installing a heating system (not mains gas) in an old house

[SophyStantonLacy]

We have had an offer accepted on an old house (Grade II listed) with no heating other than a woodburner in one reception room... and DH feels the cold. Mains gas is not an option as it is a rural property. I've been looking at the "eco" options covered by the Renewable Heat Incentives, but it doesn't sound like ground/air pumps would be suitable for this type of property either, so maybe biomass boiler? Just interested to hear experiences and thoughts about this sort of situation...

Have you decided against an oil boiler?

With anything else, are you fit and strong enough to carry the fuel around, even in snowy or wet weather?

No, we haven't specifically decided against an oil boiler, just that we are a bit green around the edges (in both senses!) and quite like the idea of being non-fossil fuel, & attracted by the idea of subsidies to install a non-oil system... Open to being convinced in either direction!

We are in our 30s & fit & healthy & can haul around bags of wood - I guess you never know though...

I would still have a look at air source heating. It's up to the experts to work out if your house would be suitable and this sounds much less work than a ground source heat pump to me. I would also look at solar tubes for heating hot water (you need a South facing roof - SW or SE would be OK).
An all electric system is also possible and is considered green if your electricity supplier is a renewable one.

I wouldn't add an oil system now. We are in mainland Europe, and oil is being phased out, with no sales of oil for heating by 2025. We have 5 years to ditch ours for something else

My DM has an oil heating system. It's very expensive to run as you have to pay a large amount of money to fill the tanks. You are effectively paying for 6 months heating in advance. The oil price also fluctuates a lot so it's difficult to control costs. The tank also has to be in a secure place - in some areas there are problems with oil thefts where thieves siphon off some oil.

Electricity is the most expensive heating system I know.

Depending on the age of the property and the floor construction consider underfloor heating and either an air or ground source heat pump then a wood burner with back boiler for upstairs rads.

Electricity is the future and no more expensive than any other mains gas alternatives.

Electricity is the future and no more expensive than any other mains gas alternatives."

My current tariff is 3.122p per kWh gas, and 14.037p per kWh electricity.

Four and a half times as much.

Which country do you live in?

The one without mains gas....

Read the post.

We were in a similar position but had all electric heating. In winter it was £100 + per WEEK to heat the house to 18 degrees. Heating was only on a few hours a day too. We explored all the eco options, including a wind turbine to power the electric rads. In the end we installed oil central heating and it has been amazing. The benefit is also that we now have a wet heating system so could change the fuel type if we wanted to at a later date. If you read up on biomass it isn't as eco as it is cracked up to be either.

If your house has a epc rating of lower than a D, you may not qualify for government incentives either.

The house is EPC exempt according to the estate agents blurb?

DH wants to install a wind turbine! I imagine we can’t have solar panels or tubes on the roof because of the G2 listing...

Do you have the space for a wind turbine? Ours had to be 200m from neighbouring properties and we couldn't manage that. They also like you to monitor wind for 6 months to see if it is viable first.

We have a biomass boiler - wood pellet. Very efficient, complete flexible (works to a timer like a gas or oil one) and gets the RHI.

We opted for one that we fill ourselves with bags of pellets, but only because we have an inglenook fireplace and nowhere to have a dry store. Ideally we'd have an outbuilding which stores the pellets and auto-fills the boiler. Could this be an option for you?

Hmm, we probably do have a corner or two that are 200m away but not sure how windy they actually are!

We do have outbuildings and space. Can I ask how much it cost to install it, @UbercornsGoggles, and how the RHI actually works?

We had exactly the same dilemma.

We are listed and were told no to wind and solar. Our attic is part boarded so no assistance for insulation. No other government assistance because due to listing we can't address priority issues around heat loss (doors, windows etc).

As I remember ground source heat pump works for underfloor heating, which we can't have.

No mains gas.

Options were wood pellet, lpg, oil or electric. Am not convinced of the eco credentials of wood pellet (know 2 houses with it who love it). Plus have had solid fuel before and was a nightmare.

I don't think electric has improved sufficiently to justify the cost.

We opted for most efficient oil we can. Buy oil in a cooperative, so minimum order 500l (roughly 45p per litre at present). Insulation everywhere we can plus thick curtains. Plus 2 woodburners.

5 bed detached house and use approx 1800l of oil per year.

Old houses, especially listed, are not environmentally friendly. Worth a chat with your listed building officer in case there are other options.

We’ve had many properties with oil fires heating and it is expensive if you just use the heating. What we’ve tended to do is mainly use wood burners and open fires and only use the oil to heat the hot water, for heat in the mornings and for when it’s really cold.
I would avoid bottle gas it’s very very expensive.
The self filling pellet boilers are very good but they do have to be cleaned out regularly

Economy 7 tariffs are lower typically 9p per KWh but agree that it can be expensive to run (newer systems are becoming more efficient) but unlike oil you do not have to pay up-front for fuel, you can be billed monthly.

I’ve installed a load of the new dimplex quantum storage heater systems at work and the customer are always over the moon with them. They don’t appear to be be much more expensive than gas and they’re much much cheaper than oil.

I wouldn’t want to run a house on wood. The amount of logs we get through with one stove alongside our GCH is astonishing. I don’t even know where you’d store enough wood to get through a whole year of that was your only form of hearing.

Have you considered LPG.

I am also rural, renovated old property.

My LPG system is very efficient. The tank is buried in the garden and it is autofilled by my local dealer whenever the tank level drops below 50%. The Boiler is quiet and effective and my bills are much, much, lower than the Oil heating in my last house.

Don't forget that you may need to get listed building consent to install heating depending on what the features of the house are. If you have something like beautiful old floors then you might not be able to install central heating pipes.

storage heaters are moderately convenient in a workplace, or if you are at home all day. They give out heat during the day, and have lost most power by the time you get in from work, and will be cool by evening.

Many retired people like them, as they are at home during the day and go to bed early.

I have a rural friend, with an LPG tank buried in the garden, but he is in France. I had an idea it's not permitted in the UK due to the gas being heavier than air so will not disperse if there is a leak.

I've had a cottage with a clean-burn multifuel, but I kept smokeless fuel handy as it eats a vast amount of wood, and you might, perhaps through illness or deep snow, be unable to get out to collect or cut up more.

Due to particulate pollution, wood-burners and dirty solid fuel is likely to be outlawed, at least in towns.

We've lived somewhere with storage heaters before, and somewhere with electric radiators, and it's always cost a fortune. But I read that electricity prices are going to fall over the next few decades as more renewables come online, whereas I don't feel so confident about the future of oil prices...?

The downstairs is all old stone flags, I doubt that there is any option to put in underfloor heating.

"The downstairs is all old stone flags, I doubt that there is any option to put in underfloor heating."

sure there is. They probably need lifting anyway, to install a DPM against damp, and this is a good time to add underfloor insulation. Often a old house will benefit from having the floor dug out to improve headroom.