Where do I start - solar or heat pump?

MallyGirl

RAS said:

MallyGirl said:

We will need to strike a balance there. We did put in the best underlay we could get when we carpeted a room with just floorboards previously. Hall and upstairs are all still floorboards or tiles. 

What is under the floorboards? Any idea?

Downstairs - about 4 foot of crawl space then basically earth. Victorians didn't go big on things like foundations but it is still rock solid 140 years later. We were told not to put anything under there as it risked the floorboards getting damp and rotting. There are air bricks to keep air flow under the rooms. There is also a small L shaped cellar that would have been the coal hole at one time.
Upstairs - there is some rockwool type stuff but no idea how much.
Top floor - rockwool type under floor, celotex type under roof tiles

MallyGirl

ispookie666 said:

This is what I would do 
1. Air con - aka A2A heat pump - along with Planning permission Definitely looking at this for the garden office (used to be a stable but we converted it and put in lots of insulation at the time)
2. Solar PV - including ground mounted Getting indicative quotes - then need to work out if allowed as conservation area. It would be on the back facing side of the roof so hopefully OK
3. Battery One to explore after 1 and 2
4. Insulation 
5. ASHP 
You are highly unlikely to break even with GSHP Probably not enough garden anyway

Thanks for this

ispookie666

@MallyGirl Please get the biggest or most extensive solar array you can physically fit or afford.  Most of us have regretted not going bigger.  

Meatballs

MallyGirl said:

RAS said:

MallyGirl said:

We will need to strike a balance there. We did put in the best underlay we could get when we carpeted a room with just floorboards previously. Hall and upstairs are all still floorboards or tiles. 

What is under the floorboards? Any idea?

Downstairs - about 4 foot of crawl space then basically earth. Victorians didn't go big on things like foundations but it is still rock solid 140 years later. We were told not to put anything under there as it risked the floorboards getting damp and rotting. There are air bricks to keep air flow under the rooms. There is also a small L shaped cellar that would have been the coal hole at one time.
Upstairs - there is some rockwool type stuff but no idea how much.
Top floor - rockwool type under floor, celotex type under roof tiles

Loads of people insulate under suspended timber floors and I've never heard of anyone having issues with it? Maybe worth having a second opinion 

Reed_Richards

There is a long sales pitch here for a system to insulate under suspended timber floors:
 https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com/post/best-practice-approach-insulating-suspended-timber-floors

I have no idea if this is any good or affordable, but the bit at the beginning about how other methods can go wrong seems quite useful.

MallyGirl

Reed_Richards said:

There is a long sales pitch here for a system to insulate under suspended timber floors:
 https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com/post/best-practice-approach-insulating-suspended-timber-floors

I have no idea if this is any good or affordable, but the bit at the beginning about how other methods can go wrong seems quite useful.

This is brilliant - thank you. I wish I had asked this question before fitting new carpet but hopefully a decent fitter could refit the carpet after a project like this. The floor is really cold - I always sit with my feet on a cushion - even with thick underlay and carpet. This would be a lot more palatable than spoiling the interior walls with internal insulation.

Waywardmike

Reed_Richards said:

There is a long sales pitch here for a system to insulate under suspended timber floors:
 https://www.ecologicalbuildingsystems.com/post/best-practice-approach-insulating-suspended-timber-floors

I have no idea if this is any good or affordable, but the bit at the beginning about how other methods can go wrong seems quite useful.

Oh wow...  I'm definitely doing this next time I pull up any flooring. 

10 years ago when we moved in we had to replace a few rotten floorboards, and like the OP saw nothing but a few foot drop down to bare earth.  We moved in August so had no idea how to live in an older house.  I would definitely have done this if I'd known about it.  The floors currently aren't super cold, but definitely colder than I'd like.

MallyGirl

An update.
after looking at all the options we went for solar panels and a battery. We managed to fit 15 425W panels up there. From signing up to fully installed with the scaffolding gone again was about 2 weeks.
I probably spend far too much time checking the app to see how much energy the panels are generating- I am sure that novelty will wear off. We are waiting on the paperwork for the export to be completed so that we can switch to Intelligent Octopus- for now we are just topping up the battery in the wee small hours. A big thanks to @Screwdriva for their assistance.

Anything that can help with our bills and get us one step closer to early retirement is good news.