ᐅ Insulated Older Building from 1921: Converting from Gas Heating
Created on: 8 Mar 2022 11:44
W
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?
Winniefred10 Mar 2022 15:11Deliverer schrieb:
If it’s not too late yet, I would avoid that. A mixed system is not recommended. You need a buffer tank AND then you have to maintain it at the high temperatures required for the radiators. They had all of that calculated as well, and in the end, it’s only about 3 radiators because the bathroom was already renovated and won’t be altered. I think that’s how it will stay.
D
Deliverer10 Mar 2022 17:52Winniefred schrieb:
and in the end, it’s only about 3 radiatorsAs long as they do more than just increase the flow temperature, that’s fine.D
Deliverer10 Mar 2022 20:42One idea might be to install an air conditioning system on the upper floor. It helps keep the area cool during summer and can provide some additional heating in winter if the central heating system isn’t quite sufficient. This way, you could manage with a single, low flow temperature.
HausiKlausi10 Mar 2022 21:26
The flow temperature appears to be set at 75°C (167°F) The flow temperature is set to 75 degrees, just like in our system (we also have a Vaillant eco boiler). However, that is a gas condensing boiler. The modulation or control is handled by the heating system itself, as I assume it is an outdoor temperature-controlled heating system. The 75 degrees on the controller do not indicate much! We have similar conditions but are energetically worse off (built in 1920, double glazing, but no wall insulation). Our flow temperature at 0 degrees outside is about 46 degrees (115°F). This is not ideal for a (future) heat pump either. However, with consistent energy-efficient renovation and 33 cm (13 inches) radiators combined with photovoltaics, it is achievable.
Winniefred11 Mar 2022 10:28HausiKlausi schrieb:
The flow temperature is set to 75 degrees Celsius (167°F), as it is in our case as well (we also have a Vaillant eco boiler). However, this is a gas condensing boiler. The modulation or control is handled by the heating system itself, as I assume it is an outdoor temperature-controlled system. The 75 degrees Celsius (167°F) on the controller doesn’t really mean much! We have similar conditions but are still less energy-efficient (built in 1920, double glazing, but no wall insulation). At an outside temperature of 0 degrees Celsius (32°F), our flow temperature is about 46 degrees Celsius (115°F). This is not ideal for a (future) heat pump either. But with consistent energy renovation and the 33/height panel radiators combined with photovoltaics, it is feasible.That would be an explanation. The 75°C (167°F) is only shown on the display when you adjust the controller – afterwards, the display reverts back to the normal reading, as mentioned above.
Winniefred11 Mar 2022 10:47I have now initially contacted our heating contractor, who is a certified master technician and is qualified to perform heating load calculations. The company has always been very competent and tends not to push unnecessary products. He will call me back next week to ask for some basic information and then come over to take a closer look. Whether I will have a heating load calculation done by an engineer afterward remains to be seen. I already have two contacts for that.
Yesterday, I also read some studies and watched videos on YouTube, and I think you are right that a heat pump combined with photovoltaic panels is the best option. Our house meets the necessary requirements. We would just need to install underfloor heating on the ground floor, which we could do at the same time as adding floor insulation toward the basement. Whether underfloor heating is also needed upstairs is something to consider. I definitely wouldn’t want to redo the bathrooms (from 2017) for that. Upstairs, there are only two children’s rooms and a small hallway left. Installing it in the attic doesn’t make sense either, since we basically don’t need to heat that space, and after the children move out, it will hardly be used anymore because we will move down to the upper floor.
I am still completely undecided about the type of heat pump.
Yesterday, I also read some studies and watched videos on YouTube, and I think you are right that a heat pump combined with photovoltaic panels is the best option. Our house meets the necessary requirements. We would just need to install underfloor heating on the ground floor, which we could do at the same time as adding floor insulation toward the basement. Whether underfloor heating is also needed upstairs is something to consider. I definitely wouldn’t want to redo the bathrooms (from 2017) for that. Upstairs, there are only two children’s rooms and a small hallway left. Installing it in the attic doesn’t make sense either, since we basically don’t need to heat that space, and after the children move out, it will hardly be used anymore because we will move down to the upper floor.
I am still completely undecided about the type of heat pump.
Similar topics