Buying a house with no central heating....

terrydel

Myself and my partner are looking at a old cottage in a rural location, on an elevated site. It is a beautiful home but has one big issue, no central heating.
It has two stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the living room, and electric heating in other rooms inc bedrooms.
It is stone built and from what I can see and what I've been told, retro fitting a CH system with pipes/radiators etc, running off oil (gas isnt even a starter) would be either extremely messy/expensive or totally unfeasible.
The only short to medium term solution I could see is solar to generate electricity, and over time bring down the cost of heating via the electric heaters.
I am unsure if the stoves, as good as they appear to be, would keep the place properly warm in the depths of winter, and thats before you factor in the cost and time and effort of keeping them fired up all the time, storing wood/fuel etc.

What are peoples opinions of this? Would you look elsewhere or do you think living without CH in rural location and relying on stove/electricity would be doable from a comfort and expense point of view?

Look forward to reading the opinions of others.
Thanks.

_Brian

Get a plumber in to give a proper opinion and price.
I don’t believe it “can’t” be done, it’s hard with thick stone walls ok but it definitely can be done.

The cost of getting this done should be reflected in the price or you should be able to negotiate it off the price.

terrydel

_Brian wrote: »

Get a plumber in to give a proper opinion and price.
I don’t believe it “can’t” be done, it’s hard with thick stone walls ok but it definitely can be done.

The cost of getting this done should be reflected in the price or you should be able to negotiate it off the price.

Thats a good idea, I will see if they are open to that.
We've offered for it reflecting this issue.

L1011

Plenty of old stone cottages have retrofitted OFCH systems. Parents did it about a decade ago to a slightly extended pre-famine cottage; three rooms and a tiny modern kitchen extension. If the floors are solid (compacted mud or concrete) it'll be more expensive than if they're suspended wood but it's not insurmountable.

robp

If the house was carefully renovated to be highly efficient it could be quite warm with out a stove or any central heating.  Not a small project though.

mickdw

L1011 wrote: »

Plenty of old stone cottages have retrofitted OFCH systems. Parents did it about a decade ago to a slightly extended pre-famine cottage; three rooms and a tiny modern kitchen extension. If the floors are solid (compacted mud or concrete) it'll be more expensive than if they're suspended wood but it's not insurmountable.

Yep a Plumber will run pipe work around the house in no time. It's not a big deal at all.

terrydel

mickdw wrote: »

Yep a Plumber will run pipe work around the house in no time. It's not a big deal at all.

What about under the floors, behind stones walls etc?
The floors in this house are solid concrete and current owners have indicated they where told it was too much hassle to rip them up.

mickdw

terrydel wrote: »

What about under the floors, behind stones walls etc?
The floors in this house are solid concrete and current owners have indicated they where told it was too much hassle to rip them up.

Basically it involves digging a track through the floors and drilling a few holes through the wall below floor level. Concrete floors in old houses are typically very easy to kango out. Floor finishes will likely need to be replaced though.
The amount of digging can often be much less than expected with rads going back to back in adjoining rooms etc.

arctictree

We have a 100 year old 2 bed cottage with retrofitted OFCH. A few years after we moved in we bought 2 solid fuel stoves and now we hardly ever turn on the rads.

IMO, if the house is small and you have a good source of fuel, you don't really need central heating. Just make sure your stove(s) is in a good location and doors can be opened to let the heat go through the house.

ford2600

Fuel comparison document attached.

Oil prices won't vary hugely owing to there not being a lot of difference between fuels and a litre being a litre.

Coal can give decent value on a cost basis but there is a some variability on quality.

Wood unless you are eyes wide open can be very very expensive or ok value.

Using stoves is a lifestyle choice; it'll suit you or it won't. I've provided heat using just wood and little coal for a lot of years BUT I have all the equipment needed( as part of farm) to make it not labour intensive, have 20 acres of forestry and I view it as exercise not a chore and enjoy it.

For least work and value dry bulk softwood is where you will get best value. Be careful its a market full of chancers


Stoves can be very efficient and safe IF fitted correctly and serviced regularly.

Get CO monitors.


OFCH with decent controls(there is lots of smart technology in that area now) fitted is an efficient way to heat home as long as house is reasonably energy efficient.

Remember old house need to breathe, so keep an eye on ventilation if you decide to upgrade insulation. Stove fitted to existing open fire chimneys will already have greatly reduced ventilation.

Electricity is an expensive way to heat a house with crappy control on heat release.


Plumbing for OFCH, and getting grant if available might be best bet and use stove for comfort/feature. there used to be grants for boiler, controls and insulation available

KaneToad

Retro fitting CH to an old cottage is not that big a deal. Pipe work doesn't need to go under the floors. It can be run along the walls. May not be the prettiest finish but if done right it can have a nice 'industrial' look to it.

terrydel

ford2600 wrote: »

Fuel comparison document attached.

Oil prices won't vary hugely owing to there not being a lot of difference between fuels and a litre being a litre.

Coal can give decent value on a cost basis but there is a some variability on quality.

