Moving to rural cottage - advice on heating, please

macman

If you can't find the space for an oil tank (which is going to be the cheapest conventional option), then good old fashioned E7 with night storage heaters and and an immersion heater is the next cheapest. Relatively low install and maintenance costs, and if you are retired and at home in the daytime and needing heat output then, it make sense. Also it's a well tried and tested system.

Smiley_Dan

Cardew wrote: »

Leaving aside the noise problems - and they can be real problems with a semi-detached house - you really are taking 'pot luck' that you get a good installation.

Agreed, but I think you can lower your risk by learning about the technology and following Robwiz's advice about understanding the current situation through some sort of empirical evidence.

Ultimately reducing energy loss (rather than changing how it's produced) is the one measure that will work for all homes. Learn about insulation, draught proofing etc. Take a look at the grants out there - might be one for you if you have solid walls.

steampunkmimi

I'd be very tempted to get to know the woodburner befor eyou spend any more money. We have one, and haven't used ur central heating (gas) at all since it was installed. Not because we were being especially frugal, but because we haven't needed it. The burner didn't need to be lit until 2-3pm in the winter, and then the radiant heat warmed the house through. Did such a good job of drying out the condensation in here that I didn't have to spend time each morning wiping the condensation off the windows, because I knew it would evaporate nce the fire was lit.

We have to use our gas for domestic hot water and cooking. Our quarterly bill is now £60. 3 bed detached, 3 people, warm/hot showers every mornig.

Silent_Dancer

The cheapest lowest risk heating option off mains is an oil boiler. If space is restricted inside the house you can get external models.

An alternative solution would be using air to air heat pumps.

Also consider investing in an efficient wood burning stove.

Menolly56

Thanks, folks.
We have made another visit to the cottage and discovered that the Gas Multipoint boiler has been condemned - we have now spoken to the GasSafe engineer who condemned it and he had already quoted the current owners for a replacement, moving it from the kitchen to the upstairs bathroom and also fitting two radiators.
We are going down again in a couple of weeks - if anyone has experience of oil fired CH & water, could they please let me know what space/access is required for the oil tank? We think that there is room to install a tank behind the garage but that is some way from the road.
Many thanks

ETA - I think that the woodburner is pretty efficient, it is less than a year old. We do, however, need to sort out the water heating one way or another.

Smiley_Dan

How far from the road? Normally oil deliveries come through a wide flexible pipe connected to the oil truck on the road. In my case that's about 15m from the tank. The pipe can bend but I'm not sure what the maximum distance is.

The other thing is: is the road access good enough for a full size oil truck? Because some companies charge more for 4 wheel trucks.

Menolly56

Right - don't think that the distance would be too bad if that's the case.

The road is a narrow two-way into the village and the house is just past where the road bends. We are going to widen the access because visibility isn't great.

My cousin has given me the number for her oil supplier - going to give them a quick call

iris

Menolly56 wrote: »

Right - don't think that the distance would be too bad if that's the case.

The road is a narrow two-way into the village and the house is just past where the road bends. We are going to widen the access because visibility isn't great.

My cousin has given me the number for her oil supplier - going to give them a quick call

A narrow two way road is almost a 'motorway' in my eyes. We used to live in a small hamlet with a 'one way' lane with grass growing down the centre of the road. The oil company always sent a normal tanker to deliver oil without any problems.


You don't need much space for an oil tank and there are lots of different sizes and shapes nowadays to meet most circumstances.


As for how far the oil pipe will go, I would imagine up to 50/60 metres.

Smiley_Dan

Yeah, that'll be fine for oil tanker access. We live in a one lane hamlet and they can get the tanker down fine because there are decent driveways to turn around in and the corners are not at all sharp.

Ebe_Scrooge

Menolly56 wrote: »

My cousin has given me the number for her oil supplier - going to give them a quick call

Just to add, if you do end up going for oil - don't stick to one supplier, and don't enter into a direct-debit "savings" scheme. Each time you need a fill-up, ring around as many local suppliers as possible and ask each one to give you a price. The cheapest supplier on one day will likely not be the cheapest the next time you order, and many will price-match their competitors if you ask. And prices can vary by as much as 10p per litre between suppliers - so if you buy 1000 litres at a time, that's a fair difference.