Just moved into 17th century stone cottage with no gas mains.

[ToughButterCup]

15 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Has your MVHR pulled in the healthy smell of particulates from the clean rural air yet.

 

No,

First fit of the MVHR only so far. 2nd fit planned for early 2022. Meanwhile, we live in a convivial fug. Specially when the dogs are brought indoors during the fireworks. Normally, they live outside: but at this time of year, we bring them in for part of the night. Their presence makes a noticeable difference to the indoor temperature - and gas profile. ?

 

PS., you will be pleased  @SteamyTea , for the last year or more, I've logged the temperatures and RH of five locations round the house (Sensor Push).

A useful baseline.

Ian

[ToughButterCup]

11 minutes ago, Gone West said:

... It's the last thing I would want these days, lucky we are all different.

 

It's da romance ova fyaaa  innit ....

Friday night, few beers with the mates, a giggle with the girls, home,  cook her a lovely meal, nice bottle of vino collapso, and fall asleep on the .... -  erm.... can't remember where. 

 

It the intention that counts innit?

 

[Iceverge]

@mike2020

 

If you are replastering the wall you could put 50-75mm internal limecork  insulation or similar. 

 

Keep an eye on humidity levels. Our old stone rental farmhouse was drylined (puke) but very damp. Running a dehumidifier 24/7 made it feel much warmer without changing the temperature much. PIV MEV or MVHR would be a better way to do this.

 

I'm keenly watching @Hanksys reports of his A2A system for our own passive house.

It's a cheap way to access a heat pump 

 

[Temp]

 

5 hours ago, mike2020 said:

Thanks for your reply if wood pellets are the same as oil biomass boiler maybe ?

 

If the oil boiler is still serviceable I'm afraid I would stay with it.

 

My understanding is a pellet burner needs a Thermal Store to act as a buffer because its wasteful if it fast cycles (like stop start driving in a car). Nothing wrong with a Thermal Store (we have one) but its another cost. I've also heard of the odd issue with Pellet boilers such as finding people to work on them, excessive pellet consumption, variable cost and supply of pellets, even pellets absorbing moisture clogging them. 

 

Perhaps they aren't that bad. Perhaps someone here that's got one would like to speak up for them?

 

 

[Jilly]

I just read a post about someone removing theirs as soon at the RHI expired because they were getting older and his wife couldn't maintain the darned thing (shed loads of heavy pellets need hauling) when her husband wasn't able to to it. 

[Gone West]

2 hours ago, Thedreamer said:

It is whether you view the extra stuff in cutting and storing as being work, for me it's like a hobby and exercise.

Oh to be young again .

[mike2020]

16 hours ago, epsilonGreedy said:

 

The BBC will want to use your home to film a period drama.

HaHa maybe after we have finished renovation right now all the great features have been covered in what i can only say is a 1960's vibe right down to polystyrene tiles on the ceilings over plywood, covering all the lovely wood beams underneath.

 

Lady who owned the building lived in it all her life and raised 4 kids she recently passed age 95.

[mike2020]

Just thinking of putting a multi fuel stove in now we need more heat oil boiler on all the time expensive....ground floor only  2 large rooms  will heat that atleast.

Edited November 5, 2021 by mike2020
another brainwave doh!

[SteamyTea]

Just now, mike2020 said:

Just thinking of putting a multi fuel stove in now we need more heat oil boiler on all the time to expensive....

Oil is probably one of the cheaper options.

[saveasteading]

On 04/11/2021 at 22:28, mike2020 said:

Walls are solid stone not cavity

I have been referred by BH correspondents to some excellent documents, especially by Historic Scotland, and subsequently quoted in government docs.

They are saying that solid walls, if thick, provide better insulation than theory would allow, and any sort of gap and inner lining helps even more. They give figures for real life tests, and they vary a lot, but normally better than the U value calculators would give.

This is unless the wind whips through it naturally or you are made to put in vents.

 

To trees in rock, add rowan, which catches and grows on cliff faces. It would move elsewhere if it could, but it doesn't have a choice and  seems to grow anywhere that other trees don't.

Also keeps witches away.

 

 

[Jilly]

On 05/11/2021 at 13:14, ToughButterCup said:

 

. Specially when the dogs are brought indoors during the fireworks. Normally, they live outside: but at this time of year, we bring them in for part of the night. Their presence makes a noticeable difference to the indoor temperature - and gas profile. ?

 

There is a Passive House veterinary hospital in Ireland which overheats because they hadn't realised how much heat dogs give out. 

It makes sense of instructions to visitors of old houses: 'If you are cold, put another dog on the bed' ?

[ValleyBoy1958]

On 05/11/2021 at 13:52, Temp said:

 

 

If the oil boiler is still serviceable I'm afraid I would stay with it.

