Heating in new build?

lollymob

Hi all, I'm looking for some much needed advice! We will be beginning our new build in a few months and wondering what sort of heating to put in! All the info I'm getting is quite overwhelming and I want to make the right decisions!
Our house is a 2 story, 3100 sq ft house and it will be airtight! We will be installing HRV, solar panels and we have 2 stoves...hopefully 1 will heat downstairs rads! We have ruled out UFH mainly due to horror stories!!
I'm trying to research wood pellet boilers and getting lots of different opinions! Does anyone on here have one, would you recommend it?? Or would I be better off going with an oil boiler!

Any advice however small would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

gdavis

Just as a matter of interest,what horror stories about underfloor.?

lollymob

gdavis wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest,what horror stories about underfloor.?

Having spoken to a number of people who put it in in the last few years the general feedback wasn't great! Takes too long to heat up, never worked properly, floors having to be dug up, cost a fortune to run etc etc! The negative feedback far outweighed the positive! However I have 1 friend who is happy with hers! I think I'd rather go with the majority though!

JohnnieK

lollymob wrote: »

Having spoken to a number of people who put it in in the last few years the general feedback wasn't great! Takes too long to heat up, never worked properly, floors having to be dug up, cost a fortune to run etc etc! The negative feedback far outweighed the positive! However I have 1 friend who is happy with hers! I think I'd rather go with the majority though!

In fairness it wasn't installed correctly.

If the house is sealed well and insulated well it won't take much to heat it.

You should consider underfloor supplemented by the solar through a thermal store and your stove could be connected to this buffer tank too. Also low temp rads could be used with this too.

It will have to be designed correctly, that's what most of the problems are, poorly designed systems.

lollymob

JohnnieK wrote: »

lollymob wrote: »

Having spoken to a number of people who put it in in the last few years the general feedback wasn't great! Takes too long to heat up, never worked properly, floors having to be dug up, cost a fortune to run etc etc! The negative feedback far outweighed the positive! However I have 1 friend who is happy with hers! I think I'd rather go with the majority though!

In fairness it wasn't installed correctly.

If the house is sealed well and insulated well it won't take much to heat it.

You should consider underfloor supplemented by the solar through a thermal store and your stove could be connected to this buffer tank too. Also low temp rads could be used with this too.

It will have to be designed correctly, that's what most of the problems are, poorly designed systems.

I agree that most of the problems lie with the installation! Would you recommend ufh over wood pellet/oil boilers ??
I can't seem to get much info on wood pellet boilers apart from websites but I would love to hear from someone who has 1 in their house!

JohnnieK

I dont have a wood pellet boiler or oil boiler in my house but underfloor heating can be run off both.

Have you got a heat requirement calculation yet?

Pappacharlie

Just a word of warning. Be careful about installing a wood pellet boiler. I have seen so many horror stories. The problem is with the pellets they are just not of a high enough quality. They are very sensitive to our high humidity. I personally know three people who have decommissioned wood pellet boilers and installed oil. UFH is a disaster too. Our climate is so changeable it cannot react in time to the rapid change in temps. Insulate! Insulate! Insulate! Zone! Zone! go with your stoves and install a small oil condenser boiler that can heat one zone at a time and you will be very happy. A fill of oil every two years with your stoves.

lollymob

JohnnieK wrote: »

I dont have a wood pellet boiler or oil boiler in my house but underfloor heating can be run off both.

Have you got a heat requirement calculation yet?

No heat calculation yet! We're just submitting plans at the minute so we're a long way off yet but I wanted to have lots of research done before I have to make a decision! So would I be right in presuming that you have no problems with ufh and would recommend it?

