Cottage renovation - What heating system?

laraido

Hi there,

I'm renovating a 600 sq ft 3 bed (1 bathroom, 1 ensuite) cottage from scratch. All exterior walls and attic will be insulated, as well as a newly poured floor. Gas is not an option, so I've had a quote from a plumber to install an oil burning heating system with the most efficient boiler and HW tank on the market with a water pump. This sounds great, but I can't help but feel oil is a step backwards, especially when I'm starting from scratch. I'm also afraid other [greener] systems will be wasted on this size of house and will be a lot more expensive.

Our plan is to rent the cottage ASAP, but theres also the option (in the future) to extend and make a family home.

Any advice?

Thanks
Lar

shane 007

For such a small system, I would consider LPG as an oil boiler will be over-firing pretty much all the time & the gas boiler will modulate down to suit. The gas boiler can also be range rated down to match exactly the maximum load required.
Also if you are renting it, tenants prefer gas on a bill, which can be done via supplier (a meter can also be installed but a little more expensive). Oil can be robbed or when between tenants, the last one usually takes every screed of oil with them. They also seem to continuously tilt the oil tank, leading to constant leaks at the tank pipework.
Gas can't be robbed either.

Dtp1979

laraido wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm renovating a 600 sq ft 3 bed (1 bathroom, 1 ensuite) cottage from scratch. All exterior walls and attic will be insulated, as well as a newly poured floor. Gas is not an option, so I've had a quote from a plumber to install an oil burning heating system with the most efficient boiler and HW tank on the market with a water pump. This sounds great, but I can't help but feel oil is a step backwards, especially when I'm starting from scratch. I'm also afraid other [greener] systems will be wasted on this size of house and will be a lot more expensive.

Our plan is to rent the cottage ASAP, but theres also the option (in the future) to extend and make a family home.

Any advice?

Thanks
Lar

LPG would be an option if you wished to go the gas route. Seeing as the cottage is so small, chances are any oil boiler would be too big and therefore short cycle, wasting your oil. Whereas a modern gas boiler can modulate down to suit the size of the heat load required.
Plus, you can't steal gas from your tank

kscobie

I repiped a similar sized house last month, TRVs on the rads, Joule cylinder and fitted a 50/90 Outdoor Vortex, set at lowest output, he keeps checking the oil level and was ringing me to say that it barely moved !

Dtp1979

kscobie wrote: »

I repiped a similar sized house last month, TRVs on the rads, Joule cylinder and fitted a 50/90 Outdoor Vortex, set at lowest output, he keeps checking the oil level and was ringing me to say that it barely moved !

Still though, 50,000 btu must be far more than he needs?

JohnnieK

Air to water heat pump would be my option.

Mickb

Hi,

In similar situation to OP.

Looking at oil heating

Any info or experience on the air to water solution.

Cheers.

MiCk B. :-)

kscobie

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Still though, 50,000 btu must be far more than he needs?

The house was a little bigger than 600sqft, was going to put in a little wall hung Vortex and set it to 40,000btus, but the 50/90 worked perfect after

JohnnieK

Mickb wrote: »

Hi,

In similar situation to OP.

Looking at oil heating

Any info or experience on the air to water solution.

Cheers.

MiCk B. :-)

You need to insulated properly and have the system sized and installed correctly and it will be very cost effective.

They work best on underfloor heating or if radiators are used, high output or solo rads would be ideal.