PennineDave

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We don't have the money right now to install solar and definitely not enough to demolish and rebuild! That's very interesting about the foil covered insulation ReedRichards, I might give that a go. Currently leaning towards replacing with another oil boiler and carrying on with other improvements as time and funds allow.

Hi, A couple of years ago my partner and I bought an old stone house in the North Pennines. Since then we've been saving up and figuring out what to do with the place, with a general plan to eventually go round room by room and insulate internally. I've been battling with a mouse problem in the loft that needs resolving before I can replace the loft insulation they've ruined, and the suspended floor in part of the downstairs is rotten from an extension blocking the vents and a leaky drain. Basically, the house is very inefficient and we both work from home so it costs us a lot to heat. But the immediate problem is our oil boiler is on its last legs. I'm wondering if it would it be a terrible idea to get an ASHP now, and then carry on with the works we have planned later? We'd like to be more eco friendly and it opens the door to using solar power for heating in the future, as well as not having to worry about getting oil delivered. But they're more expensive and I'm concerned that if we got one for our current heat load it wouldn't work very efficiently once we did everything else, as I understand they have to be sized correctly to work well. Please can anyone offer any insight? Thanks.