SmallBalls

Agree with JohnnieK, if it's designed correctly and the installer follows this plan you wont have any trouble.

lollymob

Pappacharlie wrote: »

Just a word of warning. Be careful about installing a wood pellet boiler. I have seen so many horror stories. The problem is with the pellets they are just not of a high enough quality. They are very sensitive to our high humidity. I personally know three people who have decommissioned wood pellet boilers and installed oil. UFH is a disaster too. Our climate is so changeable it cannot react in time to the rapid change in temps. Insulate! Insulate! Insulate! Zone! Zone! go with your stoves and install a small oil condenser boiler that can heat one zone at a time and you will be very happy. A fill of oil every two years with your stoves.

Thank you pappacharlie for your helpful reply! I have a bit more research to do but think I will be taking your advice!

JohnnieK

Or if you are going with rads why not have them going back to a manifold with actuators controlled by individual room stats.

There's a lot to think about:eek:

lollymob

JohnnieK wrote: »

Or if you are going with rads why not have them going back to a manifold with actuators controlled by individual room stats.

There's a lot to think about:eek:

Thanks JonnieK but you may aswell be speaking chinese to me!!! You're right I do have a lot to think about!!!

EHP

lollymob wrote: »

Thanks JonnieK but you may aswell be speaking chinese to me!!! You're right I do have a lot to think about!!!

I am a plumber and have experience with underfloor and woodpellet heating. I also have woodpellets heating my house (RADS) along with a woodpellet stove in my living room and solar also contributing to my heating. You are always going to hear the horror stories about all of the above mentioned products, mainly because there is plenty of them to hear. In the last 5 to 6 years SEI threw a load of money at renewables with absolutely no control and left every chancer out there supply and fit these systems most of whom are gone now as are the grants!!!. If underfloor and woodpellet heating or any type of heating is installed correctly you will never have any issues. Take absolutely no notice of anyone who says that our climate is two damp for pellets as pellets are not affected by moisture in the air yes if you put them into water they will be of no use but the same is said for all fuels. I will gladly show you or anyone my system and the way I store pellets which is running now for nearly 4 years. I think I last cleaned my boiler back around Christmas and this boiler is supposed to be cleaned every week. If you PM me the area you live in I will get you names of people in your area that you can visit for references on pellet boilers.

heinbloed

The last poster wrote:

In the last 5 to 6 years SEI threw a load of money at renewables with absolutely no control and left every chancer out there supply and fit these systems most of whom are gone now as are the grants!!!.

followed by

I will gladly show you or anyone my system and the way I store pellets which is running now for nearly 4 years. I think I last cleaned my boiler back around Christmas and this boiler is supposed to be cleaned every week.

There should be controls indeed,the OP's question was answered by a cowboy. Great for the trade.

JohnnieK

EHP wrote: »

I am a plumber and have experience with underfloor and woodpellet heating. I also have woodpellets heating my house (RADS) along with a woodpellet stove in my living room and solar also contributing to my heating. You are always going to hear the horror stories about all of the above mentioned products, mainly because there is plenty of them to hear. In the last 5 to 6 years SEI threw a load of money at renewables with absolutely no control and left every chancer out there supply and fit these systems most of whom are gone now as are the grants!!!. If underfloor and woodpellet heating or any type of heating is installed correctly you will never have any issues. Take absolutely no notice of anyone who says that our climate is two damp for pellets as pellets are not affected by moisture in the air yes if you put them into water they will be of no use but the same is said for all fuels. I will gladly show you or anyone my system and the way I store pellets which is running now for nearly 4 years. I think I last cleaned my boiler back around Christmas and this boiler is supposed to be cleaned every week. If you PM me the area you live in I will get you names of people in your area that you can visit for references on pellet boilers.

Couldn't agree more.
If people with underfloor heating are having problems then more than likely it has been installed wrong. I have worked on a lot of underfloor heating systems before and there was no issues. one common problem I see is people mess around with the mixing valve throwing the whole system on it's head.
I have not had the chance to work on pellet burners as of yet but I would relish the chance too. The Grant condensing pellet boiler looks very impressive and I would love to get my hands on it.