs.
http://www.sei.ie/uploads/documents/upload/publications/Domestic_July_2004.pdf

You can see that LPG is priced similarly albeit a little higher to oil per litre, but the important figure to look at is the delivered energy cost. Here oil is better value than LPG as it delivers more kwh per unit. Other factors then are the effeciency of your boiler. For a new build you should only consider a condensing boiler, which give higher efficiencies 85% + compared to standard boilers. They are a bit more expensive, but payback within a couple of years. Also condensing oil boliers give higher efficiencies than gas (95% for the Grant Vortex) but are more expensive. Subsequently to get your actual cost divide the delivered cost by the efficiency factor.

By the way am also planning my build for mid next year and am going through a similar situation as yourself at the moment looking at options etc. Hopefully we can share plenty of info along the way.

Good luck.


However, the downside of oil is it's messy, risk of leaks and contaninating the ground, future price increases/taxes ...
LPG is tied to oil prices also so will rise when oil rises, but it is a cleaner fuel. Does have risk of explosions though. As mentioned the benefit of being able to cook with gas is a big plus and you can run a very efficient tumble dryer with gas.
Plus don't forget, the best way to reduce your heating bills is to bump up the insulation levels everywhere at the build stage, above the standard building regs levels.

AidoX

Thanks for the feedback.

Having lived with oil before I have a pat hate for it as I was using 4-5 fills a year along with Coal and Suppre ser's but that was problem due to the age of the old house and being exposed to the elements not living in a built up area.

My folks built a house a while back and one of my dads main priorities was to over insulate the house including under floors, ceilings, studded walls etc. and that really paid off, so I plan to do the same.

Im going to run with conventional wall mounted radiators, friends who have built in the past using under floor heating regret doing so very much and personally I don't like the idea in case of leaks etc. -- just not my bag.

So, while on the this self build topic what suppliers are you using (windows, blocks, materials etc.) Any horror stories out there?

Lex Luthor

Aido,
I know of a company who are setting up on the outskirts of Dublin West early next year specifically targetting teh self builders.
You bring in your plans and they build the complete house on site in pieces and deliver to your site.
Its a concrete build not wood frame.
I can get more info for you if you like.

AidoX

Lex,
Yes if you wouldn't mind PM with the details would do no harm getting a quote from them. My only concern is the first and second fixing elec. and plumbing. Timber frame/ conventional block build being that little bit more flexible

Thanks.

Victor

Eh, what happens if you have a falling out with Calor? Is there an alternative supplier in the market?

How about a heat pump?

Lex Luthor

AidoX wrote:

Lex,
Yes if you wouldn't mind PM with the details would do no harm getting a quote from them. My only concern is the first and second fixing elec. and plumbing. Timber frame/ conventional block build being that little bit more flexible

Thanks.

Aido, you're first and second fixing is done aswell by this crowd. You have to be very precise with your drawings with them. The walls come with all the electrics and plumbing & plasterboard. They then fit together like a model house and connections for the electrics/plumbing and made at each edge, etc.
I'll drop you the details this week.