New heating systems,as in new ideas.

Ddraig

If you were going to spend a couple of thousand on a whole new heating and water system,but had an open mind to new ideas on a budget,what would you go for?
And is there anything reasonably easy to upkeep and install to replace gas and electric?
You get what I mean wind turbines,wood stoves.I just dont know how expensive,what else there is or how easy they would be to turn into supply for my whole house.
Cheers in advance people xx

rhiwfield

Your budget is very low for installing renewable heat and power technologies. See this price list. But if you can stretch your budget then they might well be of interest, especially in the next 2 months when grants of £2500 remain available, but feed in tariffs are introduced (today/tomorrow govt announcement on details). For this window period you might achieve returns of c10% on investment.

I dont know your circumstances or the type of house you live in but it is usually the case that the most cost effective option for low cost heating/power is to reduce your consumption rather than tackling the supply side.

Superinsulating your house will save you wasting heat generated and there are many cheap insulation offers that will achieve payback in little more than a year. Use curtains that can be "sealed" when closed to achieve a triple glazing effect. Effective heating controls will also save money. Finally heat and power use can be decreased by being careful how you use power. These changes can save a goodly percent of power/heat generated without curtailing lifestyle (in our case heating reduction of 40% and leccy reduction of 50%).

For alternative heat generation on your budget, options could be passive solar gain (as in trombe walls- could such a system be set up using second hand glazing units and paint?), diy solar thermal, diy wind turbine, second hand woodburner with back boiler. Or you could go totally experimental and build a wood gasifier stove, though that would almost certainly contravene building regs The alternatives could be pricey Gasification boiler

Ddraig

Thankyou Rhiwfield,Ive already maxed out on the insulation,always go for practical lined and thermal curtains.
Im in a typical pit village 3 bed semi.We are a family of 5 ,soon to be 6.Children all under 10.Any wastage tends to be nipped in the bud by me.
I was inquiring simply because my boiler is an old back boiler,21 years old.No thermostats anywhere.Its either on or of,with an old circular wheel,instead of an electric timer.
I certainly could not afford to change,for changing sake,rather when the natural death of my heating occurs,wondered if there might be a better option for the future of my bills.
Thankyou for showing me the alternatives.

rhiwfield

Ddraig, seems like you are a prime candidate for the boiler scrappage scheme.

LINK: Energy Savings Trust

spiro

Replace your back boiler with a new boiler situation elsewhere if possible and fit a fire or wood buring stove were the fire/back boiler are now. You can make brickettes out of old newpapers etc.