Wood unless you are eyes wide open can be very very expensive or ok value.

Using stoves is a lifestyle choice; it'll suit you or it won't. I've provided heat using just wood and little coal for a lot of years BUT I have all the equipment needed( as part of farm) to make it not labour intensive, have 20 acres of forestry and I view it as exercise not a chore and enjoy it.

For least work and value dry bulk softwood is where you will get best value. Be careful its a market full of chancers


Stoves can be very efficient and safe IF fitted correctly and serviced regularly.

Get CO monitors.


OFCH with decent controls(there is lots of smart technology in that area now) fitted is an efficient way to heat home as long as house is reasonably energy efficient.

Remember old house need to breathe, so keep an eye on ventilation if you decide to upgrade insulation. Stove fitted to existing open fire chimneys will already have greatly reduced ventilation.

Electricity is an expensive way to heat a house with crappy control on heat release.


Plumbing for OFCH, and getting grant if available might be best bet and use stove for comfort/feature. there used to be grants for boiler, controls and insulation available

Thanks for that very detailed post.
You are dead right on all of that, the labour/cost of fueling a stove is a big consideration here. I know I'll end up doing it too! Man's job and all that.
Electricity is indeed an expensive way to heat a home, and unless we could generate some/most/all of that via solar , I think over time it would a complete no go, I could tolerate the cost over the first couple of years but not long term.
My issue really is the cost of the house leaves me with little or nothing for the retro fit of oil (which is my favoured option - I need to find out potential cost, options in terms of where pipes/rads go etc) Perhaps its something I could do in 2/3 years time.
A lot to think about.

jester77

Retrofitting underfloor heating might be an easier route, no digging required.

terrydel

jester77 wrote: »

Retrofitting underfloor heating might be an easier route, no digging required.

The floor in this house is one of its best features, I'd be loathe to cover it up.

terrydel

Anyone able to recommend a plumber who would be specialised in this area?

uck51js9zml2yt

_Brian wrote: »

Get a plumber in to give a proper opinion and price.
I don’t believe it “can’t” be done, it’s hard with thick stone walls ok but it definitely can be done.

The cost of getting this done should be reflected in the price or you should be able to negotiate it off the price.

We had a cottage with 2 foot thick walls back in the 80's and got oil heating installed.
It might mean thinking outside the box on piping but it can be done.

terrydel

Keegan Bald Stagecoach wrote: »

We had a cottage with 2 foot thick walls back in the 80's and got oil heating installed.
It might mean thinking outside the box on piping but it can be done.

Any idea who did it?

uck51js9zml2yt

terrydel wrote: »

Any idea who did it?

Can't remember, I was only a kid at the time.

I do remember a lot of channelling being done though. Took a few weeks to finish.

bp_me

Something like http://www.discreteheat.com/ might be a good option though I have no idea what it costs.

the_syco

terrydel wrote: »

Myself and my partner are looking at a old cottage in a rural location, on an elevated site. It is a beautiful home but has one big issue, no central heating.
It has two stoves, one in the kitchen and one in the living room, and electric heating in other rooms inc bedrooms.

Would a back boiler system be an idea, to spread the heat from the stove in the kitchen to small rads in other rooms?

bp_me wrote: »

Something like http://www.discreteheat.com/ might be a good option though I have no idea what it costs.

It looks like a nice way of leaving an open pipe on the bottom of your wall. Not sure how effective it'd actually be, though, compared to normal radiators.

Ms2011

We had a back boiler system put in in May.
It's a 200+ year old granite built house with concrete floors & 2ft thick walls.
It was a messy, tough job but it was worth the effort. We spend last winter ( and 3 dumpings of snow ) with just oil filled rads & a wood burner in the sitting room, while it was doable it was hard & not something I would have liked to repeat this year.

bp_me

the_syco wrote: »

Would a back boiler system be an idea, to spread the heat from the stove in the kitchen to small rads in other rooms?


It looks like a nice way of leaving an open pipe on the bottom of your wall. Not sure how effective it'd actually be, though, compared to normal radiators.

Nor am I. It looks to me like they should run with a heat pump so you have the lower flow temperature vs. a conventional OFCH system.

terrydel

Ms2011 wrote: »

We had a back boiler system put in in May.
It's a 200+ year old granite built house with concrete floors & 2ft thick walls.
It was a messy, tough job but it was worth the effort. We spend last winter ( and 3 dumpings of snow ) with just oil filled rads & a wood burner in the sitting room, while it was doable it was hard & not something I would have liked to repeat this year.

Can you let me know who did the work pleas?
PM if you wish.
Thanks.

Ms2011

terrydel wrote: »

Can you let me know who did the work pleas?
PM if you wish.
Thanks.

I don't think he is still in Ireland, he was planning on moving to Australia by the end of the summer.

terrydel

Ms2011 wrote: »

I don't think he is still in Ireland, he was planning on moving to Australia by the end of the summer.

Please send on details in any case if thats no trouble.
Thanks.