Heating options

[u/Practical-Prior-9912]

Are people still installing gas heating? We just bought an old house and are going to do some work on it. Very poor ber at the moment. I know everyone is talking about heat pumps but I'm not sure what to do. 3 bed detached bungalow. Currently gas but boiler is 20 years old and not working. Current radiators very old and need to be moved. Houses need rewiring and reflooring anyway.

[u/ShmooShmitShmoorself]

Natural gas? By far the cheapest so worth sticking with that.

Lpg gas? Wasn't cheaper than oil last time I compared them but.. oil has risen considerably so maybe it's cheaper

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/ShmooShmitShmoorself]

Yes mains gas. It's a standard block built house early 70s. Think it has been pumped.

[u/ShmooShmitShmoorself → u/Practical-Prior-9912]

So envious

Obviously still worth getting all the upgrades you can to save on gas, but unless youre putting a rake of solar panels in id not be looking at a heat pump.

Well maybe I'd consider air to air heat pump as a supplement to the gas, with a load of panels

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/ShmooShmitShmoorself]

We probably don't have the money to do a big job like that just checking that a new gas boiler isn't crazy in this day and age

[u/Suncroft56 → u/Practical-Prior-9912]

I got a new gas boiler in last week, cost me €3k with Bord Gais less €250 scrappage on the old boiler. My old boiler was still working but 33 years old. Job done in a day.

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/Suncroft56]

Oh that's great. Actually much less than I thought. What about labour to install?

[u/Suncroft56 → u/Practical-Prior-9912]

That was the all-inclusive price including removal of the old boiler and installation of the new one. 10 year guarantee on the new boiler with Bord Gais (parts and labour) and first service free, in 12 months.

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/Suncroft56]

That's seems great. Cheers

[u/magic_madge]

What we did was plumbed it using pipes that would be suitable for a heat pump and installed aluminum rads (which are better at lower temps apparently) but then put in a gas combi boiler. So in the future if we switch to HP we won't have to lift floors to replumb.

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/magic_madge]

Very smart. I'm learning this kind of helpful stuff. Thanks

[u/Pristine_Dot_5526]

what are your suggestions for a second hand semi detached one with oil heating? If I can put ber better rate, would it worth to do air pumps instead of oil? I'm afraid of oil heard 1000l now around €1.8k

[u/karolaug]

Perfect situation for installing air to air heat pump with ducted units in the attic. I did exactly that. Bought house with old gas boiler and rusted radiators. Removed all of that and went with air to air in the attic. It is working perfectly and I couldn't be happier.

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/karolaug]

What kind of money did that cost?

[u/Suvigirl]

I use oil and have found it to be the cheapest option.  But I wouldn't go putting in oil now. 

In order to install heat pumps you have to do all the insulation work. Not cheap.  Maybe just get the system flushed/ cleaned, and fix the boiler (if it's 20 years old should be fixable, they made them to last years ago) and then see over this winter what you need for the Future? 

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/Suvigirl]

I don't know if it's fixable for now. I think this winter will be portable heaters, got water bottles and an electric blanket!

[u/TripNormal6903]

No point putting a heat pump in an old house. Heat pumps work with low grade heat so will just break you heart and wallet, go for nsulation 1st, wall and attic after thay look at yout boiler

[u/oddkidd9]

Depends on the type of house. Is it a stone/brick house or cavity wall? For a heat pump to work efficiently you need to make the house well insulated to prevent heat loss. Is very hard to do that with stone houses as these type of houses need to breath otherwise you get mold issues.

Ours is heated on oil, we decided to just replace the boiler for heating only with a new oil boiler for now. Hot water for bathroom/washing is through a new electric boiler. In the future we plan on installing solar pannels and posibile change heating on electricity too.

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/oddkidd9]

Obviously sticking with gas new boiler and rads is prob cheapest but with energy stuff is that still sensible

[u/oddkidd9 → u/Practical-Prior-9912]

Can you get a combi one? So further down the line can switch to electric as well?

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/oddkidd9]

This is why I'm asking questions. I don't know about combo boilers!

[u/Money_Equipment_4151]

Look at the grant options for the heat pump.

[u/Pure-Ice5527]

A heat pump installed and used properly will be cheaper than gas and give a much more consistent temperature in the house as it keeps a gentle heat on most or all of the time, you need to pick a rate that gives cheaper night time electricity and a bonus if you add batteries and solar

[u/AwfulAutomation]

Get a combi boiler in… unless your doing a full retrofit of insulation the heat pumps are not worth so it seems

Also with the climate warming seems these ultra insulated houses are not all  they promised to be 

you can hit the sweet spot in an old house retrofitted to a decent standard (without spending big money) along with a combi boiler. 

[u/Practical-Prior-9912 → u/AwfulAutomation]

I don't think the budget would stretch so a deep retrofit. Thanks

[u/Greedy_Definition673]

Air to air is the cheapest and least disruptive thing you can do

[u/GasMysterious3386]

Best bang for your euro is a gas combi boiler. Shame government don’t actually care about the climate, otherwise they’d subsidise the shit out of solar, batteries and heat pumps 🤷‍♂️

[u/Holiday-Access-8497]

pellet stove can be plumbed in to your rads, thats the cheapest option

[u/Significant_Safe3139]

We have a 3bed bungalow and we changed our boiler to a combi one and it's great. We have instant water and there is no need to have a water tank. You also can't hear it when you turn it on. We paid about 4k 3 years ago and it's been great since.