Whole heating upgrade - help needed

dosebier

Hi there, Hope I can get some best practice advice for upgrading our heating system.

currently we have :
Baxi Bermuda VP built in the fireplace which is connected to all the rads in the house.
plus another fireplace which we use.
Standard size copper insulated tank (which has the immersion too).

As part of a renovation I've been thinking of the best way of heating the house.
In my mind here is what I am hoping for -
1, new gas boiler connected to rads / HW tank (to go into new utility room)
2, new boiler stove to replace current baxi location (as all pipes in place there, plus HW tank is directly above this location)
3, smaller non connected stove in new sun room
4, larger triple coil (300litre?) tank
5, solar linking into above

i'd like to be able to use solar to heat water in summer (direct south facing roof), and in winter use combination of stove and gas to heat in winter (to have redundancy)
and have them all linked to the triple coil tank.

Is there anything wrong with my logic ? is there any thing I have to insist on (with Plumber) when he is doing this work? can we reuse the current copper tank for anything ?
are there any downfalls to such a system ? are Joule HW tanks the best ones ?
at the moment we have no temperature controls in the house only on or off for gas - so we would need something with a little more flexibility.

Appreciate any advice

Dtp1979

dosebier wrote: »

Hi there, Hope I can get some best practice advice for upgrading our heating system.

currently we have :
Baxi Bermuda VP built in the fireplace which is connected to all the rads in the house.
plus another fireplace which we use.
Standard size copper insulated tank (which has the immersion too).

As part of a renovation I've been thinking of the best way of heating the house.
In my mind here is what I am hoping for -
1, new gas boiler connected to rads / HW tank (to go into new utility room)
2, new boiler stove to replace current baxi location (as all pipes in place there, plus HW tank is directly above this location)
3, smaller non connected stove in new sun room
4, larger triple coil (300litre?) tank
5, solar linking into above

i'd like to be able to use solar to heat water in summer (direct south facing roof), and in winter use combination of stove and gas to heat in winter (to have redundancy)
and have them all linked to the triple coil tank.

Is there anything wrong with my logic ? is there any thing I have to insist on (with Plumber) when he is doing this work? can we reuse the current copper tank for anything ?
are there any downfalls to such a system ? are Joule HW tanks the best ones ?
at the moment we have no temperature controls in the house only on or off for gas - so we would need something with a little more flexibility.

Appreciate any advice

Yes to everything above. I'd also zone your heating system and use room stats and 7 day programmer. But joule copper cylinders.... God no.

DGOBS

When looking at controls, look at web enabled controls.

dosebier

Thanks for that,
Meant to say I'd want the stainless steel hot water tanks (as these seem to hold heat longer? and last longer?) also was told that they dont conduct heat back to the stove as much (when stove isnt on)

On zoning - does zoning with a stove boiler become complicated or does it just not care where the origin of the heat is (gas or boiler) ?
would you recommend the "nest" type of programmers ?

Also meant to say do we need a hot water dump (emergency rad) in place case the temp gets too warm as a failsafe ?

Thanks

Dtp1979

dosebier wrote: »

Thanks for that,
Meant to say I'd want the stainless steel hot water tanks (as these seem to hold heat longer? and last longer?) also was told that they dont conduct heat back to the stove as much (when stove isnt on)

On zoning - does zoning with a stove boiler become complicated or does it just not care where the origin of the heat is (gas or boiler) ?
would you recommend the "nest" type of programmers ?

Also meant to say do we need a hot water dump (emergency rad) in place case the temp gets too warm as a failsafe ?

Thanks

Yes zoning with solid fuel can be slightly more tricky.
Stainless steel cylinders do have better insulation. Conduction back to the stove is nonsense.
Make sure the cylinder isn't pressurised. This is an absolute must.
Make sure the cylinder has a gravity coil. This is also critical.
If your on a well then this can cause problems for your stainless steel cylinder. And yes a heat dump rad is also reccomended. Most of all make sure your plumber knows how to do solid fuel correctly because a lot of guys, including plumbers, don't have a clue

Calahonda52

1. First focus on reducing heat and hot water demand.
2. I would not do the BB stove in existing fireplace.
It can be done, if u look at systemlink dot ie all the wiring and plumbing layouts are there so, assuming ur plumber and sparks can read such stuff, then it can be done.
Just because the pipe work it there is not an argument for using it as ther will be much incremental cost
The existing kit is sunk cost, money gone, so as they say "Forget about it"

My big issue with BB solid fuel is the lack of control, especially if ther is a power failure.
With a BB solid fuel you MUST use the heat.

Just put in a nice multifuel stove and enjoy the pleasure of the stand alone stove rather than worring about heat management.

The other idea is a glass fronted insert gas fire, they are v efficient and most work without elec.
Ther is a lot of work with 2 stoves.
I know, I have 2!
Have fun

dosebier

Thanks both, i really appreciate your thoughts to get independant advice.

We're not on a well, have mains water. Dont believe we have a pressurised system as there is currently two water tanks in attic, one large one small and and overflow pipe coming out through the bottom of the roof.

We will be also insulating to reduce heat demand as part of the overall solution.
and the main reason I am thinking of back boiler stove is i'd hope to use the stove as the main heat source (with gas as back up). If we only had non boiler stoves, i keep thinking that we'd have had the fire on all day (in winter for example) and then freezing water in the tank. (we have ensuite electric shower already) and then want to pipe the hot water tank to main bathroom for baths and non electric showers.

I'm aware of the power failure dangers with a BB stove, so would have the heat dump rad and with a 300L tank hopefully that can cope with power failure to take the gravity heat.

One thing that i never thought of - how does the pump work on a BB stove? does it come on when the stove gets hot or do you have to manually turn them on ?

Currently we use the main open fire almost every day in winter so we are used to bringing in coal, wood, storing/chopping wood + cleaning it out every day etc - just kills me to see 70%+ heat up the chimney So not afraid of a bit of work with a stove(s)