 

My understanding is a pellet burner needs a Thermal Store to act as a buffer because its wasteful if it fast cycles (like stop start driving in a car). Nothing wrong with a Thermal Store (we have one) but its another cost. I've also heard of the odd issue with Pellet boilers such as finding people to work on them, excessive pellet consumption, variable cost and supply of pellets, even pellets absorbing moisture clogging them. 

 

Perhaps they aren't that bad. Perhaps someone here that's got one would like to speak up for them?

 

I've got one but sadly I am unable to "speak up for them" ! In fact may be the poster that contributor Jilly refers to in her post (5th Nov). Yes you will need a thermal store. My wood pellet boiler worked well as long as I was happy to regularly maintain it every 4 weeks (i.e. strip the burner assembly down and lubricate the moving parts) and get used to some of its quirky properties. Add to that the multiplicity of additional controls that I incorporated over the years. Both the installer and the manufacturer have gone bust so there is no chance of finding anyone locally to service it anyway and getting spares would be difficult to obtain now. I suspect mine is not a unique case as I know of others who have (/or are) waited/waiting for the RHI payments to come to an end before pulling out the old boiler and looking at alternatives. Sadly I have reverted to oil which is what we had in the first place but I wanted to be "green" so replaced it with a pellet boiler (we are not on main gas). Now of course I have come to realise that burning wood pellets is not exactly 100% "green" anyway and the notion that it must be, because it consumes renewables (i.e. wood), is false.

 

My advice to the OP Mike 2020 would be not to do what I did and stick to the oil boiler until he sorts out the insulation and draughtproofing, observe the oil consumption for a year or two, and only then decide on the heating system.

 

Quote

 

 

Edited November 12, 2021 by ValleyBoy1958

[ProDave]

There are lots of discussions about stoves on here, it really is a Marmite subject.

 

I think the key to a successful stove in a low energy house is to position the stove so it heats the whole house.  In out case that is double doors from the family room to the stairwell and another pair of double doors to the living room and with all those doors open the stove heats the whole house, including upstairs.  All the stories of the room overheating quickly seem to be where a stove is positioned so it only heats one room and no way for the heat to disperse to other parts of the house, and then you quickly overheat that one room.

 

[joe90]

On the subject of heating with bodies (human and animal) when I climbed Mont Blonc back in my youth the mountain huts were purely heated by bodies and cooking. With wood stoves, as @ProDave says a marmite subject, I have one purely for asthetics and very cold weather, lovely feature and lovely to watch on a cold night but it’s room sealed and I only burn coppiced  wood from our own site.

[ValleyBoy1958]

On 05/11/2021 at 13:52, Temp said:

 

 

If the oil boiler is still serviceable I'm afraid I would stay with it.

 

My understanding is a pellet burner needs a Thermal Store to act as a buffer because its wasteful if it fast cycles (like stop start driving in a car). Nothing wrong with a Thermal Store (we have one) but its another cost. I've also heard of the odd issue with Pellet boilers such as finding people to work on them, excessive pellet consumption, variable cost and supply of pellets, even pellets absorbing moisture clogging them. 

 

Perhaps they aren't that bad. Perhaps someone here that's got one would like to speak up for them?

 

 

 

Don't know what happened to my previous post above as it seems to have got included with the one I am quoting from, so repeating here:

 

I've got one but sadly I am unable to "speak up for them" ! In fact may be the poster that contributor Jilly refers to in her post (5th Nov). Yes you will need a thermal store. My wood pellet boiler worked well as long as I was happy to regularly maintain it every 4 weeks (i.e. strip the burner assembly down and lubricate the moving parts) and get used to some of its quirky properties. Add to that the multiplicity of additional controls that I incorporated over the years. Both the installer and the manufacturer have gone bust so there is no chance of finding anyone locally to service it anyway and getting spares would be difficult to obtain now. I suspect mine is not a unique case as I know of others who have (/or are) waited/waiting for the RHI payments to come to an end before pulling out the old boiler and looking at alternatives. Sadly I have reverted to oil which is what we had in the first place but I wanted to be "green" so replaced it with a pellet boiler (we are not on main gas). Now of course I have come to realise that burning wood pellets is not exactly 100% "green" anyway and the notion that it must be, because it consumes renewables (i.e. wood), is false.

 

My advice to the OP Mike 2020 would be not to do what I did and stick to the oil boiler until he sorts out the insulation and draughtproofing, observe the oil consumption for a year or two, and only then decide on the heating system.

[markocosic]

If chuck in a split air to air heat pump to the main living space now just to supplement the space heating load / substitute since oil. 

 

The cop will be decent as space heating only and a low temperature rise. Won't beat mains gas but will certainly beat oil, and if base loading single year payback assuming DIY install. (non fgas unit)

[Ajn]

On 13/11/2021 at 09:37, joe90 said:

when I climbed Mont Blonc back in my youth the mountain huts were purely heated by bodies

were the old ones difficult to light?