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NO Gas No oil small house everything electric Need advise

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Mark Duffy

Good day
I have just joined this forum.

I have a small cottage in Wales. There is no gas supply. I do not have much space to install an outside oil or gas tank and do not want the expense. The property is well insulated. I intend to run everything electric.
Heating: My desire is to have electric underfloor heating and in case this is not sufficient I am wiring a separate circuit for Economy 7.
Water I have not researched the water heaters available and am hoping for recommendations here. The bathroom is very close to the kitchen. Would it make sense to have one water heater to supply hot to both?

Here's hoping someone else has had these circumstances and can give me the benefit of his/her experience.

All the best
Mark
 
Whats your water pressure like. You could go for a direct unvented cylinder for your hot or even an electric combi to do htg and hot water.
 
Hi Mark, I'll probably get some doubters here, but if you're after wet central heating options, consider an electric flow boiler. You'll need a decent incoming supply and mains fuse. I've got one in my house, as I'm off gas grid, and didn't fancy oil.

I've fitted a good few of them, they are more expensive to run than gas and even oil, but if you insulate well, and get the right electrical tarrifs, then they're certainly an option I would consider.

You may notice I'm gas safe, LPG and oil qualified, so I could have fitted LPG or oil in my place, but I know these boilers are low maintenance and cheap. I've always fitted the Heatrae Sadia one. There are various size options. Slim Jim is another make who go up to 14KW, but if your place needs 14KW then consider a different option.

Should add I'm adding solar thermal panels to my place in the spring to make the system more efficient, but you are talking high effiency figure with an electric boiler. No wasted energy via flue gasses.

Would talk more, but got to go jump in the bath. Others here will advise I'm sure.

(also consider renewable heat sources, air source for instance).
 
Not sure what the pressure is. Not there at the moment. Buy your suggestion is interesting. Do i take it that with an electric combi i could have radiators et all. have you any experience of one?
 
Mark Duffy said:
Not sure what the pressure is. Not there at the moment. Buy your suggestion is interesting. Do i take it that with an electric combi i could have radiators et all. have you any experience of one?
Click to expand...

Yes, it gives you a wet central heating system and mains pressure hot water, but depenant on water pressure and flow. Fitted one about 18 months ago and customer loves it, said it was on par with oil for costs. They are moving house and sold theirs within 3 wks, the boiler was one of the selling points. The electric combi replaced an old oil boiler.
 
Hi Danny
Just got your follow up. I have this house with my brother so have to discuss with him. I am very interested in your suggestion. Hope I get more. This was precisely why i joined this forum. I have not done the sums for the electric underfloor option but am concerned that it will not heat the place.
 
Good suggestions here but I wouldnt go down the underfloor route I would use standard radiators, if the place is unoccupied for a long time and you only pop down the odd wekend the underfloor will take a long time to heat up.The radiators will heat up quicker and there is less to go wrong with that system and most plumbers understand that type of system.
 
You need to size the heating requirments for the property. With our house a 9KW boiler is more than enough for space heating. (Our is a three bedroom mid-terrace). We then have the hot water cylinder heated immersion heater, and soon to be helped by the solar thermal panels. Works for us.

I have come across electric boilers which are specially designed for wet underfloor heating (last one I remember was a big development of flats and they all had one installed).

It is a good point, and well worth remembering that underfloor heating will take longer to warm the property and is best when it is left on to tick over for long periods. Not sporadic periods of heating. It's pretty obvious but in with underfloor heating you are relying of warming the thermal mass of the floor. The insulation below the heating grid means less heat is absorbed beneath the floor and the majority of the heat goes into the screed and thus into the room. Radiators ironically heat a room more by convection currents than radiation. It's a different heat, and generally faster.
 
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Air source heat pump? You might get paid for it next year depending on whather they pull there finger out with the RHI (renewable heat incentive) and £750 towards the install. Depends how well your well insulated cottage is though really.
 
Yeah, I mentioned air source heat pumps in my first post. An option worth considering.
 
Hi Guys

Wow Thanks for all the great advice. When I have it all in I will attempt analyse to make a small report of how I see it and post it here. Given that I am not a central heat man that will be a little difficult but all that can happen is I will be shot down in flames and learn a little along the way. My plan is to price the materials of various options. My thoughts are
  1. Electric under floor
  2. Electric combination with Rads.
  3. Electric combination underfloor.

As above i don't like the idea of spending a lot on and oil or gas tank which for me would have to be an excavation job as we don't have the garden space to spare.

Mark
 
Mark Duffy said:
Hi Guys

Wow Thanks for all the great advice. When I have it all in I will attempt analyse to make a small report of how I see it and post it here. Given that I am not a central heat man that will be a little difficult but all that can happen is I will be shot down in flames and learn a little along the way. My plan is to price the materials of various options. My thoughts are
  1. Electric under floor
  2. Electric combination with Rads.
  3. Electric combination underfloor.

As above i don't like the idea of spending a lot on and oil or gas tank which for me would have to be an excavation job as we don't have the garden space to spare.

Mark
Click to expand...

If you're taking about electric underfloor matting, I.e. warmup, don't even consider it to warm an entire house, won't work and has poor lifespan IMO.
 
I agree, electric underfloor is only good for making a bathroom feel slightly more comfy.
 
Hi and thanks

Had sort of discounted electric Under floor but wanted to see the price.

Looking at an electric combi boiler. Has anyone any comments on the Heatrae Sadia Electromax Conbi Boiler 9kW electric. Like Danny I like HeatRae. Our cottage is two bed and about 55 Sqm with one be upstairs. Would this boiler be sufficient for underfloor heating? Much prefer to get independent advice here rather that the suppliers.
Thanks Mark
 
You should employ an experienced plumber (heating engineer if you prefer that title!) to check the heat requirements of your new home. To say 55m3 isn't enough really. Though in fairness, 9KW heating should be more than enough. As for the combi side of it, I have my doubts. I would personally have an unvented cylinder (you won't need a large one in small property - 150Litres).

Your 9KW boiler will heat that cylinder (with its the high recovery coil) in around an hour. You'll then have great flow rates, and plenty of heat for space heating. Whether that's wet underfloor or radiators (or a mix of both).
 
Also you will have a standard S or Y plan and central heating, which is bread and butter for most plumbers.
 
Elec Floor heating I don't like mate I wouldn't do it mate lol, I do a lot of fridge and air con mate and air source would work best for you with a hw cylinder or a wood burnner lol, its all upt to wot money your wanting to spend now and save in the long run mate:) you could be thinking of doing things on the cheap now but you always end up paying for it mate
 
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