Solar for very small 3-bedroom irish cottage?

Dagon

I'm renovating my grandmothers old house and currently we're trying to decide on what options to go for regarding heating. So far, the following has been done:

- All rooms re-insulated by plastering walls and ceilings
- New double glazing windows all round
- New wooden floors + skirting and architrave
- New doors

Because the house is so small, we were thinking that a stove (with no back boiler to make most of the heat) and a separate oil boiler to heat the rads out would do the trick. But recently I started thinking more about the possibility of solar or even a heat pump. I consulted a few friends, and from what I can tell most of the solutions on offer (and the government incentives) only really make sense for someone with a much larger property with many rooms to heat as well as large open plan areas (the installation/labour costs are quite high too). For this small cottage, it might be overkill when a simple oil boiler would probably do the trick. So I'm not sure if it's justified.

But still I was wondering if there are lower cost solar energy solutions for a smaller property that are inexpensive to buy/install? A friend said you could buy panels in from China quite cheaply and install them yourself, or employ a handyman.

Are there any other affordable green energy solutions for a small cottage that you would recommend? Bearing in mind that we don't want to rip up the newly installed floors, etc.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance as this stuff is all new to me

Dagon

Sorry, to give some perspective on this I should have described my house a bit more. Ok, it's something like this:
http://www.daft.ie/roscommon/houses-for-sale/boyle/derrymaquirk-boyle-roscommon-1209793/

Please note, the above is not my house, but the size is exactly the same.

quentingargan

Although there are snake oil merchants who will tell you otherwise, solar isn't a suitable way of heating a house because it works best when you need it least.

I would think about an Air to air heat pump if all the doors are open. This is cheap to install in a small building and has a COP better than air to water.

Solar thermal is fine for heating hot water in the summer time, but not for space heating IMHO

Dagon

Thanks for the advice. So the air to air heat pump also heats water?
Would it be comparable to oil-filled radiators in the rooms, provided doors are open to let air flow?

Dagon

From reading this, sounds like oil would be a better option at the moment:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/10629029/Jeff-Howell-are-air-to-air-heat-pumps-good-value.html

galljga1

Oil-fired condensing boiler and stove is what I would choose.
I would also go for a back boiler on the stove but if you have new floors down and need to take them up, I wouldn't.

ted1

Dagon wrote: »

From reading this, sounds like oil would be a better option at the moment:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/advice/10629029/Jeff-Howell-are-air-to-air-heat-pumps-good-value.html

Oil is often stole from tanks, if go with a heat pump and possible even add PV cells to the roof to reduce running costs. Do you need to leave doors open, I can imagine ducting wouldn't be to dear.

I imagine maintenance of heat pumps us less than a combustible burner

Dagon

After reading this thread recently:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057496673

I'm thinking a HRV system might be best.
The house is only about 10metres wide, and 5m deep. Single story.

Installing something like this, mentioned in the post above, might do the trick:
http://www.ventilationsupplies.ie/product-details.php?ID=82&c=1

At the moment we have a lot of condensation on the windows, and even some damp spots inside window sills. The front door is steel and it is always soaking wet when we have the stove on or do cooking. Serious humidity.

Waestrel

Any interest in a shallow geothermal? Modern options have very reasonable drilling costs and dont need underfloor heating. The benefit is year round hot water and heat.

THe tech has moved on since the cowboy days of a decade ago.

gooner99

What is the "shallow geothermal". How does it differ from the standard?

Waestrel

shallow geothermal is down to no more than 200m depth, but if sized correctly to the heat load is usually much much less. Other innovations such as coaxial and spiral heat collectors can further shorten the drilling needed.

gooner99

Interesting. Thanks.

Dagon

Thanks Waestral! Do you know anywhere that does shallow geothermal?

Waestrel

Dagon wrote: »

Thanks Waestral! Do you know anywhere that does shallow geothermal?

I can send you on some details if you PM me

otherwise, you can check out a solar geothermal hybrid system here

http://solargroundsource.com/

and here

https://www.seai.ie/Renewables/Energy_Research_Portal/National-Energy-Research/RD-D-Projects/Geothermal/2016-RDD-75-Solar_Assisted_Ground_Source-SAGS-Terrag-Geoserv.pdf

This website is a bit sparse though
http://geothermalassociation.ie/