Gas or Oil to heat house

whitelightrider

Guys,

We're just looking at the various heating options for our house. We're putting UFH upstairs and downstairs, solar panel on garage roof with all tanks being stored in the garage and a pressurised system pumping into the house.

People I spoke to yesterday mentioned that oil can be expensive when using UFH and that we should look at gas. We're not near a pipeline but could use the LPG tank and have a supplier fill it, the same as oil.

Has anyone else used this before or what would people's opinions be?

smooth operater

Use a ground source heat pump, no need for oil or gas, runs of electricity, so you'll have heating on tap all the time. Works well with UFH

sinnerboy

Try the SEI fuel cost calculator

http://www.sei.ie/index.asp?locID=58&docID=-1

wood pellets may be another option

bauderline

See this old thread...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055061350

Not sure what size your house is but the Keston C40 is a nice unit.

From what I hear oil condensing boilers are fairly good but they don't work well with UFH due to the fact that the water is heated to a much lower temp, the gas condensing boilers have a hi/lo burn for hot water / ufh purposes...

bauderline

I think this wood pellet fad is totally barmy, will go the same way as the anthracite boiler in a few years... way too much hassle involved in storage and hoppers etc.

Either gas or heat pumps are best for UFH... that's my opinion.

b.

sinnerboy

Oh , I'm inclined to agree B .

However - WPB
will comply with renewables aspect of revised Part L
will give a better CO2 emmision factor for BER

OP can at least now crunch numbers and decide

whitelightrider

sinnerboy wrote: »

Oh , I'm inclined to agree B .

However - WPB
will comply with renewables aspect of revised Part L
will give a better CO2 emmision factor for BER

OP can at least now crunch numbers and decide

Looking at this I'd say we'll end up going with LPG. Oil seems too expensive and LPG seems to be better for UFH.

Ive heard nothing but bad reviews for the wood pellet boilers so definitely wont be going with that.

If you install buffer tank/thermal store/heatbank, then the lower running temperature shouldn't be an issue as the water in the tank is heated to 60c and the ufh is tapped off via a thenmostatic mixing valve to the correct temperature.
The boiler is in effect only heating the tank.

bakerbhoy

If going with ufh, use a hrv system and no open wall vents.Due to the slow heating of ufh system the reason a lot of people are finding it expensive is due to the heat loss through these wall vents and general lack of airtighness in the houses.If your are not losing a lot of heat you don't need to generate a lot.If you want a fireplace ,use a room sealed woodfire or stove,openfire places are one of the biggest evacuators of heat from your home.

bauderline

I agree,

HRV and air tightness appear to be critical in an efficient UFH setup. I would dearly love an open fire in my new house, however I have decided it looses just too much heat, I know this from my existing house !

Looking at the Nestor Martin range of stove, they have some nice contemporary stuff and hopefully give the same cosy feel....

b.

bauderline

I note from the link that sb posted that bulk wood pellets had the biggest had the biggest increase in price bar oil.... Could be a reason for concern especially if there are a limited number of producers in RoI .....

mods - the content of this message maybe sails a little close to the wind with respect to the forum charter, however given the context of the thread I think its a valid comment. If you disagree I apologise and feel free to delete it...

b.

whitelightrider

bauderline wrote: »

I agree,

HRV and air tightness appear to be critical in an efficient UFH setup. I would dearly love an open fire in my new house, however I have decided it looses just too much heat, I know this from my existing house !

Looking at the Nestor Martin range of stove, they have some nice contemporary stuff and hopefully give the same cosy feel....

b.

Thanks bauderline. We've actually got the wall vents in the house already so there's not really much I can do about those. But we are putting in a stove so that should help with making the room air tight. Ill take a look at those stoves you mentioned.

dfcelt

Whitelightrider,
In a similar position myself, our planning decision is due in a month or so & I'm currently looking at all aspects of (potential) build. We have decided to go with LPG for similar reasons. Underfloor heating downstairs & in bathrooms. Zonal system for other areas.

Handy link showing recommended distances:
http://www.calorgas.co.uk/gas-supply/lpg-bulk-tanks/above-gound/tank-siting-separation-distances.htm

Will also be going with HRV system (currently looking for further info, anybody got decent .ie weblinks?)

Will be installing a multi fuel stove on living room with stainless steel flue to exterior wall (eleminates cost of chimney stack)

Found some lovely modern units here, http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/ Worth a look, most have prices too, handy for comparing against local stove suppliers.

whitelightrider

dfcelt wrote: »

Whitelightrider,
In a similar position myself, our planning decision is due in a month or so & I'm currently looking at all aspects of (potential) build. We have decided to go with LPG for similar reasons. Underfloor heating downstairs & in bathrooms. Zonal system for other areas.

Handy link showing recommended distances:
http://www.calorgas.co.uk/gas-supply/lpg-bulk-tanks/above-gound/tank-siting-separation-distances.htm

Will also be going with HRV system (currently looking for further info, anybody got decent .ie weblinks?)

Will be installing a multi fuel stove on living room with stainless steel flue to exterior wall (eleminates cost of chimney stack)

Found some lovely modern units here, http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/ Worth a look, most have prices too, handy for comparing against local stove suppliers.

Hey dfcelt,

Cheers for the links. Its definitely worth looking into as it was only after I spoke to the guys about UFH that I realised we could get a gas tank.

We'll be putting in a multifuel stove in the sitting room as well, but the chimney is already built in that room.