heating systems

vickymc

Hi everyone,
New to boards!
Looking for advice on heating systems for our new build two storey house 3600 sq/ft. Just had our meeting with BER engineer last week and he recommended air to water heat pump and underfloor heating. We had initialy planned to go solar/oil and stove with back boiler but with all these new building regulations and his recommendations we are now very confused...anyone got any experience or advice??????

heavydawson

vickymc wrote: »

Hi everyone,
New to boards!
Looking for advice on heating systems for our new build two storey house 3600 sq/ft. Just had our meeting with BER engineer last week and he recommended air to water heat pump and underfloor heating. We had initialy planned to go solar/oil and stove with back boiler but with all these new building regulations and his recommendations we are now very confused...anyone got any experience or advice??????

Hey Vicky, can you ask your BER engineer to give you the desired u-values and estimated air-tightness values for the house. When you get them, post them here.

Scobiwankenobi

Hi,
new to this now. i was just searching through questions and replies and I'm in the same spot you were in when you posted this. I'm just wondering what heating system you went for in the end. Our builder is recommending the air to water heat pump with the underfloor heating. Also he has said that its not worth our while to have a back boiler stove, but we do like the idea of it. Just wondering if it would be a waste putting in the plumbing for that if we wouldn't end up using it. Just looking for a bit of advice!!

Calahonda52

You might find solace or grief here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057552114

The simple model here is the more info you provide the better the advice.

To help get you started, whats the A/T target in the contract?
Whats the target BER?

Scobiwankenobi

Thanks for the link. Very helpful.

Not sure what you mean by A/T target?

Our target BER is A3 so we reckon we wont need the Air Regulator.

MENACE2010

vickymc wrote: »

Hi everyone,
New to boards!
Looking for advice on heating systems for our new build two storey house 3600 sq/ft. Just had our meeting with BER engineer last week and he recommended air to water heat pump and underfloor heating. We had initialy planned to go solar/oil and stove with back boiler but with all these new building regulations and his recommendations we are now very confused...anyone got any experience or advice??????

Hi Vickey
The advice is commendable from your BER guy , but there are more options and things to take into consideration .
BER is not the be all and end all , its a marker for how well the house will perform but unless you are planning to sell your house very soon after you build it .. its really not something to lose sleep over.

below are some basic points

- heat loss
House size is not really big factor its your level of insulation
In order to get to minimize your cost for heating is to insulate your house appropriately, insulated plasterboard on the perimeter walls, triple glazing those things are open to change if you already went through the planning system. If you can change the design minimize your windows / size , check for the orientation of the house ( heat gain via sunlight)

Heat recovery , I cannot praise this technology enough.. (its working for us)
It mechanically extracts warm stale air and pumps in warmed up fresh air in the house.. especially in the winter this is a massive boon .as you will have a fresh air in the house , while keeping the cold out.

so with the two points covered now to the heat source .. the heatpump ..there are various brands and options ground source ( extracts the heat from the ground ) air source ( extracts the heat from the air)

the basic concept is the same as a fridge .. but backwards .. if that make sense.

We have an airsource , for water and heating and underfloor , works great but it took three winters to get us with the right settings .. and comfort , running cost of the house is now 166 euro a month for everything on electricity

- couple of points on the heating system , dont under spec it .. we specced the system for a family of 6.. ( we are with 4 , + 2 visitors now and then) , get a proper insulated buffer tank that is made for this purpose

I know the place you are in .. I / we were there in the end we went for Airsource as the ground source was not fitting in our budget. (higher install cost) . persevere .. make your descisions and move on . dont read the forums .. its your house . .your life and your budget ..

We are in Clare , you can PM me if you want to meet / visit