Home Heating

Vinegar Hill

I am curious what most people do in this area for home heating.

I currently have an oil boiler that is going to have to be replaced soon. The boiler does not adequately heat the bungalow that I live in. The boiler is about 8 years old now and the house is always cold. There is no way to control the amount of heat that it puts out or regulate the temperature. It is costing me about €300 monthly just for heating and this is using a combination of coal as well as the central heat. The central heat is only on about 2 hours in the morning to try to keep the cost down. The rest of the day I use the fire to try to heat the sitting room at least.

I am considering switching to gas heating. Does anyone have any experience with gas? Is it more economical compared to oil and how long would an outdoor storage tank of fuel last?

Thanks for any information.

Outkast_IRE

if you have the funds they would be best spent further insulating your home, if your spending €300 a month on heating you either live in a Mansion or your losing the heat.

Trust me fuel prices are only going one way, insulating your home is the best choice. And depending on the windows if they are single glazed then consider an upgrade. In your case gas or oil you will be spending alot if your just losing the heat.

After insulation then you start looking at heating system upgrades and controls with thermostats etc.

muffler

I'll move this to the Construction & Planning forum.

muffler

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

if you have the funds they would be best spent further insulating your home, if your spending €300 a month on heating you either live in a Mansion or your losing the heat.

Trust me fuel prices are only going one way, insulating your home is the best choice. And depending on the windows if they are single glazed then consider an upgrade. In your case gas or oil you will be spending alot if your just losing the heat.

After insulation then you start looking at heating system upgrades and controls with thermostats etc.

Good post

Just to add that money spent improving the insulation will be well spent as not only will it save on fuel bills on the long term you will also "feel" the benefit of it.

Draft proofing goes hand in hand with insulating. No point in trying to retain the heat if cold air is leaking into the house. As stated above the heating system needs to be looked at also but not just in terms of replacement boiler etc. In the short term you should get a good plumber to service the boiler and balance the rads etc and this alone could knock a wee bit off your fuel bill.

Vinegar Hill

muffler wrote: »

Good post

Just to add that money spent improving the insulation will be well spent as not only will it save on fuel bills on the long term you will also "feel" the benefit of it.

Draft proofing goes hand in hand with insulating. No point in trying to retain the heat if cold air is leaking into the house. As stated above the heating system needs to be looked at also but not just in terms of replacement boiler etc. In the short term you should get a good plumber to service the boiler and balance the rads etc and this alone could knock a wee bit off your fuel bill.

I just spent €5K insulating the house and putting Evertex on the house.

muffler

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

I just spent €5K insulating the house and putting Evertex on the house.

Isn't that a weather resistant external paint?

Vinegar Hill

muffler wrote: »

Isn't that a weather resistant external paint?

Yes it is

sas

Are you saying that you've already upgraded your insulation and its now costing 300 per month to heat the house?

Outkast_IRE

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

I just spent €5K insulating the house and putting Evertex on the house.

Ignoring the Evertex as its nothing to do with this.
What exactly did you get done insulation wise ?

Vinegar Hill

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Ignoring the Evertex as its nothing to do with this.
What exactly did you get done insulation wise ?

Cavity wall insulation and attic space.

Outkast_IRE

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

Cavity wall insulation and attic space.

What depth of insulation was put in the attic?
how wide was the cavity they filled?

Did you pay €5000 for that ?

Do you live in a huge house or a normal size house ?

What was it costing you to heat the place before you got the insulation done?

Are you windows double glazing etc ?

Is there anywhere obvious the heat is escaping ? do you feel bad draughts in any rooms ? How many rooms have chimneys?

Vinegar Hill

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

What depth of insulation was put in the attic?
how wide was the cavity they filled?

Did you pay €5000 for that ?

The wall cavities are about 4-5 inches thick. They put 10 inches in the attic space. That cost me about €1200 after the grants. The balance of the €5K was on the Evertex. Bungalow house BTW.

The point is this house is still cold despite all efforts.

Vinegar Hill

sas wrote: »

Are you saying that you've already upgraded your insulation and its now costing 300 per month to heat the house?

Yes

Vinegar Hill

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

if you have the funds they would be best spent further insulating your home, if your spending €300 a month on heating you either live in a Mansion or your losing the heat.

Trust me fuel prices are only going one way, insulating your home is the best choice. And depending on the windows if they are single glazed then consider an upgrade. In your case gas or oil you will be spending alot if your just losing the heat.

After insulation then you start looking at heating system upgrades and controls with thermostats etc.

The windows are double glazed.

muffler

sas wrote: »

Are you saying that you've already upgraded your insulation and its now costing 300 per month to heat the house?

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

Yes

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

The wall cavities are about 4-5 inches thick. They put 10 inches in the attic space..........The point is this house is still cold despite all efforts.

Vinegar Hill wrote: »

The windows are double glazed.

I just want to recap here and you can correct me if Im wrong.

You have a bungalow with DG windows. You recently had the insulation upgraded (pumped cavities and attic) and its costing €300 a month now to heat the house. Is that a fair summary?

Certainly for the last week or so the weather has been cold but when you mentioned a monthly figure I take it that this has been going on for a while. Unless the bungalow is around 3000 sq feet or more thats a huge amount to pay in heating costs.

As I see it the 3 main problematic areas are possibly: The house has not been insulated properly, the house is full of drafts and the heating system is not up to scratch. Could possibly be a combination of all those.

I would suggest getting a bit of thermal imaging carried out to determine where the problem lies in relation to drafts and possibly poor insulation/badly fitted windows etc. As I also mentioned earlier the heating system may need an overhaul.

No matter what fuel you choose you will still have a problem and you really do need to get it sorted. Changing to gas for example (as per your op) will not cure the problems.

fealeranger

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

What depth of insulation was put in the attic?
how wide was the cavity they filled?

Did you pay €5000 for that ?

Do you live in a huge house or a normal size house ?

What was it costing you to heat the place before you got the insulation done?

Are you windows double glazing etc ?

Is there anywhere obvious the heat is escaping ? do you feel bad draughts in any rooms ? How many rooms have chimneys?

What is area of the house? You must have a mansion if after €5000+grants on top of existing insulation(if any)and you are still cold. I am afraid to ask the heating costs before the extra insulation:eek:. Something else is very wrong here. Maybe consider getting a thermal image done and see if something shows up, it will cost around 2 months heating.

joycek

Hi I have a house that is oil central heating and the extension is a granny flat that is gas, I want to convert house to gas does anyone have a rough ides of costing (3bed semi-d small) ?

librajohn

We have an oil fired Franco Belge cooker with boiler which heats 16 rads. The cooker is several years old and will need to be replaced. I am in a quandary as to whether continue to use a similar replacement cooker with boiler or to use wood pellet boiler. The boiler needs to be a room heater also, the room is 26 ft x 12 ft. I know that wood pellet systems are expensive and wood pellets vary in quality.

I would appreciate any comments from people with experience.