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OK, waaaay back in the spring DH & I had part of our house replastered and in the process removed our one and only storage heater and threw away the 30yr old electric heater from the front room.

The problem is, we now have no heating for the winter. We've talked about gas fired CH but we'd both like to explore other, greener options.

Our house is a semi, with 3 beds, 2 smallish reception rooms, a tiny bathroom and even smaller kitchen with no mod-cons. It was built in 1936.

I'm going to get a chimney sweep to see if the fireplaces can be reopened.

So does anyone have any great ideas for me? I'm wondering about solar panels.

Anna x

funkypixie wrote:We've talked about gas fired CH but we'd both like to explore other, greener options... I'm wondering about solar panels.

Not really for central heating; they'll do your water heating, though.

In our climate, space heating (ie, heating rooms) is usually the single highest consumer of energy in the house - particularly one that predates modern insulation levels (or higher).

As ever, first spend your money on insulation, so that you don't need to use so much energy in the first place. Ask your council if any insulation grants are available. Insulate the loft for certain (250mm or more), consider cavity wall insulation if you have cavity walls. Make sure all exterior doors and windows are fully draught-proofed, and that none of your walls have any damp problems. If you don't have double glazing, seriously consider it, even though it is expensive. It doesn't have to be uPVC, you can get wooden frames, too. If you can't afford it, get secondary glazing, or even a sheet of polythene and some double sided tape, plus thermally lined curtains.

Open fires (or even closed stoves) are a lovely option, though can be fairly hard work, and messy with it. And if you burn coal, you are adding CO2, and other stuff, to the atmosphere. Wood burning may be more carbon neutral. And you will need ventilation too, which may work against the need to draughtproof the house.

But also consider that a moden boiler installation has to be with a condensing boiler, which is much more efficient that an old open flued boiler. The condenser effectively extracts heat from the flue gases that would otherwise be lost. Any new or replaced radiators should also have individual thermostatic valves, which will also help to reduce wasted heat. Combined with good insulation, this may not be so un-green after all - certainly far and away better than electric storage heaters.

Hi Funkypixie.
I put a back boiler in my house, which is like an open fire and it will run my radiators and hot water.
A good quality wood burning stove will be cheaper to run. But it depends on the shape of your chimney breast and how much mess you want?

I don't think you can beat the look of a real open fire but they are hard work!


http://www.dunsleyheat.co.uk/enterprise.htm

Steve,
Essex.

I have read somewhere that draft proof houses, has caused the increase in Asthma we see in children today.
From my own experience having less colds last winter than the one before with gas
Central heating!
I still could be wrong.

Steve
Essex

Thanks for your input guys.

@Muddypause - We installed double glazing to the back of the house last year and secondary glazing to the front in order to preserve the original arched windows. Luckily for us my DH had already increased the loft insulation when his Grandparents still lived here, and we took advantage of the very generous council grant to get the cavity wall insulation done in the spring. I'll be looking again at the combi boilers though.

@Steve - I'm wondering whether there might be/have been a back boiler system in previously. My MIL might know whether it was disconnected or removed completely, but it's probably worth investigating - thanks.
And you might be right about the draughtproofing but my kids will complain like fury if they're cold!

Anna x

I hate to say it, but town gas is by far and away the cheapest way to heat your home. Certainly you could go woodburner/backboiler, but it's a lot of logs to store and feed, and pretty inconvenient to run all the time. If funds allowed, I'd go for the lot - solar hot water, woodburner with back-boiler for winter cheer, and a modern gas boiler to kick in when the others are off/not functioning!
I've just returned from a day in the London suburbs where we're fitting a solar hot water system - he's already got the modern gas boiler, so we've fitted him a 3 coil thermal store, so he's got a "spare" coil when he goes for the woodburner and backboiler next year. If you're thinking of doing the same, in stages, make sure you get the "spare" coil, so you don't need to change the tank again!
And for anyone who noticed the prices of around £8-£11,000 quoted on last night's Rogue Traders - we are doing this job for WELL under £3,000 all-in (including the extra coil!)
If you do need some help to find a local solar hot water company that won't rob you blind, give me a yell - I'm in touch with a great many people round the country who use the same supplier that we do - they're all small companies keen to do business, and don't charge the earth!

Martin wrote:...town gas...

Strewth, mate - you're only about 30 years behind the times, ya know. Didn't they convert you to natural gas, or did they forget to do your corner of Britain?

Town gas is a by product of coking, nasty, dirty, inefficient poisonous stuff; natural gas is a cleaner thing altogehter, and a fraction of crude oil (one of the resident chemists can fill in the details).

only 30???
It may be incorrect, but is a term widely used to distinguish it from the bottled stuff! -perhaps I should rephrase it as "gas on draught"
ps, been off "draught gas" for......37 years or thereabouts!

I had a valiant gas combination boiler five years old and my gas bill was still £100 a month, without the recent gas price increases. With me burning wood and some coal my monthly energy charge is about £25 a month. But I do get most of my wood free, which helps.
I think these new condensing gas boilers, are the way to go for convenience and cheapness they just don't have any sole! Like an open fire.
Just my opinion.
Steve
Essex.

Muddypause wrote:

Martin wrote:...town gas...

Strewth, mate - you're only about 30 years behind the times, ya know. Didn't they convert you to natural gas, or did they forget to do your corner of Britain?

Town gas is a by product of coking, nasty, dirty, inefficient poisonous stuff; natural gas is a cleaner thing altogehter, and a fraction of crude oil (one of the resident chemists can fill in the details).

We call it town gas in France to distinguish it from propane.

hi there

I have a coal fire its my only form of heating through the winter months, they are hard work, but look at the reward you get at the end a wonderful warm fire a warm house, and cleaner enviroment.

Also you can put all the ash from your fire onto the veggie patch and dig it in, and it improves your soil ten fold.

good luck maggie

maggie144 wrote:I have a coal fire its my only form of heating through the winter months, they are hard work, but look at the reward you get at the end a wonderful warm fire a warm house, and cleaner enviroment.

I quite agree about what a lovely thing a coal fire is, but I'm not really sure that it can be considered as something that contributes to a cleaner environment. All depends what you are comparing it to, of course, but coal is pretty mucky stuff to burn - think of the smoke, and think of the soot. Amongst the flue gases will be CO, CO2, Sulpher Dioxide (which may combine with rain to make sulphuric acid - acid rain), carbon particulates, and a whole host of other things.

Out in the countryside, a few coal fires are probably not going to challenge nature's clean-up capabilities much, but in dense conurbations it necessitated the introduction of smokeless zones in the UK a few decades ago.

Of the readily available options, natural gas is probably the cleanest fuel you can burn, but not nearly as romantic as a coal fire, and no more sustainable, either.

what about if you live in a smoke free zone ?

Muddypause wrote:

maggie144 wrote:Of the readily available options, natural gas is probably the cleanest fuel you can burn, but not nearly as romantic as a coal fire, and no more sustainable, either.

Actually, properly combusted biofuels are quite clean and sustainable.

Downburning, which forces unburned fuel particles down through the hottest part of the fire, is one way to go and is practical because you can continue to burn split wood etc. There are downburning solid fuel stoves approved for use in smoke control areas with efficiences of 70% or better.

Wood chips and pelletised wood is another method - it gives a more consistent and controllable burn while also enabling wood to be used as an "on-demand" fuel like gas and electric.

Coal, as burned in an open fire, is an extremely dirty fuel and non-sustainable. It is possible to clean burn coal, but you'd be looking at an industrial operation and even the power generation companies are reluctant to use it because of the cost.

stonehead are you talking about rocket stoves?