Efficient heating/water for 1 person.

[xce1]

I'm in the process of renovating a small barn and I'm trying to work out the most efficient heating and hot water system.

It will be just me living in the barn, and only 2 rooms (bedroom/living room) will need comfortable levels of heating, as I'm disabled and need everything close together. I plan to install a wood stove in the living room, but only use it during the winter for the heating. The building will be insulated to today's standards, so I'm hoping most of the rest of the year to rely on wrapping up warm, and a very small amount of heating when needed, or lighting the stove if it's very cold - I'm unsure how realistic this is however as I haven't lived in a properly insulated house before!

As for water, I'm not intending to install a bath and will only be using the shower 3 times a week, with a small amount of washing up, but mostly using the dishwasher.

Since I will not need much heating/water I have been wondering if it would be effective to rely completely on instantaneous electric water for shower+sinks, and use only the exact amount of water I need. Or would it be better to have a small water cylinder, heat it in a more efficient manner, for example overnight on economy7 or with a boiler - but not use a lot of that hot water, especially on the days I don't have a shower. There's also combi-boilers to consider which I know almost nothing about.

I'm completely flexible on which sort of heating system to install (it's only mains gas I can't get), but it's difficult to find answers on what would be the most effective system when I only need a small amount of heating/water.

 

[xr4x4]

If the house is super insulated, you will nearly need any heating at all.

 

[Agile]

I cannot imaging a significant disability for which wood burning is likely to be convenient.

A dishwasher is not very energy efficient.

You don't say if you are there 24/7 or go out to work. That makes a big difference when choosing heating systems.

Tony

 

[xce1]

Yea pretty much 24/7, sorry should have said. The wood/coal stove isn't ideal, but I figure I'll only use it when I need it. But yes I might well end up having to rely on a different type of heating more than I'd like - unsure about that. Luckily I wont have to do most of the hard work with the stove, I'll have help bringing the fuel in and taking the ash out. I've always lived with one so it seemed a natural choice, but I do agree that I would probably be better off not having to rely on it. Which is why it's more of a secondary heating system, provided the insulation is effective anyway - which is one of the things I was wondering about (thanks Paul!)

 

[Agile]

In that case a prime candidate for underfloor heating.

Water then an unvented cylinder heated by off peak electricity unless you have a stored gas system or an oil system.

Some would say get a heat pump.

I am less convinced that they are very good value compared with other cheaper systems.

Tony

 

[xce1]

Thanks Tony.

So you think a water cylinder, heated off peak, even if wasting a lot of the hot water, would end up costing less than using instant water heating (electric shower etc) which just heats the amount of water I need?

 

[Agile]

You don't seem to realise that once heated the water stays hot apart from a VERY small daily heat loss.

The water used is therefore heated at the off peak charge and used during the on peak period!

Water heating is usually only 10% of the total energy bill!

Tony