Heating System Change from Gas to Oil? Insulation probs and wood pellet burners!

elephant85

Hello there,

Quick background... bought my house about 3 years ago which was a new build. At the time I was given the option of either a oil central heating system or a gas central heating system. The house is not on a natural gas pipeline so the gas option, was a gas tank out the back garden.
Stupidly I went for gas.
2 years on... last winter it was costing me on average 700 euro every 8 weeks to heat the house.. but herein is another problem. Its not heating the house.. im sitting there freezing trying to conserve heat. I have had 3 seperate engineers out to examine and none can find anything wrong with it. (the last thought that maybe the boiler system wasn't powerful enough to heat my house which is just over 2000 sq ft.)
Another thing to note is that I work.. so the house is not heated during the day.
So now that I have given you the background... here are my questions..

1. I belive that the house is very poorly insulated (it was apparently pumped in.. but i reckon it wasn't done properly and hence my lack of heat!) How much would it cost to have more insulation pumped in? is there anyone who can tell me if my assumption is correct?
2. is it possible to convert a gas central heating system to an oil one? would it involve much work? can the pipes used for gas be used for oil?
3. I have had a pellet burner installer man out to look and he has quoted me 11,000 to change to wood pellet. I have requested the grant. However i have heard that installation is the key and getting somebody good is hugely important. I don't know anyone in my region who has had it installed. anyone able to recommend somebody in the North West?

I know this was really long, and if you got to hear... thanks a million for reading!

Your help is really appreciated.. Cannot face into another winter of horrendous fuel bills... i cannot afford it!

Thanks again

sinnerboy

if you are spending so much on ( any ) fuel and are still cold - changing boiler spec won't help

it sounds like you are describing a 1960's house , never insulated

you need an experienced architectural technician , architect , surveyor or similar construction professional to investigate . this will involve some invasive work ( removing one or two power points , drilling holes in wall - nothing dramatic ) to see how the house is out together

do you have lots of low voltage dowlighters ? if so try turning them off on a cold night and see if cold air blows in trough them ?
how thick is your loft insulation ?

is the pipework local to your boiler insulated ?

how much insulation around your hot water tank ?

these are the kind of questions to ask

sinnerboy

..... ask your solicitor to obtain the architects opinion on compliance with building regulations . and seek answers through that source

a 3 year old house should not perform as you describe

elephant85

sinnerboy wrote: »

..... ask your solicitor to obtain the architects opinion on compliance with building regulations . and seek answers through that source

a 3 year old house should not perform as you describe

Thanks for your help.. whey you say to ask my solicitor to obtain the architects opinion.. do you mean for her to ask the original architect (its a housing estate) to evaluate my house.. or should i just get any architect to evaluate the house, write a report and submit it to my solicitor?

Regarding your other questions.. attic is insulated but with that wire wool type stuff. I plan on adding additional insulation in the next month.

Also, as its a gas heating system.. i do not have a traditional hot press.. no hot water tank.. water is heated instantly by the gas.

Thanks again

sinnerboy

sorry - there is a conflict between my 2 earlier posts

First find out the name of the architect who signed the opinion on compliance with building regualtions . your solicitor will have obtained this during the purchase . That architect may help to identify your problems - should at least confirm what the intended spefication was .

If that goes nowhere for you - then find your own advisor - technician , surveyor , architect

you have whats called a combi boiler - heats hot water on demand . unless your in the habit of leaving a hot tap running all the time you should not be burning so much fuel to so little effect

RKQ

I agree fully with Sinnerboy.
Unfortunately I suspect the Architects Certificate of Compliance will be based on a visual inspection after construction was complete! Normal for housing estates. Not really worth the paper its written on!

Get the gas installation checked. I'd a similar problem with an underfloor heating system fuelled by oil. Clients were payiing vast amounts for regular oil fills. Turned out "parts" were missing and once replaced the system worked properly.

Increase attic insulation and investigate cavity wall insulation (or lack off)
Somethings not right!

ardara1

RKQ wrote: »

I agree fully with Sinnerboy.
Unfortunately I suspect the Architects Certificate of Compliance will be based on a visual inspection after construction was complete! Normal for housing estates. Not really worth the paper its written on!

Get the gas installation checked. I'd a similar problem with an underfloor heating system fuelled by oil. Clients were payiing vast amounts for regular oil fills. Turned out "parts" were missing and once replaced the system worked properly.

Increase attic insulation and investigate cavity wall insulation (or lack off)
Somethings not right!

