New Install to an old house , advice please

[Robert too]

Hi ,

We are just about to move into a 1930.s detached property of 3800 ft gross .

It is down to be rewired , so I am also going to bite the bullet and replumb the house too.

There is a perfect place in the loft for a small plant room .

The house is 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms , with a 2 bed attached annex to the side with its own kitchen and bathroom ( for 2 elderly relatives )

At the moment it has a traditional install of a floor mounted oil fired boiler , with 2 seperate Hot water cylinders on the landing, one at each end of the house .

I havent a clue what sort of install we should be considering , and want to at least have some idea before i invite people for a desing and build on the job .

I also need to build in the facility to service a future loft extension of about 700ft

Any suggestions greatly appreciated .

ps its in the Thames Valley region

 

[Robert too]

ps There is no gas to the site at present , although I am awaiting a quote from scotiagasnetworks for this .

But i do suspect it will be too much to proceed with , so it will be either oil or LPG

 

[gas4you]

With a property this size I would go for an un-vented mains pressure cylinder, assuming that you have a very good incoming water pressure 3 Bar or above and a good flow rate around 20l/min.

I would suggest for three bathrooms you should be looking at a 250/300 litre sized cylinder.

As for boiler size, without a survey is is just an educated guess, I would think you will be looking at a 30-37Kw system boiler, allowing about 4Kw for the hot water cylinder.

Have you any thoughts on a solar hot water installtion in the future? If so consider a solar twin coil cylinder to future proof the system!

As your property is over 1500ft2 then you will hve to have the heating areas zoned into a minimum of 2 zones. Usually upstairs and downstairs plus the hot water.

You have lots of choice out there, but i personally would go for LPG

 

[Robert too]

Thanks for that response


I was hoping we could zone the areas , ground floor , first floor and annexe so that sounds good news.

I am under pressure from the other half to consider solar panels or at least the chance to include them once funds allow .

tbh I am a bit of a disbeliever in their capabilities in our country , thats from ignorance of the product rather than experience .

I hadnt even considered the option of LPG untill yesterday , I was assuming we were stuck with oil . I just need to check out comparisons on running costs now.

Thanks again.


I had budgeted around 13 - 15k for the install ( excluding batyhrooms of course , but a builder friend , yesterday suggested this may be light .

I had in the earlier stages considered not replumbing the house , but i was jsut fearfull that in 5 years time we would be ripping out all of our good work

 

[Robert too]

The property is situated perfectly for solar panels , with the main roof ( rear ) facing due south , and is unobstructed by trees etc

 

[gas4you]

I realise prices vary all over the place, but as a rough comparison I am involved in the complete re-plumb and heating for a 3 storey listed building with 5 beds, 3 baths, massive lounge, dining and kitchen, all with about 3M high ceilings.

I'm having nothing to do with any bathrooms, other than running the pipes to them, all the pipe work is copper and this is into 3 zones plus hot water and this is coming out around your initial budget lower end.

This includes 37Kw Vaillant and 260 litre unistor, so very close to your proposed job.

I would advise spending the extra £300/400 on a twin coil cylinder so its there ready for use. Solar realistically will save you around £120 - £200 / year on your sized property, as well as add value and 'protect' you from any future rumored 'carbon' tax on homes, but it's only your choice at the end of the day

 

[Robert too]

Thankyou.

I guess its the future proofing aspect i need to consider seriously

 

[Robert too]

any further input much apreciated

 

[gas4you]

Forgive me for being a bit slow, but I thought your enquiry had been answered. What further input do you need

 

[Agile]

That figure did not include the solar panels which might cost about £3k to £6k to save £120 to £200 per annum.

Its for the benefit of the community and not for any realistic return on capital.

If you could add the carbon cost of manufacturing, transporting and selling them its going to be many years before they will give any net carbon return either!

Its quite a con really that the manufacturer's of solar quote carbon saving but they only put in very small print to to get that you have to buy ( more expensive ) green electricity to run it.

Tony

 

[gas4you]

Very true Tony, thats why after becoming solar qualified I am even more sceptical

 

[Robert too]

Forgive me for being a bit slow, but I thought your enquiry had been answered. What further input do you need

I was expecting others to pop in and enter into the normal " you dont want to do that " debate


I feel exactly the same way about the solar panels , my daughter works for a company dealing with them , they have just offered a special to staff of 2 panels installed , up and running for £1500

 

[Gasman1015]

Thanks for that response

I hadnt even considered the option of LPG untill yesterday , I was assuming we were stuck with oil . I just need to check out comparisons on running costs now.

Stick with the oil, you won't regret it, less trouble and more efficient.

 

[ChrisR]

You don't want to listen to that lot, load of rubbish.

Feel better now?

You need to do a proper energy loss etc but I wouldn't be surprised if you end up wanting a bigger boiler, nearer 50kW. If you make full use of 3 bathrooms you'll need to reheat the water quickly. A Megaflo coil absorbs about 25kW. One shower can squirt away at 20l/min plus, so you need very good mains if you're not going to have a gravity store and pumps, around 40l/min would be nice.

Consider two smaller boilers - eggs and baskets.

 

[Nixt]

[quoteThere is a perfect place in the loft for a small plant room [/quote]



Would only consider oil or wood pellet boiler for property size though neither a realistic option in a loft.