Heating & hot water from scratch

[imogens1997]

My partner and I are considering buying a listed cottage (also in a conservation area) with minimal mod cons as our first home (don't laugh). We reckon the greatest renovation challenge - in terms of respecting the historic fabric & adhering to legislation surrounding listing/conservation - will be heating the place. We would like to invest in as affordable and sustainable a solution as possible so are researching heat pumps, biomass, etc. but the clincher is that the place has no central heating at all so we would be starting from scratch and therefore making new holes in the historic fabric, rather than using old routes for plumbing, etc. Does anyone have any experience applying for LBC to install central heating & related plumbing from scratch? What are the challenges? Even if we don't end up getting the place, I'm most interested to hear from anyone about anything related!
Ps., its thatched too

 

[TudorCottage]

We have a listed thatched cottage that has undergone major renovations over the years. Both on the building and heating system.

Original cottage 500 years old, one extension 38 years old and another 12 years old. Our solicitor went over everything with a fine tooth comb and all the relevant paperwork was in place, so LBC can be obtained on a listed building.

As we’re finding out in this place which had a complete new heating system fitted during the last extension and in itself is far more efficient than in our last 1960’s house. It’s the insulation (or lack of) that causes the issue. Upstairs we have gas fired central heating run from an efficient boiler and very good insulation provided by the thatch that all radiator thermostats are turned down because it gets too warm.

Downstairs is a different matter. Underfloor electric heating has been fitted and due to the lack of insulation it has to be cranked up in cold spells and is eye watering expensive to run.

I’ve looked into low energy nightime tariffs and battery storage, heat pumps that provide hot air. Biggest drawback is the set up costs, pay back would take so long especially at my age

The cost of running these old properties in winter was my biggest surprise, I expected it to be higher just not quite so much. I do caveat that with the fact that energy prices have gone crazy in the last few years which has exaggerated the problem somewhat.

Don’t let it put you off if you can afford it. We’ve never regretted our decision and love living here.

Good luck.

 

[a twig]

If you are going from scratch then you may as well go for a heat pump - but make sure you use a decent installer, as proper sizing, lagging, system design etc are critical.
You’d be pretty unlucky to get LBC refused for installing a heating system although they may slightly farcically insist on rads etc that “look” old like Victorian cast iron style rather than panels etc

 

[SamB]

Quite a lot depends on what else you have to do: does it have damp issues? Solid floors etc. that may need dealing with and allow the installation of underfloor heating in the process?
Heat pumps are great but require large radiator area or underfloor, and a suitable place to fit that isn't near (particularly bedroom) windows or neighbours, and has somewhere for all the cold air they produce to drain to. My back garden slopes toward the house so the freezing cold air would just fill it up and sit at the back of the house.
Obviously, if you can afford it and have suitable space, ground sourced is even better: more efficient, especially in winter, and no big fan unit.

 

[philpjuk100]

Our timber framed single brick infill house has gas central heating and our first winter was very expensive. We sort of heated the downstairs rooms during the day and the bedroom for an hour or so before bedtime. Since then the boiler is used for an hour each morning to heat the water and we have log burners in the kitchen and living room, the one in the kitchen is lit on cold mornings and then allowed to go out and the one in the living room is used when we are at home, this also seems to take the chill off our bedroom above. The advantage is we pay for our heat "up front" we use bought logs (kiln-dried hardwood) and smokeless "coal" and anything else that burns, we are gifted demolition wood, old pallets, and crates, and although I am aware I should not burn them I do. When the government give us a bit of money (we are pensioners ) we invest it in logs and most visitors comment on the warmth ( just checked the thermometer its 26c in here! ) Not all logburners are the same, we are on our fourth in the living room, the first a "machine mart" type came with the house and cracked in our first winter but seemed to require a lot of logs, we replaced that with a "high tech" steel plate one with fins on and air ducts but it also ate fuel. The one left for us in the kitchen was an esse Montrose which heats the kitchen and dining room and is very economical so we bought a similar one through eBay and the room was warmer and we halved our log consumption and when we found a later Montrose we bought that ( a MK3, our others were MK 1.5s ) this works even better and our main problem is too much heat!, still learning how to feed it.

 

[paulc]

and our main problem is too much heat!, still learning how to feed it.

Have the same problem with my stove - Overpowered for the size of the room, especially now that I've plugged the cold draughts.
Been working through a large crate of scrappy little bits of logs. Much of it is 6" or less in length, and I'm finding feeding little & often means less heat out. I might go and cut some of the 12-14" logs down for next year.

P.S. Nice cat.

 

[philpjuk100]

My garden backs onto the river Trent and the recent floods have brought me a load of branches, some quite large so they will be logged and split for next season. I think most are willow so not the best but hey free heat!

 

[RichT]

heat pumps good if you are well insulated, electric hungry so couple well with solar and battery bank to ensure you don't give away your energy to the grid for much less than you buy it back.

 

[johnbanshee]

I am in same position considering what do do. House has an oil combi-boiler currently, which works well [at the moment] but am doing a full rewire and want to sort heating/plumbing shortly.

I'm not tied to any particular heat method - but ultimately just I want something powerful & reliable which will keep the house warm.

I do wish there were an independent body you could go to for a survey who would crunch all your data and tell you what to go for based on the property's individual data > so compare cost vs performance of oil/gas/solar/GSH etc etc. Just doesnt seem to be any one impartial that won;t be trying to sell you something... and you don't ask a politician who to vote for...

 

[a twig]

energysavingtrust.org.uk is a good place to start - there are plenty of independent home energy consultants / surveyors who will give you those answers if you’re willing to pay for them, otherwise you need to do some reading, work out the heat requirements for your property, get quotes and then do the sums yourself

 

[Kearn]

Also have a read of https://www.heatgeek.com/