5 kw condensing oil boiler v storage heaters

wilwood

Hi all.

Im in the process of building my house but due to no work its probably going to be 2 or 3 years before i can get a mortgage to finish, so iv finished my garage first which i have converted into a 1 bed flat for myself until my house is finished. its about 50sq metres and is dry lined with 12 inches of insulation between joists so it should be easy enough to heat.
so basically im wondering what to do about heating, i wont have a hot water cylinder as i have an electric shower and an instant hot water heater for DHW, so i just need to heat 4 radiators, iv worked it out and i only need about 5kw to heat rads,
so im looking for advise on whats my cheapest option, (both for installation and running costs) storage heaters or oil boiler, iv been told that a boiler thats too big will be very inefficiant and i cant come across any as small as what i need..also seems its only a temporary set up i dont want to go spending too much on a boiler that wont be a suitable size for my house when completed.
any advise would be appreciated.

JohnnieK

For a start you won't get a 5kW oil boiler. The smallest is 15kW. Storage heating is probably the answer for you.

Or a stove with a back boiler to heat the rads.

crock!

I have seen wood pellet stoves the other day that have a timer and stat on them.the guy selling them who I know says there cheap to run and give lots of heat.but if this could heat your apartment it would be great and then it would look better in your front room in your house when its built.you can flue them at low level so this means you dont need to build a chimney.the only thing im thinking about is how hard it is on esb as it has a fan going in it.

wilwood

JohnnieK For a start you won't get a 5kW oil boiler. The smallest is 15kW. Storage heating is probably the answer for you.

Or a stove with a back boiler to heat the rads.


thanks, I had been searching the net alright and had wondered if they existed at all, if I fitted a 15kw is it possible to get a plumber to "de tune" it or would it still be in-efficient ???

Iv been looking into wood pellet stoves aswell so that might be a back up plan. Im kinda worried about esb bills if i fit storage heaters.

rightjob!

what about picking up a used oil burner on donedeal,loads of complete kits and then sell it on after your finished with it.

JohnnieK

wilwood wrote: »

thanks, I had been searching the net alright and had wondered if they existed at all, if I fitted a 15kw is it possible to get a plumber to "de tune" it or would it still be in-efficient ???

Iv been looking into wood pellet stoves aswell so that might be a back up plan. Im kinda worried about esb bills if i fit storage heaters.

You won't be able to "de tune" the boiler any further than 15kW. I doubt you would even get a 15kW oil boiler on done deal because most of the old one's are over sized anyway.

Would you consider LPG?

Outkast_IRE

My GF currently lives in a setup that sounds similar to yours.

Its an Independant converted garage attached to a house. It was all internally dry lined 2 years ago, and has electric shower.

There is a storage heater to heat the place, and it works out great with the dry lining as the storage heaters gradually release heat during the day, and due to the internal insulation the room is always a comfortable temp.

The disadvantage with the dry lining is you dont really have a thermal store, so if you open the windows on a chilly day even for a short while, the heat is gone from the room quickly.

Put it this way, during the coldest months of this winter, her biggest electricity bill has been €120 per two months.

I would reccomend storage heater in the situation you describe.