Would we need any other heating source?

[ZacP]

Starting to get into the serious nitty grity of a build plan and I'm interested in MVHR. My wife is also adamant about having an Aga. We aren't being eco, but doing our best to keep our bills low. Except the aga of course! Would a MVHR help distribute the heat around the house and therefore mean we wouldn't need other heating in other rooms? Therefore possibly avoiding the UFH etc that others install?

I know its a bit contradictory, but you'd be a brave person indeed to take on the aga debate in our house - it's happening!

 

TIA

[ProDave]

MVHR does not really move much heat around the house.  There is no direct air path from one room to another.  All living rooms get fresh air that is heated by the heat exchanger so the air temperature is never going to be more than the exhaust air temperature.  And given some of that exhaust air will will be coming from unheated rooms, it's average temperature will be lower than your cosy over heated kitchen.

 

However have a good long think about the layout of your house.  I find the wood burning stove will get heat to all rooms in the house due to our very open plan layout, helped by the stairwell in the middle of the house,  So as long as your cosy kitchen is not stuck out on a limb it might help to heat other parts of the house.

 

But I would still fit heating to the rest of the house, because you won't know for sure until you try it.

[PeterW]

What type of Aga are you looking at..? There are some really good ones now (not Aga..!!) that use wood pellets and have induction hobs for when you don’t need the ovens running. They are good at kicking out heat and it’s the equivalent of a 3Kw electric heater running permanently in terms of heat. 
 

I would still go with UFH as in a concrete slab it is cheap to do when you’re doing the floor and you cannot retrofit it without huge upheaval. A small (5kW) ASHP as source for the UFH is a DIY fit and will ensure you have at least the ability to provide background heating. 

[scottishjohn]

34 minutes ago, ProDave said:

But I would still fit heating to the rest of the house, because you won't know for sure until you try it.

and of course your "aga" can heat the water for UFH as well-depending on type 

Is this AGA  going to be oil ,wood ,gas or electric or combination of them 

[ZacP]

@ProDave Its an upside down house, with kitchen living dining on first floor (along with a bedroom or two) then a further 2 bedrooms, bathrooms and utility on the ground floor. 

 

@PeterW I know there are other options, but there is only one option in our house, Aga. It'll be a mains gas one from the bay, which we can have reconditioned in the future when spare cash allows. I didn't know you could diy fit ASHP, that's a definite then! 

 

@scottishjohn It'll be mains gas. This is also true, I hadn't considered this. I wonder what the increase in costs would be as opposed to a DIY ASHP as mentioned by PeterW.

[PeterW]

Never seen a gas Aga with a boiler tbh. They are really inefficient when it comes to heating water. If you have gas, stick a small system boiler in as it will be the most efficient way to heat water. 

[joe90]

11 minutes ago, ZacP said:

. I didn't know you could diy fit ASHP

quite a few (including me) fitted our own ASHP, not that difficult.

[Russell griffiths]

When I looked into this I was told if I didn’t fit the ufh I would regret it, you cannot go back and fit it later. 

[Oz07]

Think @PeterStarck just has a couple of electric towel rads for heating?

[Jilly]

Random thoughts: What will the Aga do to your SAP calculations? How about an electric one and fit solar PV to offset (even though the electric supply will be at the wrong time of year)?  Will the floor need reinforcing for the Aga to go upstairs? We used to have an oil Aga with back boiler, it was hugely inefficient and heated the space about 1 m in front of it. Only the dog got any benefit (it was a really cold Victorian house). It was unbearably hot in the summer and so was switched off. I think you might need air-conditioning for the summer to use it in a modern, insulated house. Have you looked at the Aga companion? It has the look (but 60cm wide) but is a normal cooker. 

 

 

[scottishjohn]

I intend to have UFH and a dimplex optimyst in lounge as i have now  and not a log burner as everyone suggests-i get the effect without the downsides

 

If you have never seen one in the flesh working -have a look the best flame effect of any and as it uses water to make the flames you get some humidity input into the room as well 

the geeks will complain that it uses 200w to power the flame effect -but that heat ends up in the room anyway and soon they will have ,if not already, an LED version 

https://www.dimplex.co.uk/optimyst

now if they do a mock AGA --as suggested that seems like a good compromise

[joe90]

4 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

and not a log burner

What! With all those trees you cut down???? .What are you going to do when you have finished the house, you will be  bored, keep fit and busy chopping logs ???? (just joking, I have a log stove and love it, enough wood from our small plot to last years in the few months it’s needed (wanted).

[Nickfromwales]

18 hours ago, PeterW said:

Never seen a gas Aga with a boiler tbh. They are really inefficient when it comes to heating water. If you have gas, stick a small system boiler in as it will be the most efficient way to heat water. 

Octopus Energy tariff into an decent sized UVC for 4 hours a day on electric only? Would need 6kW of immersion minimum and sizing the UVC so it never went fully cold. Room for possible daytime PV input too then.

Plumbing in for the gas just for DHW would be expensive on capital, but a small system boiler for everything ( doing away with the ASHP ( and certainly any foolish attempt to heat water via the 'Aga' )) would be best option.

[PeterW]

Just now, Nickfromwales said:

Octopus Energy tariff into an decent sized UVC for 4 hours a day on electric only? Would need 6kW of immersion minimum and sizing the UVC so it never went fully cold. Room for possible daytime PV input too then.

Plumbing in for the gas just for DHW would be expensive on capital, but a small system boiler for everything ( doing away with the ASHP ( and certainly any foolish attempt to heat water via the 'Aga' )) would be best option.

Yep meant heating water in general - DHW and UFH. 
 

6 hours ago, Jilly said:

What will the Aga do to your SAP calculations?

Nothing If it’s not connected to the heating system as it’s classed as a domestic appliance. Would be interesting to see how the SAP was done for it as the insulation levels would have to be pretty high. 

[Gone West]

7 hours ago, Oz07 said:

Think @PeterStarck just has a couple of electric towel rads for heating?

Three small electric towel rails and an EASHP that warms the supply air from the MVHR.