Advice Needed on Energy - Moving to New House

BingoBongoBango

Hi folks,

we're moving to a new house shortly. The house we're in has gas central heating. The new house doesn't have gas and has old electric storage heaters and an electric boiler for hot water...which we're obviously looking to get rid of! The new house is a 2 bedroomed, upstairs/downstairs, with livingroom and kitchen/dinner in the Scottish Borders. It's about 100 years old.

I'm at a bit of a loss...there is so much information out there, much of which is biased, that I'm stuck making a decision. I've searched loads but thought a direct post here that outlines our specific circumstances would be best.

We're going to get a couple of multifuel stoves put in, one in the livingroom, one in the kitchen diner. We still need to sort out what we're going to use to replace the storage heaters and electric boiler....I've looked at air source pumps, multifuel stoves with a  back boiler, infrared radiators, etc. etc. and still have no idea what would be best.
With the cost of electricity so high, and rising, I'm concerned that we really need to make the best choice.

I would really appreciate any advice on this folks, thank you in advance :-)

jbuchanangb

The term "electric boiler" is misleading. What you are more likely to have is a hot water tank with an immersion heater, probably two immersion heaters, one for use with peak-rate and one for use with off-peak-rate electricity. These are not bad things and shouldn't be got rid of. Old electric storage heaters are also not bad things by definition. They are cost effective to run with off-peak electricity, and any other electricity powered heating system will be more expensive to run. If they have problems, such as failed elements, or clogged up with dust, it is easier to fix the problems than renew the heaters. If there is no gas supply to the property, then an air-source heat pump based system with conventional water filled radiators might be a good plan. Radiators have to be slightly larger than for a gas-fuelled central heating system, as the heat pump heats the water to a lower temperature than gas.

Reed_Richards

You did not mention oil or LPG.  Both are used a lot and are viable options for as long as we are allowed to heat our houses with fossil fuels.  Personally, I switched from an oil boiler to an ASHP but at the time there was a bigger subsidy to do that than there is now.  

Pmatt

Hopefully you will have discovered Home Energy Scotland as both a source of comprehensive information but also to help you with grants for renewable energy. They are brilliant in providing the information to help you improve your heating and insulation requirements.

Robin9

Don't rush into doing anything. Live with what you've got and see what it does cost

theoretica

I doubt you want a back boiler as your only source of hot water - there will be times when you want hot water without heating - eg summer, or coming back from being away.

If you haven't already got radiators it will be a lot of plumbing to put them in - and oversize will run at a lower water temperature, so are more efficient.

How well insulated is the house?  The best heating is the sort you don't need as much...

Mstty

A key question here is what is your budget for putting in the infrastructure for  heating and hot water.

wrf12345

Look into insulated plaster board for internal walls that are facing outwards, it is a DIY job so not as expensive as the pundits make out... 50mm insulation plus 12.5mm board so you will lose a small amount of internal space. Then add secondary glazing - but use double glazed windows that open inwards, again DIY. Plus loads of loft installation and possibly floor insulation if you are putting new flooring in. That all adds up to needing minimum heating rather than some hugely expensive system, hopefully.

Roxburgh_rose

Don't think about a back boiler for hot water! I've had them in a couple of previous houses and they are a pain. Needing to keep the fire / stove going to get hot water (a drag if you're not at home) or using the immersion when it's too warm for a fire (expensive).
I'm in the Borders (welcome btw) and fitted oil CH in my last house - similar spec to what you've mentioned. The house needed a lot of work generally so the disruption of fitting a new heating system wasn't to bad.  The existing heating and HW were run off an open fire with back boiler so I needed to remove the back boiler, install a new boiler and oil tank and replace all the existing rads and pipework. I can't tell you how worthwhile that was, just for the ease of a system that worked at the touch of a button as and when I wanted it to. There are oil clubs here which you can join to get discounted oil prices, though I always check all suppliers before I buy. I've heard it can be worth fitting oversize rads to ensure you'll be able to transfer to a heat pump if necessary in future.
For the size of house you've mentioned, two stoves seems overkill - I think you might boil :-). They are also a lot of work if that's your main heat source. Definitely think about how you'll get on moving logs / coal about regularly when your older. One of my neighbours is in her 80s and is now too fragile to keep her open fire / back boiler heating going so she's had to resort to plug in radiators.

CanNeverThinkOfAUsername

This thread has been going since July 2022, i wonder what the OP did in the end?

Roxburgh_rose

CanNeverThinkOfAUsername said:

This thread has been going since July 2022, i wonder what the OP did in the end?

D'oh - never clocked the original date!