Underfloor heating

mr.wiggle

Hi, I will be installing UFH throughout , and am would like to use a backboiler in conjuction with an oil-burner. Has anyone any experience with this?
All advise welcome.

Eve1

Hi mr wiggle,
Not much help really, but I was advised before on boards that it is not a good idea to use a back boiler as the heat fluctuates and ufh is run on low heating. I was also advised that an oil boiler is not the most eficient method for ufh because generally it also runs at higher temp (don't know if this is true). Hopefully some one else can give more details and give you a clearer picture.

Eve

yop

Eve is correct, I have a mate who has a 3000sq ft house, their oil bill for last year was 2.5k euro due to them having UFH.
UFH really is not suitable for oil systems, what I would consider it either to use an alternative energy or use them fan assisted rads, which contain 1litre of water and are very efficent but expensive to purchase.

arghh

Gez I was thinking of using condensing boiler in conjuction with ufh will this apply to the condensing boiler also? I begining to chicken out on ufh seems alot of don'ts are involved.

Qwerty?

yop wrote:

Eve is correct, I have a mate who has a 3000sq ft house, their oil bill for last year was 2.5k euro due to them having UFH.
UFH really is not suitable for oil systems, what I would consider it either to use an alternative energy or use them fan assisted rads, which contain 1litre of water and are very efficent but expensive to purchase.

Just as a comparision we have 3500sq ft house with geothermal heating and ufh, and I do not expect our heating bill for the year will be over €850 that includes 24/7 heat and hot water. We had considered oil to heat the ufh, but found the general consensus was it would be too expensive to run by oil.

mr.wiggle

Hi Qwerty, thanks for the info. I have been looking into GTH pumps but am put off these due to the cost and the fact that they are dependant on the price of electricity. A mate of mine has UFH with GTH and does rave about it but both him and his wife are working so not in the house between 9 to 5 so they use night saver electricity rates. Since my wife and kids will be living in the house every day, not just after 5pm I am worried that the electricity bill will be excessive. Another option I have looked at is wood pellet boilers but with the 'new-ness' of it in ireland , I'll think I'll give it a skip.
ANother option mentioned is the new rads, I think solo sell them. They look the business, but again, I know no-one with them so cant tell if they are indeed a viable solution.
BTW, my house will also be 3500sq.ft so your own example is of great interest to me.

Thanks

tribesman

mr.wiggle wrote:

A mate of mine has UFH with GTH and does rave about it but both him and his wife are working so not in the house between 9 to 5 so they use night saver electricity rates. Since my wife and kids will be living in the house every day, not just after 5pm I am worried that the electricity bill will be excessive.

Have you thought about how this works? The house is heated up on cheap electricity at night and gradually cools down during the day. Ideally the heat is not on at all except between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. (Wintertime).

With the heat on during the night it is obviously going to be warmer from 9 to 5 than it will be in the evening so it would be even better for your situation than for your friend.

We have UFH with geothermal and we also use night rate electricity. We heat the house at night and find that it retains the heat sufficiently that we don't have to top up in the evening. Our total ESB bill for the first year in a 2500 sqft house was 1050 EUR. That includes everything... space heating, water heating, lighting, & appliances including an electric oven. We don't have any supplementary heating system (oil, pellets etc.)

yop

That is spot on Tribesman, same setup to ourselves, cannot say yet how much ours will turn out but since January we are running @ 15 euro per week all in for the electric.
Mr Wiggle, I would not let that put you off.

anon1

You should look into using a buffer tank that would feed the ufh system.
The oil boiler and backboiler would heat the water in the buffer tank.
Solar panels could also be attached to the buffer tank.

mr.wiggle

Thanks all, for you responses. It certainly is mind boggling trying to decide the best option to go with. I hate having to 'suck it and see', so it is great to have some 'real' feedback. No doubt I will be a regular poster here leading up to decision time...