A2W

Seadin

Hey all

Im building a house at present and question I have is i am going with A2W. The heating unit is located in the hot press which is upstairs. On 2nd thoughts i be concerned about leaks there and don't want any mess. I should have put a service room into house day one. It is possible to get a solution to this. House is at subfloor stage at present.

Thanks

BryanF

Yes. Your architect will sort that out. I’m sure they can find a way to redesign for plan.

Seadin

BryanF wrote: »

Yes. Your architect will sort that out. I’m sure they can find a way to redesign for plan.

Is there alot of piping and connections involved with A2W? I know its late coming. Probably too late to change but i just never really thought about it until recently.

BryanF

Yes lots of pipes in any heating system. Any change during construction is a potential change to the contract between you and the builder, which could impact schedule &/or cost, the quicker you make decisions and stick to them the better, a good arch will help you with this, and help you avoid the pitfalls . If your at subfloor stage, then you’d be best to sort this out ASAP.

Seadin

BryanF wrote: »

Yes lots of pipes in any heating system. Any change during construction is a potential change to the contract between you and the builder, which could impact schedule &/or cost, the quicker you make decisions and stick to them the better, a good arch will help you with this, and help you avoid the pitfalls . If your at subfloor stage, then you’d be best to sort this out ASAP.

Is having the heating unit in the upstairs hot press for the A2W unit a disaster? That's where my architect decided to put it day one as they said i had the room there. I really don't know if i have made a big mistake or not, agreeing to that.

Dudda

Seadin wrote: »

Is having the heating unit in the upstairs hot press for the A2W unit a disaster? That's where my architect decided to put it day one as they said i had the room there. I really don't know if i have made a big mistake or not agreeing to that.

A hot press used to have the hot water cylinder and it was upstairs so it would help gravity feed to the pipes and taps. As hot water cylinders were poor at keeping the heat in shelves were put around them to help air and dry out clothes.

In a modern house, which you should be trying to build, the hot water cylinders are insulated to high levels and all pipes, valves and connections are also well insulated allowing very little heat to escape. You shouldn’t really have a traditional ‘hot press’ with all the insulation. Possibly a ‘slightly warm’ press but not a ‘hot press’. Modern houses also have heat recovery units, pumps for underfloor heating and improving water pressure, larger electrical consumer units, timers, control switches, internet modems and dataswitches for larger houses, CCTV or alarm controls, etc. With all this extra stuff houses are now getting built with small plant rooms to hold all this equipment instead of hot presses.

Are you just moving the hot water cylinder or is all this other stuff moving? Talk to your architect TODAY about where all this stuff is going as you’ll need ducts in the ground going into this room for incoming internet, water, flow and return from the ASHP, electrical feed, feeds to outside taps, feeds for outside lights, etc.

Seadin

Dudda wrote: »

A hot press used to have the hot water cylinder and it was upstairs so it would help gravity feed to the pipes and taps. As hot water cylinders were poor at keeping the heat in shelves were put around them to help air and dry out clothes.

In a modern house, which you should be trying to build, the hot water cylinders are insulated to high levels and all pipes, valves and connections are also well insulated allowing very little heat to escape. You shouldn’t really have a traditional ‘hot press’ with all the insulation. Possibly a ‘slightly warm’ press but not a ‘hot press’. Modern houses also have heat recovery units, pumps for underfloor heating and improving water pressure, larger electrical consumer units, timers, control switches, internet modems and dataswitches for larger houses, CCTV or alarm controls, etc. With all this extra stuff houses are now getting built with small plant rooms to hold all this equipment instead of hot presses.

Are you just moving the hot water cylinder or is all this other stuff moving? Talk to your architect TODAY about where all this stuff is going as you’ll need ducts in the ground going into this room for incoming internet, water, flow and return from the ASHP, electrical feed, feeds to outside taps, feeds for outside lights, etc.

I would leave the cylinder but move all pipes to a location where i could easily access. I dont have a plant room in my plans so im kind of goosed. I take it there is no way of doing a plant room without it included in the plans? Anyone have this problem before building?

BryanF

Seadin wrote: »

I would leave the cylinder but move all pipes to a location where i could easily access. I dont have a plant room in my plans so im kind of goosed. I take it there is no way of doing a plant room without it included in the plans? Anyone have this problem before building?

Your asking stuff that can’t be answered without seeing your plans, understanding the design, and teasing out your concerns. Just talk to the guy your paying.

Is having the heating unit in the upstairs hot press for the A2W unit a disaster?

not necessarily. Have you selected your heating supplier/designer? Why don’t you ask them.

Calahonda52

While we are dancing in the dark here as noted by Bryan, lets tease out the actual pipework for the inside unit.

You don't see what type of floor heating you have , am guessing UFH, at least down stairs so the manifolds will be down stairs, with just a flow and return from the unit, if no buffer tank. no more than a hot press so I don't see a real issue here.
How far is the run from the outside unit?
will there be maintenance access for the unit in the HP

Seadin

Calahonda52 wrote: »

While we are dancing in the dark here as noted by Bryan, lets tease out the actual pipework for the inside unit.

You don't see what type of floor heating you have , am guessing UFH, at least down stairs so the manifolds will be down stairs, with just a flow and return from the unit, if no buffer tank. no more than a hot press so I don't see a real issue here.
How far is the run from the outside unit?
will there be maintenance access for the unit in the HP

I have underground heating downstairs and upstairs. In the drawings the heating unit is located upstairs in the HP room. There is nothing highlighted downstairs. I know im not explaining myself good but there is a compartment upstairs where the heating unit is going into. I dont know alot about it but must there be area downstairs to store the hydro box etc as well as upstairs? A2W is the only thing heating this house and its underground heating upstairs and downstairs.

Calahonda52

What is the name of the kit you are getting?

Most HPs have two components, an evaporator and a condenser, that are separate.
The condenser is inside and the evaporator outside, the two connected by insulated pipes that contain some sort of refrigerant.
Sometimes the units are combined, but both are outside.

You need to get on top of this pronto, it's not like watching TV. You do have a voice and its your money

put air to water heat pumps into google and look at images