If the house was built 3 years ago there's a good chance that the OVERALL HEATLOSS METHOD of compliance was used by the builder to cut the insulation levels to a minimum - but still scrape the regs.
Walls- 0.37 Floors 0.37 roof 0.25. The glazing probably came from deep the deep south with plain gas argon fill unit and bolted on sill section (not sealed ) 2.6 U-value.

It doesn't mean that even at these levels the installation was done properly.
There are a number of Thermographic camera guys about the country who will survey the house for around €450 and it will pick up if the pumping was done properly (I've seen they're own picture of settlement of bead at ceilng level - also missing insulation at heads where DPCs were dressed over - and a massive gap at wall/floor junctions)
Surveying can only be done at low external temperatures - when there's very little wind, but the quality of the pic in some instances are like photographs. They'll pic up thermal bridging thru' any insulation - but also air leakage.
That might be your starting point - but what then? The house has been signed off - to 'substantially comply' with Part L - it probably does!

Now if an assessor had given it a rating - then you'd know who to go after. I'd get in touch with a decent Assessor and get him working with you - there's a couple of good guys posting here.

elephant85

Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my query.

Would anybody be able to recommend an assessor in the Northwest?

Also, my grant for a wood pellet burner came through today. Can anyone recommend a reputable installer in the Northwest region as well?

Thanks a million for your help so far...

muffler

Whereabouts in the NW are you?

elephant85

I'm in Letterkenny.

slavetothegrind

Your gas burner in the boiler may well not be set up properly.
I would have the boiler serviced and tested also. Calor will advise you of a qualified agent in your area

fitz0

If you can get you're hands on waste oil from a garage or similar place you should look into a waste oil boiler. Theres a place in Armagh that filters it and sells the waste oil on for 7p a litre afaik. Ive heard of people having trouble with wood pellet boilers and getting the pellets for them especially

gooner99

fitz0 wrote: »

If you can get you're hands on waste oil from a garage or similar place you should look into a waste oil boiler. Theres a place in Armagh that filters it and sells the waste oil on for 7p a litre afaik. Ive heard of people having trouble with wood pellet boilers and getting the pellets for them especially

wonder if you would have any bother with excise and duty bringing it into the south.

Rathlynin

elephant85 wrote: »

I'm in Letterkenny.

Kelly's in L'kenny have a good installer that installs Pellet boilers....They installed a Gerkros Cosyman for me....Outdoor pellet boiler and its going like a dream... not sure if they have a website...

fitz0

gooner99 wrote: »

wonder if you would have any bother with excise and duty bringing it into the south.

Not sure on that but its very easy to get waste oil. Garages and the like have to pay to get rid of it so they will gladly give it to you for free. Im not sure about the filtering process but AFAIK its just to get rid of lumps and dirt to prevent blockages.

Sparky78

fitz0 wrote: »

If you can get you're hands on waste oil from a garage or similar place you should look into a waste oil boiler. Theres a place in Armagh that filters it and sells the waste oil on for 7p a litre afaik. Ive heard of people having trouble with wood pellet boilers and getting the pellets for them especially

Have you ever seen one in operation in a domestic situation?
Never saw them advertised or sold.

fitz0

My cousin has one (he works in haulage so gets the fuel free) and he's never had any trouble with it as far as I know. Next time Im talking to him Ill get specifics on it.

coraf

Does anyone know whats involved in converting from gas to oil heating

I have a mobile home and it costs a fortune to run it on gas 47kg bottles
every 2 weeks its 110 euro

I have the Rads already installed and I have a combi boiler now don't get me wrong this place is roasting warm it's just so expensive and always having to have empty cyclinders to take back means I cant stock up during the summer

Any help many thanks

galwaytt

...whilst LPG is more expensive, it's also more efficient.

Changing your boiler to cure an inefficient or poorly insulated installation is, imho, mad, Ted

Your boiler isn't 'broken': your building/plumbing is - fix that, first.

And as for putting in big €€ wood-pellet systems' in inefficient installations.........??

bbam

I'd have to say that going ahead with the installation of a wood pellet system without having the source of the probelm identified may lead to spending money on the wrong thing..

I'd imagine the priority would be..

-Have the property professionally assessed
-Identify the actual issues
-Put a plan in place ensuring best bang for buck.

My own opinions would be the problem is a combination of poorly fitted or no insulation and air leakage.
The gas system may be fine once the insulation/air leakage is sorted..

Lastly, ask round plenty about the pellet systems before spending €11k on one, we went to see about 6 systems when we were building and spoke to another 4 owners.. Few were happy with their performance for various reasons.

Unfortunitely this is a problem in built to sell houses constructed over the last 5 years... Some of the stories from those who worked on sites make my eyes water considering the top dollar paid for these houses..