New Build Heating System

rosie-lee

We are about to build a new bungalow, (not sure if we are being brave in this current economic climate or completely mad!!) but we are in too deep now and need to go ahead so the best thing we can do is consider ALL advice and try to do the best job we can and keep the costs as low as possible.

We now have to make decisions about the heating system. There is no gas on the site. We think our only options are Oil or LPG.

Does anyone have any advice as to the most efficient and cost effective choice please?

We have also read mixed reviews about underfloor heating.

Would be very grateful for any suggestions.

Cardew

I would certainly explore Heat pumps.

A Ground Source Heat pump(GSHP) will be a lot cheaper to install in a new build and they are best with underfloor heating, which is also easier in a new build - the water does not get as hot as in a normal boiler.

A cheaper option would be consider modern storage heaters.

daveyjp

Definately investigate ground source heating and heat pumps and insulate as much as possible. A university professor was on radio following last week's announcement to combat high energy bills and he stated there was no need for any new house in the UK to have a gas boiler installed as better alternatives are available.

The local rugby club has just had a new clubhouse completed. All heating is done by ground source with heat pumps - annual heating costs will be less than for the average for a semi detached house.

rosie-lee

Thank you - as I still remain unconvinced about underfloor heating, do you know if we could run traditional radiators from Ground source heat pumps. Would we still need an alternative source to provide hot water for a family of 4?

Cardew

rosie-lee wrote: »

Thank you - as I still remain unconvinced about underfloor heating, do you know if we could run traditional radiators from Ground source heat pumps. Would we still need an alternative source to provide hot water for a family of 4?

Yes many people - particularly those retro-fitting GSHPs - use radiators.

The problem, as I said above, is that heat pumps do not produce water as hot as a boiler.

So you have to fit much bigger radiators to dissipate the heat from 'cooler' water.

This can be overcome by fitting double or triple radiators.

paceinternet

A very useful report here which discusses radiator sizes at lower temperatures:
http://www.mas.bg.ac.yu/istrazivanje/biblioteka/publikacije/Transactions_FME/Volume35/3/3.%20Banjac_129-134.pdf

For those that just want the conclusion, the necessary enlargement varies with outside temperature and the temperature of your heat pump water.
At 0 deg C outside and heat pump mean water temp of 50 deg C you would need a 30% enlargement.
At -10 deg C outside you would need a 90% enlargement.
And there is lots more in the report.
If you cannot design for the extremes, it is very often recommended that you should have a secondary system to cover the small number of hours or days that the extremes occur on.

Igol

If I had the luxury of a new build, underfloor would be the only thing I'd consider (you cant really argue with a 2000 year plus history and physics)maybe complemented with a hot air recirculation system.

energymiser_2

A quicker and cheaper overall solution than a ground source heatpump is an airsource heat pump

Really easy and quick to install. Very efficient and probably not much more expensive than a oil or gas boiler + tank

Would recommend it with underfloor heating - once you have tried it you wont go back ! Can also be used with radiators but have them 50% oversized

We found Pioneer Environmental very helpful when we were looking into this
www.pioneer-uk.com

Cardew

Very good thread on Air Source Heat pumps in this section.

Noise can be a problem - especially as unit needs to be near house.

harryhound

Igol wrote: »

If I had the luxury of a new build, underfloor would be the only thing I'd consider (you cant really argue with a 2000 year plus history and physics)maybe complemented with a hot air recirculation system.

The underfloor heating will run at a temperature of 30 degrees.
Radiators need to run at a temperature of 50+ degrees,
This would mean that the pump would have to run "harder" and less efficiently to pump the source heat up from (say) 0 - 10 degrees by en extra 20 degrees (nearly twice as much). So to radiators it is typical to get a multiplier (Coefficient of performance) of 300% rather than 400%.

Mutter_2

We built our own home finished 11 years ago, and my husband installed the underfloor heating, run by oil. I'd never want anything else. No rads, no cold spots, warm tiles in the bathroom (great for flat drying your cashmeres), its brilliant.