Questions about fuel sources

[Dan089]

Hi all

 

New member here, have been reading through some posts on here and really impressed by the selfless community and great advice being exchanged!

 

We have recently bought a 200-250 year old granite cottage in Cornwall - it has recently had a redec internally with new kitchen, bathrooms, etc. but is still using oil heating, the boiler for which will need replacing in the next couple of years. It currently has 2 wood burners in the ground floor rooms so would look to mostly use these to heat the house for the time being.

 

I was wondering if anyone had tips on where to look for heating alternatives - slightly worried given the current climate (pun intended) and what is going to happen to oil prices (and the impending boiler replacement that will be needed).

 

Has anyone successfully installed an ASHP/GSHP on a solid walled cottage? The increased radiator and pipe sizes would need quite a bit of work throughout to accommodate too.

 

From reading some other posts on here I gather ASHPs and the like are best used on efficient properties or need to be sized up to accommodate the heat loss through the building fabric, while a pure electric boiler is more expensive to run than oil... I've also seen use of HVOs in place of traditional oil is being looked at in government so perhaps a modern efficient oil boiler may be a good approach?

 

Any advice/experience on this would be much appreciated, as you can tell I'm a bit lost at the moment in the decision making and there are grants available for ASHPs etc. so would be interested in hearing what the savvy members here have done!

 

Thanks very much in advance.

[Temp]

I assume there is no mains gas available? 

 

Ideally you would add a load of wall, floor and loft insulation and install an ASHP. But If you can't do that I would stick with oil.

 

Check the condition of your oil tank as well as the boiler. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan089]

Hi Temp, thanks very much for the reply - yes no mains gas available but is connected to sewers and water.

 

Will explore insulation further but given the solid walls and limited internal space it's probably a no-go.

 

Noted re the oil, apparently there is going to be a limit on new oil boilers after 2026 so just wanted to see what my options were but oil still looks to be a fair option! 

 

9 minutes ago, Temp said:

I assume there is no mains gas available? 

 

Ideally you would add a load of wall, floor and loft insulation and install an ASHP. But If you can't do that I would stick with oil.

 

Check the condition of your oil tank as well as the boiler. 

[SteamyTea]

Realistically you are going to have to internally insulate the property, though you may be able to add some external insulation if you do not mind the looks changing.

One advantage of adding insulation is that you can also tackle air leakage at the same time.

There is the option of digging up the floor and adding 150-200mm of insulation, then under floor heating, but it is messy and expensive.

As you already have a heating system, you can at least monitor how much energy it is using.  This will inform you as to the sizing of any replacement system is needed.

So start taking measurements, internal temperature, external temperature, daily oil usage, electrical usage, kg of timber burned.

 

Which part of Cornwall are you in, it is a long isosceles triangle and the weather can vary along it quite a bit.

[Gone West]

9 hours ago, Dan089 said:

I've also seen use of HVOs in place of traditional oil is being looked at in government so perhaps a modern efficient oil boiler may be a good approach?

I have lived for two years in North Cornwall in an 1840s built, solid stone walled bungalow which was 'renovated' in the 1970s. We currently have an oil fired Rayburn cooker supplying our conventional central heating. We are looking into either replacing the old Rayburn with a new condensing oil boiler or scrapping the central heating and fitting two multi split air to air heat pumps. We are leaning towards fitting a new oil boiler with the option of using HVO in the future. They have been carrying out tests with HVO locally for the last couple of years and so far it seems successful. Using an ASHP is bottom of our list of options.

 

https://mitweb.co.uk/services/home-heating-oil-devon-cornwall/hvo-renewable-home-heating-fuel/

 

[SteamyTea]

5 minutes ago, Gone West said:

HVO

Where does the hydrogen come from?

[Gone West]

1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Where does the hydrogen come from?

I don't know. You could try asking the manufacturers, Neste Refineries (Finland) might be a good start.

[SteamyTea]

8 minutes ago, Gone West said:

I don't know. You could try asking the manufacturers,

I often drive past the Mitchell and Webber building.  Could call in, I am sure they would we willing to tell me just how great it is.

 

[George]

Fabric first, insulate insulate insulate. You probably have a significant advantage with big thick stone walls. I insulated miserly 9" brick walls with wood fibre boards to great effect.

ASHP + log burner to provide a boost when temperatures drop significantly below zero and as a power cut back up.

[Temp]

There does seem to be a few suppliers offering hvo heating oil but I haven't looked at the price..

 

https://www.crownoil.co.uk/news/breaking-new-ground-in-the-renewable-heating-oil-market-with-crown-hvo/

 

 

 

[Gone West]

1 hour ago, Temp said:

There does seem to be a few suppliers offering hvo heating oil but I haven't looked at the price..

I'm not sure it's approved for domestic use yet but I think it is for commercial use. Last time I looked it was around 12% more expensive.