Alternative Heating in the UK?

 I have a house in the UK.   It's in the southern part of the country (where
Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire come close to one another).   It is heated
using Oil (I'm off gas mains) which also provides my hot water.   The boiler
is only abut 5 years old.   I have a South West facing roof face.

I'm beginning to think about retirement, at the moment, I still have a
salary to help me fund "improvements".   We've installed double glazing and
are in the process of arranging to improve the insulation.   My thoughts are
now turning to other ways of trying to minimise my dependence on oil and to
try and keep my bills at a reasonable level (assuming the price of oil will
remain relatively high).   Whilst I'm not planning to spend money for the
sake of it, I'm not necessarily looking at this on a payback basis.

My initial thinking said "Solar Heating".   Well, I immediately ran into a
flat plate/evacuated tube debate which I'm beginning to get the hang of but
if anyone would like to explain it to me in words of one syllable (or point
me at a web site that does) I'd be grateful.   Oh, and I failed initially to
realise the difference between PV and heating!

I've also come across Heat Pumps which I recognise are more expensive and
can require quite a large area in which to lay the field (although you can
drill down).   I may have the space for a field but I suspect not quite
enough.   Heat pumps have the added attrraction of appearing to offer the
opportunity to generate both heat and cooling (although you can't transmit
cool air using a radiator based system so there's more cost, I assume).   I
know this is a solar group but if anyone can point me at another single
syllable web site where I can enhance my understanding I'd be grateful.

And if there are any books I should read.....

  Do some  looking at  solar setup that follows the sun as it goes across
the sky - i.e tracking system for solar since you don't have a pure
southern roof ) and radiant heat for the floors ( there are radiant
system that can retrofit a older home without tearing up the floor to
lay concrete or new floor boards ).  What have you done to windows
facing southwest (front of house ?). Have a  HVAC (heating and cooling
specialist ) person take a look at how air flows through the house. I'm
about to look at triple glaze windows for the southern part of the house
(front). Got rid of all the bushes near the front of the house. Going to
put whole fan (thermostat control) and  solar air vents . Put more
ceiling fans in the house to more the air around better.  Just some
suggestions.

Graham Harrison wrote:

 
Drew Cutter wrote:

There's also a type of heat pump that extracts heat from the
surrounding, outside, air. This is called an Air to Water Heat Pump and
operates precisely the opposite as a normal air conditioning (AC) unit.
The part that extracts the heat from the outside air is not very large,
but does contain one or more fans. On modern machines these are very,
very quiet. This would overcome any land space problems you might have.
As the ambient air temperature in Southern England is usually above
ground temperature such a unit has the potential to be more efficient
as well, but check this just to be sure. If you have underfloor heating
then the heat pump output will be very well matched to this - if not,
then it may be necessary to oversize the radiators as the water
temperature from the heatpump is usually in the range of 35-45 degree
Celcius. Any solar panels you add for heating water can be used to heat
your domestic hot water supply during the warmer months of the year
when  the heat pump would not be in operation. Bear in mind that heat
pumps are expensive and that you will be tied to the grid, replacing
oil for electricity the cost of which you do not control either.

Best wishes,

Mike

 

You may find this web site of interest:  http://www.navitron.org.uk/
--
Mr X

 The navitron website is www.navitron.org.uk


Air source heat pumps are not very efficient. In theory they ought to
be, but the problem lies in the rate of heat transfer from the air heat
exchanger. This bottleneck causes condensation and then ice to form on
the heatexchanger. The ice acts as an insulator, causing the heatpump
to work harder, causing more ice etc. The COP (coefficient of
performance) in practice is much lower than with a ground source heat
pump for this reason. COPs indicate the amount of heat produced from a
given amount of electricity input. Typically GSHPs provide COPs of 4-6,
whereas air source is probably nearer 2-3 depending on weather
conditions.


Ivan
Navitron