Air to Water or Oil and Stove

A cup of te

Hi folks,

I can't decide on what to do with a house I'm renovating. It should end up minimum B rating but possibly A after substantial works. Some days I think I'll go with Air to Water but 2 people I've surveyed either said not to or scared me away with reports of huge bills. My floor space will be smaller at 94 sq m bungalow and I think with solar panels I'll be good for heat (from insulation) for the summer months and hot water (from the panels). So I'd only need oil for the winter and the stove could be there as back up for doomsday scenarios. Leaving something running at 18 degrees sounds very warm to me and I find houses with this system very hot. I've lived most of my life in quite a cold house. I'm edging towards the oil because I think I'd feel more in control and running cost is the biggest factor in my decisions. Air to water sounds more unpredictable in that you don't know till you get the big bill. I have heard you can zone it and turn it down maybe to 4 or 5 degrees in some rooms but then I've also read you need to.leave it running ideally at about 18 or 19 degrees. Anyone any ideas on what to do? All advice appreciated. Thank you.

MicktheMan

If you do a proper job with the renovations and pay special attention to airtightness and ventilation then a hp (properly designed, installed and commissioned) should not cost any more than the oil / stove option and likely less. However, running cost is not the only parameter to decide on.

If unsure, a likely path might be to first ensure your house was hp ready (very low heat load requirement) and go the oil route until the hp infrastructure & milieu (local knowledge base, parts availability etc) is very well established / matured and then switch to the hp in the future maybe. (I am seeing a lot of issues currently when faults develop in hp systems and there is difficulty in finding a knowledgeable / trained / experienced / available pro to diagnose correctly and have the spare parts readily available for repair).

kirk.

It's a big consideration if it's difficult to get them setup or repaired

The geothermal sounded great until something went wrong. You'd need a nobel prize in physics to fix some of them

A cup of te

Yep, that sounds like a plan. Go for what I know and if we're all forced to switch eventually just change over then maybe. My gut is telling me go with what I know for now. Some of the bills people got last winter were far too much for me to pay along with loans. I prefer the idea of paying up front for my fuel and being more in control

kevgaa

Hi OP,

I'm currently looking at the similar options except GAS versus Oil. My builder and a few people are puttying me off Air to water for now but have advised future proof for it going forward. They will Plumb everything then its just a matter of replacing the gas boiler with Air to water pump when I'm happy.

While I'm replacing wndows/doors, replace suspended floors with concrete floors and under floor heating. External wrap, New attic insulation the big concern is Air to water technology is still relatively new.

Most pumps are 12Kvw which is probably too small for my house 210 sq m and then the extra work around heat recovery system airtightness etc all add cost.

The big thing people forget about is the cost to replace these units. Most units have a life expectancy of 10-12years so to come up with 15K to replace one in the middle of a cold winter in 1 years time will not be an easy task for most people.. While I have cribbed at 2k for a gas boiler in the past it was achievable 15k would be a completely different story.

My plan currently is stick with GAS initially maybe with a stove. Then depending on funds it will be Solar nest followed by a heat pump.

regards,

Kevgaa

Biker1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362426#Comment_121362426

Heat pump technology is not new.

If you are insulating to the level you say then a 210m2 house would only need a 5-6kw heat pump. Rough estimate for the unit €3500. Life span up to 20 years.

A cup of te

Thanks for the food for thought everyone. Still not decided on what to do. Does anyone who has A to W just leave it running at a much lower temperature? 18 - 19 degrees seems really warm to me.

I'll look up how easy or hard it is to make the switch from oil to a to w if needed in the future.