heat pump or not?

psychhead

Hi all. Currently at blocking stage and wer debating heating systems. We will be having a solid fuel stove with back boiler. However the issue is with the backup. Oil or air to water heat pump? We were only thinking of putting in underfloor heating as kitchen design limits room for radiators. As wer both at work all day I would have thought oil radiators would do but I dread a cold kitchen tile floor!!! Any advice? Thanks!

mapboy

I am slightly further on than you.My plan all along has been a ground
source heat pump and a stove.But in the last few weeks I have being thinking
of going with an air to water heat pump with a back boiler on the stove.Stove
will be heating the buffer tank.Underfloor up and downstairs.It just seems hard to justify spending the money on ground source when I am putting in a back boiler.
I was just thinking about putting up a question similar to yours

sky6

The payback on Ground source Heat Pumps is just too long to justify the cost of installation. That's even without allowing for Pump replacements over the same period. Or cost of Borrowing assuming your using a Mortgage.

Josephfm

Air to water heat pumps are fairly handy to install. Give Frank a shout at sweeneyrenewables.com. Got underfloor heating of him before and he does the heat pumps. Sound man to deal with.

ArraMusha

Howya psychhead, I'm in the same dilema. Oil or heatpump and I'm limited in the kitchen also i.e. no space for radiator, so looking at underfloor piping this area.

I've been researching solid fuel boilers as an alternative to heat pumps and this is mainly due to reported issues with ESB bills on poorly fitted heat pumps. Also theres a lot of individual parts so more opportunities for things to go wrong.
A guy at work has one of these solid fuel boilers in his shed and is very happy with it, constant heat, cheap to run and install and long warranty.

Only thing is the part L which forces another form of renewable, so its either solar or photovoltaics. Looking at photovoltaic as they're under 4k.

P_Cash

My bro in law has the heat pump fitted air to heat.

I've rads in my 4500 sq ft hse, stove with boiler heating dhw only. As luke warm rads is no benefit.
I spend 700/800 a year on oil, 300 on coal. No heat in house from mid march to end of oct. I planned great big south facing glazing for sun heat. the house is plenty warm 22+ during this time. I've 80mm insulation in cavity, 50 on exteinsulation, 150mm in the roof. Little or small north glazing.

My bro in law down the road put in heat pump 1 yr ago. Said he forecasts 6k to heat the house for the year. Slightly larger than mine. I said your kidding, and that's after installing the expensive system.

I cannot justify heating a house when I'm a work 8 hrs a day come winter.

They have extremely high esb bills now, and all i can say is why wouldn't u, ur heating your hse 24/7,

Each to their own i guess.

adrianegan3

Hi sorry for dragging up an old post but will the heat pump work as a back up to solid fuel stove with back boiler

exaisle

adrianegan3 wrote: »

Hi sorry for dragging up an old post but will the heat pump work as a back up to solid fuel stove with back boiler

The solid fuel stove with back boiler will work as a back up to the heat pump...

adrianegan3

exaisle wrote: »

The solid fuel stove with back boiler will work as a back up to the heat pump...

Should I plumb the stove to a buffer tank and heat pump to the cylinder or just use a a twin coil cylinder for the 2 heat sources

exaisle

adrianegan3 wrote: »

Should I plumb the stove to a buffer tank and heat pump to the cylinder or just use a a twin coil cylinder for the 2 heat sources

I think you misread my post. I'm suggesting using the heat pump as your primary source of heat and dhw. A stove with a backboiler would be fairly inefficient by comparison, I think...
The heat pump will presumably come with its own cylinder...

CheezePleeze

I have an air-to-water heat pump for the last 10 years. Great stuff. About €750 a year for heat and hot water. No need for stove r buffer tanks. Good underfloor heating, and the proper floor coverings (no thick carpets or suspended wooden floors. Use tiles where possible.

Could not recommend any other heating form. No oil deliveries, just run it on night-time electricity, and make it come on at 1pm and 6pm for an hour too, and you're flying.

froshtyv

For a new build house with underfloor heating i can never understand the reason behind connecting a stove with a back boiler to it?

For one, most plumbers don't want the complication of connecting the two.

One is a low temperature sealed system and the other is a high temperature open vented system.

Its not just a case of "teeing" in to the flow and return and away she goes.

You will end up over heating the house and complicating the system by introducing buffer tanks and heat exchangers.

You will also need a dump circuit when the solid fuel rises in temperature as you cant dump hot water into the underfloor heating loops.

The controls required need to be designed correctly and installed correctly by a competent electrician who understands how the system works, the same goes for the plumber.

Getting the right plumber and electrician on the job is slim to none from my own experience.

From most people i have spoken to who have stoves, the novelty doesn't be long wearing off when it comes to cleaning the stove and the dirt from their walls.

Keep the stove as a dry stove and let a heat pump or boiler look after the rest.

cranefly

A lot of people on these stove threads who have standalone stoves, regret not going for the boiler stove option, if the plumbing is already in place then it is a no brainer. 99 percent of people who have stoves have them because they like the look of a natural fire in the living room, most people who are use to a normal fireplace understand the need for cleaning out the ash and bringing in the coal and wood, and the dust that it sometimes brings, their is no substitute for a natural fire or the heat that it brings, some of the heating options discussed here are ok for some people, the stove and boiler stove is going to be around for a long time yet.

Even with all the advances in heating technology you would think that a fire in a box would be long gone by now, my guess is that it will outlast a lot of the more modern options available at this time. Their is just something about being able to see flames and feeling the heat off it that is so relaxing in this modern world.