ᐅ What to replace an oil heating system from 1989 in an old, characterful house with?
Created on: 9 Jan 2021 14:19
M
meowmeow
Hello dear forum,
we have an old timber-framed house in the Alpine foreland. Built around 1910 with an extension from the 1960s, the original building has a basement, the extension does not. The insulation is rather poor, and the windows are either double-glazed or old. A hailstorm completely destroyed our roof, so a new roof with good insulation has now been installed.
Currently, we have a Viessmann oil heating system from 1989 with a 2000l (528 gallons) oil tank in the basement, which has caused no major problems so far. The hot water is also centrally supplied by this system. With the old roof, we used about 1900-2500l (502-660 gallons) of oil in winter, depending on the season. With the new roof, we don’t have experience yet, but I expect some improvement. The house has about 115m2 (1238 square feet) of living space, heated by radiators.
Since the heating system is getting old and there are currently larger subsidy programs, we are considering modernization. From my research so far, a heat pump seems to be out of the question because we would need a better-insulated house and underfloor heating? Other types of electric heating seem even less economical?
The least invasive option would probably be a new condensing oil boiler, but these are not subsidized, so I could just wait until the old one breaks down?
A pellet heating system seems too complicated to operate? My mother will soon be 70 and often lives alone in the house. In her old age, I don’t want to put too much strain on her. We frequently visit with our child for several days, but mostly in summer. Also, the long transition phase with low heating loads appears to speak against a pellet system.
I can’t really estimate the costs for gas. A gas connection might be possible with the local supplier if the neighbors join in. We would need about 60-70m (197-230 feet) of gas pipeline on our own property. What costs should I roughly expect? Alternatively, a tank could be buried in the garden, but we are not very enthusiastic about that idea. We are somewhat confused by current politics: on the one hand, fossil fuels are supposed to become much more expensive to promote renewable energy, but on the other hand, gas condensing boilers are heavily subsidized?
For sentimental reasons, we could imagine installing a water-bearing wood stove in the living room. We already have a wood-burning stove in the kitchen where we occasionally cook, and which also provides some heating in winter.
However, it would have to connect to the same chimney currently used by the oil heating system – or the future gas heating system – and from what I understand, this is not allowed, so I might have to give up that dream, right?
We are considering a photovoltaic system on the roof, but we plan to remove the attic floor and renovate the upstairs room within about 5-10 years to get higher ceilings. This would also include adding a few skylights. I should probably wait for these renovation measures first.
What would you recommend? How should the new heating system be sized – I assume this can be calculated quite well based on previous energy consumption?
Thank you very much for your time and help!
we have an old timber-framed house in the Alpine foreland. Built around 1910 with an extension from the 1960s, the original building has a basement, the extension does not. The insulation is rather poor, and the windows are either double-glazed or old. A hailstorm completely destroyed our roof, so a new roof with good insulation has now been installed.
Currently, we have a Viessmann oil heating system from 1989 with a 2000l (528 gallons) oil tank in the basement, which has caused no major problems so far. The hot water is also centrally supplied by this system. With the old roof, we used about 1900-2500l (502-660 gallons) of oil in winter, depending on the season. With the new roof, we don’t have experience yet, but I expect some improvement. The house has about 115m2 (1238 square feet) of living space, heated by radiators.
Since the heating system is getting old and there are currently larger subsidy programs, we are considering modernization. From my research so far, a heat pump seems to be out of the question because we would need a better-insulated house and underfloor heating? Other types of electric heating seem even less economical?
The least invasive option would probably be a new condensing oil boiler, but these are not subsidized, so I could just wait until the old one breaks down?
A pellet heating system seems too complicated to operate? My mother will soon be 70 and often lives alone in the house. In her old age, I don’t want to put too much strain on her. We frequently visit with our child for several days, but mostly in summer. Also, the long transition phase with low heating loads appears to speak against a pellet system.
I can’t really estimate the costs for gas. A gas connection might be possible with the local supplier if the neighbors join in. We would need about 60-70m (197-230 feet) of gas pipeline on our own property. What costs should I roughly expect? Alternatively, a tank could be buried in the garden, but we are not very enthusiastic about that idea. We are somewhat confused by current politics: on the one hand, fossil fuels are supposed to become much more expensive to promote renewable energy, but on the other hand, gas condensing boilers are heavily subsidized?
For sentimental reasons, we could imagine installing a water-bearing wood stove in the living room. We already have a wood-burning stove in the kitchen where we occasionally cook, and which also provides some heating in winter.
However, it would have to connect to the same chimney currently used by the oil heating system – or the future gas heating system – and from what I understand, this is not allowed, so I might have to give up that dream, right?
We are considering a photovoltaic system on the roof, but we plan to remove the attic floor and renovate the upstairs room within about 5-10 years to get higher ceilings. This would also include adding a few skylights. I should probably wait for these renovation measures first.
What would you recommend? How should the new heating system be sized – I assume this can be calculated quite well based on previous energy consumption?
Thank you very much for your time and help!
N
nordanney9 Feb 2021 20:05meowmeow schrieb:
What is the main advantage of the monoblock? Mono – everything including the cooling circuit is integrated into one unit. Anyone can install the unit themselves; no technician is required.
meowmeow schrieb:
Hmm, that would mean running the water pipes through the exterior wall to the outside. If the heating fails during winter, I think that could quickly become quite problematic? That’s an issue with any heating system. However, a backup electric heating element is still available in that case. Make sure to properly insulate the pipes for the underfloor heating with Armaflex or similar, and that will provide good thermal insulation.
Joedreck schrieb:
Can you tell me what is included in the $20,000 for a new oil heating system? That seems SIGNIFICANTLY too expensive to me.That also seemed quite high to me. But two heating contractors have now given us that amount as a rough estimate.I will need a technician on site anyway for the new heating system, I can’t handle everything myself. Efficiency seems to be largely the same for split and monobloc units. At the moment, I find the split solution much more appealing, also because the outdoor unit stays smaller and some of the noise is moved into the basement.
That is complete nonsense. A new burner costs about 5,000, including installation. If something needs to be done in the chimney (new units don’t get hot enough, so a pipe has to be inserted into the chimney), that will cost extra. But it will definitely not exceed 10,000 if the existing tank is kept.
Yes, the tanks should be kept. However, the chimney needs to be modified, and the old heating system must be removed and disposed of. I noticed that at least the control unit still has some resale value 🙂
I can imagine that heating engineers usually start by quoting a higher price and then offer a discount.
I can imagine that heating engineers usually start by quoting a higher price and then offer a discount.
H
hampshire9 Feb 2021 23:33Just think about it twice. As I understand you, you would actually prefer to have a stove and want to avoid the effort in later years. So, install the stove, upgrade the electrical system, and lay wiring for infrared heaters. When the stove becomes too difficult to manage, just turn on the infrared heaters and that’s it. This will cost a bit more electricity but eliminates worries about "unfit" days, and your preferred heating solution will work well for years to come.
Interesting way of thinking. However, we already have radiators in the house, and a wood heating system would probably be best placed in the basement where the oil heating is currently located. This would again occupy the chimney, making a wood stove in the living room impossible.
Finally, progress is being made, and we now have an appointment with the energy consultant.
Finally, progress is being made, and we now have an appointment with the energy consultant.
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