You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I have an old Victorian house which with high ceiling and larger rooms takes some heating.
We have insulated where we can and are replacing the original windows with uPVC units as soon as we can afford.
The next thing to happen is a kitchen refurb, having just found an Esse Ironheart to put in the kitchen to replace a tired log burner - my idea was to get one with the back boiler and integrate it into a water store based heating system.
Had a local specialist come around and advise a H2 panel as the best solution - it seems to be a way of hooking up multi inputs (stove & solar water heating) to a hot water cylinder (rather than a larger water store).
He seems to think that water stores are inefficient and very complicated.
I know a few of you are specialists in this area and wondered what you would advise to cover the dream system:
Already present is a system boiler which heats the downstairs rooms (only)
We have 2 rooms with wood burners -kitchen and a lounge (kitchen will have potential for approx. 3kw back boiler)
We have 2 large south facing pitches on the roof - unshaded - thinking solar water heating now or in the future
No radiators upstairs yet - would like to add to each of the bedrooms and bathroom
Thinking of underfloor (wet) heating in the kitchen before the refurb - York stone flags to be dug up / screed / insulation then re-layed
Would consider PV solar if the case is strong (I know the FIT has reduced)
Would a heat store to replace the current (smallish) hot water cylinder with inputs from a stove and solar water be the best system - any efficiency problems with this set up?
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Best setup I've seen for while was a house I visited in Argyll; they had a heat store that was heated by the solar panel and the log burner and through which incoming water circulated. The combi boiler finished off the water that was sent to the taps and ran the CH. They could draw warm water directly from the heat store for an outside tap for washing dogs, kit etc.
Not too different from my own system where I installed a second copper cylinder in the attic in tandem with the existing house cylinder and I heat it with a 20 tube panel that I installed, cost £700 DIY. So the solar cylinder feeds the house cylinder and the boiler finishes the job.
Thanks for the input Globalti
I was confused by an engineer saying that heat stores were inefficient - I get that they are a bit complicated, but assuming that they are well insulated I don't see how they could be inefficient
perhaps he is saying this just to guide me down the H2 panel route?
I like the sound of your system.
Any other input - I'm sure that there are a few more people interested / involved in this type of thing? 🙂
Have a search for Stoner's thread
I have an advanced applicances multi fuel thermal store. Works great. As long as you don't want to get the radiators too hot when the burner is not on it works well. I also love the drinkable mains pressure hot 😉
Building ours up at the moment. We have a Gledhil thermal store, Rayburn cooker with boiler and single immersion. Plan was to add solar thermal but been distracted by "thermodynamics". Not sure about all the claims being made but trying to work out if this is better option than standard solar thermal and if less maintenance and lower running cost.
How do they control legionnaires disease with a thermal store that could spend large periods lukewarm? If its heated by solar and the boiler is taking warm water and boosting it before getting to the tap, then presumably there is no control to heat it to 60 degrees regularly...
IIRC the tap water isn't in the heat store, it's through flow heated in a heat exchanger (the other circuit in the heat exchanger being the heat store). The water in the heat store is heated to similar levels to a traditional hot water cylinder.
My understanding is the same, the water in the heat store system is captive and only transfers heat to the tap water.
Still finding it difficult to get someone in the Halifax area to follow through and give me a quote!
The water in the store Is captive but it's considered good practice to heat It to 60 degrees once once week with a time immersion heater to kill any legionella growth. Makes it safe for anyone working on the install (IAAP!)
300l thermal store with inputs from wood burner, oil boiler, solar thermal and immersion if required.
Two zone radiator circuit and mains pressure hot water through a heat exchanger.
The Resol Solar Thermal controller also calls for heat from the boiler as required. A laddomat load charger with thermostat is used to control the wood burner circuit, and a heat miser thermostat controls the rads and on/off of the oil boiler.
It sounds more complicated than it is, and I suspect that the Resol controller could integrate better with the laddomat if I looked into it, but it works. I also have an electronic stat linked to the top of the store which opens the rad circuit and pump if it gets too hot.
I looked at the H2 and Dunsley Heat neutraliser when I was designing the system, and wasn't convinced - can't quite remember why, possibly to do with the addition of the solar thermal?