Impartial advice on new heating system

[mcna]

I am renovating an old stone cottage in North Wales and need to install a complete new heating and plumbing system.

I'm looking for impartial advice on the total system design and components.

 

I would like to have a system that is cheap and efficient to operate. However, there are some aspects I need/ would like to incorporate.

 

Oil boiler (no mains gas)

Wood burning Aga stove/ central heating

2 other wood stoves in living areas (I have land with plenty of trees!)

UFH to the ground floor, radiators upstairs

Solar PV to power the immersion heater (solar thermal is problematic routing the thick pipes)

 

I have read that a thermal store tank is the way to allow the oil boiler and stove to work together?

In addition to this, i must also put in a new kitchen, new bathroom, ensuite etc etc... with all the pipework to connect everything.

 

I have spoken to a few local firms and have received conflicting advice. One tells me it should all work with a thermal tank but the tank must be above the aga, another tells me i can put the thermal tank anywhere, another tells me forget the thermal tank and aga etc etc...

 

Who do i talk to to get impartial advice?

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

[Temp]

In the 1960s I grew up in a house with a solid fuel fired heating system. Parents could not wait to get rid of it when gas came along. Glad to be rid of the daily cleaning and regular feeding it needed. I'm not familiar with modern Aga but I read they were intended to be left running all the time which can be a problem in summer. I gather many people have a second cooker for use in summer.

 

There is no mains gas in our village so I went with an oil fired boiler feeding a thermal store and UFH. The thermal store helps stop the boiler short cycling which can be an issue if only one UFH zone is calling for heat. Mainly an issue if you want small zones. Thats because Oil boilers can't modulate down their burner like a gas boiler. They can only reduce output by switching the burner on and off which I liken to stop start driving a car in traffic. Our store has a high power heat exchanger on the side giving us mains pressure DHW for a large rain style shower and body jets. Great flow rate which was also an objective. 

 

In theory it's a nice idea if your wood burner can heat your DHW but if your house is well insulated even a small wood burner can be too powerful to use regularly. Our two are mostly only used at Christmas so we didn't bother with back boilers and the complication that adds. 

 

For cooking we opted for a dual fuel range from Britannia. It's got an electric oven and 6 ring gas hob on a pair of 47kg calor gas cylinders. Cylinder gas is too expensive for heating but ok for cooking as you use so little. A cylinder lasts us at least 18 months (family of four). Very happy with the way this works and would go this route again.

 

So my recommendation would be to keep it simple..

 

Oil boiler feeding thermal store and UFH

Dual fuel range cooker on cylinders if you like gas hobs.

Wood burners for heat only.

 

Others might disagree.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2020 by Temp

[PeterW]

welcome...

 

So you need some sort of separation on the heat sources, and all of your solid fuel ones need to be vented for safety or otherwise you are into drench systems etc.

 

Firstly, UFH only works with buildings with decent floor insulation, same with walls and roof if possible. Old draughty stone cottages don't tend to fit that bill, so I would discount UFH and stick with Rads.

 

Secondly, is this a new Aga and wood burning stoves, or existing..? If the are existing and already have boilers then you need to look at a thermal store that can take the full heat load from them, if not then it changes the sizing of the TS. If this is all new then you need to size them differently