Upgrading House

Clareman · 15-10-2019 12:53pm #1

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering upgrading my home with a Air to Water Heat pump as well as solar panels, I really don't want to have to contact a sales person to get quotes as in my expierence they just hound you so I was hoping the great people in here could help me out with my questions

I've a standard 4 bedroom semi (2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and hot press upstairs, kitchen, utility, dining room, bedroom and sitting room downstairs), would air to water be feasible?
I've a stove and open fire, I plan on converting the open fire to an insert stove as part of this process, does that make sense?
I assume under floor heating isn't possible to retrofit without destroying the place
I assume all the radiators will have to be replaced?
Would it be worth putting in solar panels while I'm doing the work?
How long would it on average take to change a house around?
What's the average cost?

mike_2009 · 15-10-2019 2:48pm

There is a grant for an ASHP but it involves getting a survey done - you house has to meet the criteria and be sufficiently insulated etc ref: SEAI
The premise is that if you have a leaky house, poorly insulated, an ASHP is going to consume KW of electricity and generate large bills than you have currently! So feasibility is down to your house....have you pumped walls with insulation, done an air tightness test etc? How leaky is it.
Normally all new alu rads are paired with an ASHP. They run cooler than traditional rads.
You can go with underfloor heating - you can take the floor up or lay very low profile flooring and only lose a small bit of height in the room. A lot of heat will still go to the ground I'd imagine but find out a few places near to you where they have installed it and visit them to check if they are right for you?
Nothing like a good wood burning stove but the new ones talk about burning at a higher temperature to reduce pollution. My mate had to replace his whole fireplace to get one installed, check what yours is made of first....?
Either underfloor throughout the house or yet, all new radiators
Solar Thermal or Solar PV? I prefer PV as you can do a lot more with it than just heating water. Can be done then or afterwards.
As for the rest I've not gone down this route yet, not sure of disruption / cost but for a new house I got quoted sub 20K for a system, wait on others before you work out an average.

murphaph · 17-10-2019 7:12am

The rads required to run a low flow temp tend to be quite large as they need a good deal more surface area to be able to lose enough energy from the water into the room (running a heat pump with high flow temp as you would with a gas boiler is very unwise and the efficiency falls through the floor so the flow temps are much lower typically-in our hose for example it's 30°C).

When we built the original plans were for A2W heat pump with UFH on ground and first floor and rads in cellar. When the rad sizes were known we changed to UFH in the cellar as well even though our builder charged us a bit more for UFH (which is a rip off in a new build as there is hardly any extra work-the UFH piping is laid in quick time). I am very glad we have UFH throughout now though. The rads would have been a pain.

As mike_2009 says though...first thing would be to tackle insulation and air tightness. That stuff is more important than the heat source.

You asked about solar panels. There are two types: photo voltaic (electricity generating) and solar thermal (hot water making). If a heat pump is used then I see no advantage to solar thermal. Better to use photo voltaic and run the heat pump off that BUT in the depths of winter you can't expect much from either system, bar the off clear sunny day. The days are just too short in winter.

adam88 · 17-10-2019 7:52am

Brilliant thread so far. I’ve got a 3bed bungalow I’m looking to do a job on

Clareman · 17-10-2019 10:00am

My house is a timber frame house so I was adviced that there was no point in doing anything with the walls, I've loads of insulation in the attic so I think we've plenty of insulation, I guess I'll have to look into the sealing of the house.

On side note, the current boiler is in since the house was build (~2001) so it's due a change in the next while which is why I was thinking of doing the big change, I don't have any zonal heating in the house at the moment.

headtheball14 · 18-11-2019 12:30am

I've found the irish examiner have really helpful articles in this area . This article answers a number of your questions. https://amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/lifestyle/homeandinteriors/from-thin-airthe-magic-of-air-source-heat-pumps-834032.html
Installation cost from that 8 to 12 thousand and will take at least 2 to 3 days.
Ufh costly to retrofit amnd radiators may work depending on size

LucanRatz · 25-05-2020 4:57pm

Hi Guys,

Moved into our house a year ago and looking to upgrade the BER. The house is a 4 bed, 17 years old and has a rating of C. Ive had one quote so far from a market leader. The quote is just under 11k for new glass for 13 windows(frames not included) and 8 panel solar PV to be installed. The price includes the SEAI grant.

I'm looking to shop around, would anyone know other companies in the market who provide this service? Thanks in advance

mcbert · 25-05-2020 5:05pm

LucanRatz wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Moved into our house a year ago and looking to upgrade the BER. The house is a 4 bed, 17 years old and has a rating of C. Ive had one quote so far from a market leader. The quote is just under 11k for new glass for 13 windows(frames not included) and 8 panel solar PV to be installed. The price includes the SEAI grant.

I'm looking to shop around, would anyone know other companies in the market who provide this service? Thanks in advance

Worth doing a thermal imaging heat survey before you spend all that?

tinofapples · 25-05-2020 6:46pm

mcbert wrote: »

Worth doing a thermal imaging heat survey before you spend all that?

How much for one of them ?

mcbert · 25-05-2020 7:50pm

I'm in Galway and I see 500-600 but I suppose it varies. Not got one myself yet as I think the weather is bit warm, I'll wait until September or October...

n97 mini · 25-05-2020 9:34pm

tinofapples wrote: »

How much for one of them ?

I got it done in ~2010 for €140 as part of a BER cert. But prices had bottomed out as the economy was in the S-bend. It was worth getting done too, as there are more checks than just thermal imaging. Discovered the windows in the extension weren't k-glass (i.e. builder was cutting corners).

LucanRatz · 26-05-2020 10:02am

Cheers folks, my quote came from Energlaze (not sure if Im to mention them). They tested the windows out on the day. Results showed the attic conversion windows were up to date, along with a pair off french windows we installed. I'll take a look at a thermal survey.

mcbert · 26-05-2020 10:13am

LucanRatz wrote: »

Cheers folks, my quote came from Energlaze (not sure if Im to mention them). They tested the windows out on the day. Results showed the attic conversion windows were up to date, along with a pair off french windows we installed. I'll take a look at a thermal survey.

You might be surprised by heat loss and drafts that have little to do with windows. Good luck anyway

Upgrading House

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