Dual heating system

roskoe

Hi All

Hope someone can help, I live in a 1600 sq ft dormer bungalow which was built in 1989 and my only form of heating is oil fired except for a open fire place in the sitting room. Over the last two winters in the very cold spells I was using 500 litres of oil a month which is an absolute rob with the price of heating oil these days. I'm looking at upgrading the insulation and replacing the boiler with a new efficient condencer boiler but it still leaves me totally dependent on oil for heat which is not ideal as no one knows how prices or even the availability will be in the future.

I'm thinking of installing a solid fuel boiler stove in the kitchen which will heat the hot water cylinder and some radiators and also throw out heat to the kitchen. I know it won't replace the oil burner but it will give me some independence from oil and hopefully save me money.

If anyone has done something similar I'd appreciate your comments and advice

DublinDilbert

roskoe wrote: »

Hi All

Hope someone can help, I live in a 1600 sq ft dormer bungalow which was built in 1989 and my only form of heating is oil fired except for a open fire place in the sitting room. Over the last two winters in the very cold spells I was using 500 litres of oil a month which is an absolute rob with the price of heating oil these days. I'm looking at upgrading the insulation and replacing the boiler with a new efficient condencer boiler but it still leaves me totally dependent on oil for heat which is not ideal as no one knows how prices or even the availability will be in the future.

I'm thinking of installing a solid fuel boiler stove in the kitchen which will heat the hot water cylinder and some radiators and also throw out heat to the kitchen. I know it won't replace the oil burner but it will give me some independence from oil and hopefully save me money.

If anyone has done something similar I'd appreciate your comments and advice

Are you sure your not leaking oil? that sounds like an awful lot of oil. Do you run the heating 24/7 or just 2 hours per day? etc...

I would improve the insulation & upgrade windows first off. A wood stove would be good too. If your current boiler is operating well, that would be the last thing i would change.

Carlow52

I would consider a solid fuel stove in the existing fireplace for 2 reasons:
first it will control the draught in the chimney which is a major source of heat loss.

I would have it stand alone, no pipes pumps etc so as if a power cut u can still leave it on.

Insulate and make your house airtight with appropriate ventilation

re the boiler I would not change it unless u can prove that it is really p*ssing through the oil.

developments in boilers is continuing apace and the next versions will offer the CHP option which means you will get elec and heat.

roskoe

Thanks folks for your kind responce.

I'm fairly sure it's not leaking as the whole place would stink off kerosene. It was always hard on fuel but the last two winters really crowned it, I had was run the heating for 8 to 10 hours in the real cold spells where in normal conditions 4 to 5 hours would be sufficent. I think it's just that it's and old 1980s model where the heat goes straight up the the chimney designed when kerosene was 17 pence a litre about 21 cents in today's money. The good old days.

I replaced the windows last summer which made a huge improvement.

My main concern is that I'm completely depending on oil for heating which leaves me exposed to the continuing price increases and if we're to believe what we're been told it may not be freely available at any price in the near future.

Outkast_IRE

roskoe wrote: »

Thanks folks for your kind responce.

I'm fairly sure it's not leaking as the whole place would stink off kerosene. It was always hard on fuel but the last two winters really crowned it, I had was run the heating for 8 to 10 hours in the real cold spells where in normal conditions 4 to 5 hours would be sufficent. I think it's just that it's and old 1980s model where the heat goes straight up the the chimney designed when kerosene was 17 pence a litre about 21 cents in today's money. The good old days.

I replaced the windows last summer which made a huge improvement.

My main concern is that I'm completely depending on oil for heating which leaves me exposed to the continuing price increases and if we're to believe what we're been told it may not be freely available at any price in the near future.

Yes in the future oil will become less available and pricey , but realistically for the next few decades it will be available but maybe pricey , at the moment upgrading the insulation should be priority number one , as a stove just covers up the problem that you are losing massive amounts of heat from your house .
If it was me the order i would do it in would be
1. Upgrade insualtion to highest quality i could affoard.
2. Upgrade oil boiler to higher efficency
3.Install stove.