ᐅ Insulated Older Building from 1921: Converting from Gas Heating
Created on: 8 Mar 2022 11:44
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Winniefred
Hello dear forum members,
We have been thinking for a while about what to do with our heating system in the long term. Of course, I have already read a lot, but we still don’t have a clear decision.
- The house is a well-insulated old building from 1921, a single-family semi-detached house. Currently, it is heated exclusively with gas; the boiler dates from 2010, is serviced annually, and is working perfectly.
- There is a two-flue chimney; one flue is connected to the gas heating system, the other is free.
- We currently use just under 11,000 kWh of heating energy per year; electricity consumption is about 2,200 kWh/year.
- The roof is a hipped roof, facing east, south, and west, with no shading at all. To put it plainly, it gets full sun all day long.
- The house is fully basemented, and we have quite a lot of space in the cellar, which has a floor area of approximately 40 m² (430 ft²). It is a vaulted cellar with enough headroom to stand comfortably. Slightly damp, consistent with the building’s age.
- We do not have any underfloor heating anywhere. The radiators are modern, some installed as recently as 2017. The house has a timber frame construction, masonry walls, the roof is very well insulated (2017), the facade was well insulated in 1993, and the wooden beam ceilings are filled with slag. The windows are almost all well insulated from 2017, with only three still having double glazing from 1993.
We would like to avoid heating with fossil fuels. At the moment, I’m leaning toward a pellet boiler combined with solar thermal.
Does anyone have other ideas?
We have been thinking for a while about what to do with our heating system in the long term. Of course, I have already read a lot, but we still don’t have a clear decision.
- The house is a well-insulated old building from 1921, a single-family semi-detached house. Currently, it is heated exclusively with gas; the boiler dates from 2010, is serviced annually, and is working perfectly.
- There is a two-flue chimney; one flue is connected to the gas heating system, the other is free.
- We currently use just under 11,000 kWh of heating energy per year; electricity consumption is about 2,200 kWh/year.
- The roof is a hipped roof, facing east, south, and west, with no shading at all. To put it plainly, it gets full sun all day long.
- The house is fully basemented, and we have quite a lot of space in the cellar, which has a floor area of approximately 40 m² (430 ft²). It is a vaulted cellar with enough headroom to stand comfortably. Slightly damp, consistent with the building’s age.
- We do not have any underfloor heating anywhere. The radiators are modern, some installed as recently as 2017. The house has a timber frame construction, masonry walls, the roof is very well insulated (2017), the facade was well insulated in 1993, and the wooden beam ceilings are filled with slag. The windows are almost all well insulated from 2017, with only three still having double glazing from 1993.
We would like to avoid heating with fossil fuels. At the moment, I’m leaning toward a pellet boiler combined with solar thermal.
Does anyone have other ideas?
Winniefred8 Mar 2022 17:46CC35BS38 schrieb:
This is a heat pump vs. pellet topic where I would prefer the heat pump. Less maintenance, no need for a chimney sweep. But first, you need to consider feasibility: Can you read the supply temperature and the flow rate on your heating system? Are the new radiators Type 33? I found in my documents that Type 22 (mostly) and Type 12 were installed, nothing is listed for the bathroom radiator (it’s one of those towel warmers).
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Benutzer2008 Mar 2022 17:50Winniefred schrieb:
Of course, I can inquire about a heating load calculation, but based on experience, it’s almost impossible to get a tradesperson for that, For that, please do NOT use a tradesperson, but an engineering firm (e.g. Heckmann).
Winniefred schrieb:
You often read that they work well in combination with underfloor heating and are generally difficult to retrofit in older buildings. I’m renovating an older building myself – KfW55 – with one apartment having radiators (type 33) and another with underfloor heating. It works well.
Winniefred schrieb:
In their case, the gas heating is completely off during the warm half of the year, as solar thermal covers everything then. It’s no different with a heat pump. You only need hot water. For me, that costs about 8 cents per day with the heat pump. You don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on solar thermal for that.
Winniefred8 Mar 2022 18:06The supply temperature appears to be set to 75°C (167°F), if I am not mistaken in reading it. Regarding the flow rate, the manual only mentions "Under the diagnostic point d.29 in the first diagnostic level, the flow rate on the heating side can be read while the heating pump is running." The gas boiler is a Vaillant VSC 196/3-5 150 ecco Compact, in case that helps.
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Benutzer2008 Mar 2022 19:11Winniefred schrieb:
The flow temperature appears to be set at 75°,That is actually a temperature suited for an old building without any energy efficiency upgrades.Winniefred8 Mar 2022 19:29Then either I'm too stupid to read it correctly, or the professional company is too incompetent to set it up properly. I consider both equally possible. 😎
I need to take a closer look at it in peace.
A heat loss calculation easily costs around 300€ (approximately $320)... that's quite a lot of money if you're just considering a conversion.
I need to take a closer look at it in peace.
A heat loss calculation easily costs around 300€ (approximately $320)... that's quite a lot of money if you're just considering a conversion.
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Benutzer2008 Mar 2022 21:53Winniefred schrieb:
A heating load calculation easily costs around 300€You have to pick your poison ;-)Similar topics