No mains gas

HappyMJ

Gers wrote: »

Thanks for that. Price differences are staggering! I'm swaying more towards the dreaded woodburner now. can I use something like a Vax to suck up debris? Really can't kneel down these days.

Plenty of blankets and extremely warm clothes will be bought. The benefits of the move, the location, the house and the peace overcomes lack of mains gas. . I hope!

A small amount of debris can be sucked in into the vacuum cleaner. You need to use a dust pan and brush to get of the majority of the ash first.

System

what do the neighbours have?
the air to water one is now being installed all over the place now as it's quite efficient (cost wise) to the oil boiler - however you won't be able to get oil if there is nowhere to put a tank that's accessible.
If you are going for electric, what people are seeming to do around here is to get solar pv panels (with the FITs) and an electric boiler running a wet system... whatever you end up doing I would recommend a wet system anyway as you can always swap out boilers but if you go for storage heaters you will probably never retrofit a wet system due to expense/hassle

Hintza

Age of house?

Assuming old then, insulation, insulation and then some more insulation.

You don't really want electric, oil unfortunately (as has been said) is the way to go.

However if it is built to modern standards you could try an air source pump (once fitted that would be it. Have a chat to Anderson Floor Warming Mike Anderson they were the only company in our new build who did what he said he was going to do when he said he would.

Another thought on a new house would be a Heat Recovery System which a few folk are now installing. I can found out who to talk to if you were interested as a friend has put it in recently.

Edt:- I see Anderson's also do heat recovery.

Gers

Old farmhouse (part of one anyway) and listed. Swings and roundabouts. It's my dream location and if I have to wear five layers of woollen thermals it will be worth it!

Where I live now is an even older listed buildings but it's in flats and so never gets bitterly cold cos I have 'generous' neighbours. :rotfl: I may have to just bite the bullet and face increased energy costs as the price I pay for my own piece of heaven.

Great advice from everyone, many thanks.

Mr_Ted

Has no one ever considered Calor Gas for such circumstances

Much less mess than Oil and no need for a Forest outside

I doubt they do it now but once upon a time in the dark ages, they used to install a tank for free, not a bottle, the proper jobby storage tank

-taff

rocket stove heater? Not the norm, but uses a lot less wodd and there's a lot less to clean up
http://askwildehilde.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/rocket-stove-mass-heaters-love-letter.html
http://ilovecob.com/archive/tag/rocket-stove
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fabricating-a-Heavy-Duty-Rocket-Stove/

search for rocket stove mass heater.

happybiker

Gers wrote: »

Old farmhouse (part of one anyway) and listed. Swings and roundabouts. It's my dream location and if I have to wear five layers of woollen thermals it will be worth it!

Where I live now is an even older listed buildings but it's in flats and so never gets bitterly cold cos I have 'generous' neighbours. :rotfl: I may have to just bite the bullet and face increased energy costs as the price I pay for my own piece of heaven.

Great advice from everyone, many thanks.

Compare the climate demographics for NE England and NW Scotland and I think you might be surprised. Temperatures in that part of Scotland are better than you would think thanks to the gulf stream. It is certainly a warmer part of this island than Newcastle is.

Hintza

Mr_Ted wrote: »

Has no one ever considered Calor Gas for such circumstances

Horrendously expensive to run and you get tied in to long term contracts.

Gers

happybiker wrote: »

Compare the climate demographics for NE England and NW Scotland and I think you might be surprised. Temperatures in that part of Scotland are better than you would think thanks to the gulf stream. It is certainly a warmer part of this island than Newcastle is.

It generally is - especially when that nasty east wind blows in, it creeps through the brickwork like nothing else.

I've been at the new place (well, round the corner and a short walk away) for many years now and it's mostly wet! HUGE storm in May 2011 and snow does fall. Mind you my car couldn't move for snow/ice during the winter of 2010 so I'm well prepared.

The link from Hintza was really useful and interesting, especially as one of the systems was installed at another farmhouse about eight miles from the new place as well as a new build about 20 miles away so will look at that info in more depth.

Thanks

Ben84

I think you could really benefit from an energy audit. We had one a few years ago, it was a good way to identify what was lacking about the house and what could be changed in a quantifiable way. Certainly, you could figure out roughly how much energy the house will need to heat, and then how that figure changes with different amounts of insulation and such. The key point is to weigh up the long term value of investing in energy savings now against the cost of not doing them over time.