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Domestic Central Heating
Fandango - 20/2/21 at 10:12 AM

Hi all.

I am moving house next week, and planning to bin the old oil fired central heating system in the new place, as it is decrepit.

Jut looking for a bit of wisdom as to what I should replace it with, house is rural detached bungalow, a little elevated, so good sunlight coverage.

Have had a brief look at the "Green Homes Grant" government scheme, so in an ideal world I would like to make use of this.

Does anyone here have any intel they can offer, on the systems, or the grants?

Cheers Carl

BenB - 20/2/21 at 11:15 AM

Is there a big garden - if so possibly a ground source heat pump. You can do them vertically but it means drilling a deep deep hole with a big machine. Horizontal ground source just needs a mini digger to create a zig-zag 1m deep ditch.
How long are you thinking of living there?
Green Grant is one thing but you may also be eligible for RHI (renewable heating initiative).

To get green grant or RHI you'll need to do any work recommended in the EPC. Bare in mind ground source and air pumps won't necessarily make the heating water boiling so best combined with underfloor heating or bigger radiators. And you'll need to insulate the loft and sort any leaky windows.

Some people end up having a gas or oil fired boiler as a "booster" for the coldest winter days. Depends on the property.

I've been looking at this for my Sister's new house. There's good money out there especially if you combine GG with RHI but the grant alone rarely covers the full cost of install. RHI makes up for it but that's over 7 years so if you're not going to live there long possibly not worth it. Heat pumps can be a bit noisy (think external a/c unit on full chat) so good if you've got somewhere out the way to put it.

hobbsy - 20/2/21 at 11:16 AM

Search on money saving expert for the info on the green grants.

You've got to spend half on other measures before you can do things like heat pumps I think.

Also lookup the renewable heat initiative

In theory this can cover most of the cost of a system over the following 8 yearsin tax free payments.

hobbsy - 20/2/21 at 11:17 AM

Ben replied as I was typing mine and his answer is more comprehensive

Fandango - 20/2/21 at 11:37 AM

Cheers for the intel guys.

Yes the garden is a good size.

Will have a good look at all the points raised, or could be a mission for the wife, as she is still furloughed...........

Cheers.

v8kid - 20/2/21 at 12:49 PM

!m in almost exactly the same position. Just moved into a new to us house 3 weeks ago and found the central heating U/S despite the home report giving it a 1!!!

It was an old oil-fired system with the boiler in the cellar and microbore piping to the rads.

Looked at all the options and decided to replace the whole system with a condensing oil-fired boiler situated externally. For a 20 radiator system, it cost me just a shade under £10k for bosch/Hep2O system. Now nice and warm it took the chaps a week to install.

Condensing oil boilers of a reputable make are incredibly efficient and oil is cheap. External boilers do not require a flue and remove a fire hazard from the house.

WRT heat pumps they have a seriously poor reputation for reliability and failing to provide adequate heat output, electric heating is too expensive as is bulk liquid gas.

Good luck with the heat pump and look forward to hearing tales of woe if you go ahead

What chance do you think I've got of getting some money back from the house seller under false description?

Cheers

Fandango - 20/2/21 at 02:53 PM

I would be looking into legal action against the writer of the homebuyers report, will probably get nowhere, but the previous owner of the house could claim he had no clue the heating was shot.

When I first viewed the house I have bought, I could see the whole system was ancient, so offered 7.5k less based on expected cost.

ianhurley20 - 21/2/21 at 09:32 AM

My daughter bought a house last November, Homebuyers report (not the basic one) pointed out a few things but missed the fact there was no insulation in the loft (the hoiuse is a 1930's semi) and failed to spot the chimney had been removed from ground floor and upstairs but was supported by fresh air in the loft. It was held by the neighbours side of the chimney alone. My daughter moved her daughter out of the affected bedroom for safety and got a contracter to do remedial work to suppoort the brickwork. Letter to the company who did the report. Cost of survey and cost of fixes fully refunded but no admission of liability. At least she got something without a protracted court case. Good luck with your case for compensation.

Fandango - 21/2/21 at 10:09 AM

That is interesting, maybe surveyors have insurance against their own incompetence.

So V8kid could be worth a go.

cliftyhanger - 22/2/21 at 07:59 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Fandango
That is interesting, maybe surveyors have insurance against their own incompetence.

So V8kid could be worth a go.


Yes, they pay a fortune.

But a great deal of a survey is stuff that is irrelevant to us but to the clueless just scares them.
A surveyor won't lift carpets of do anything invasive, so there are stacks of caveats in the report.
(my wife works for a firm of surveyors, they get frustrated because of the public perception that they don't know what they are doing, yet have to work within the constraints of the guidlines. And often have people chasing them about stuff that they clearly state ARE excluded from the report)

Incompetent surveyors don't last long, their premiums go up to more than they make. Most produce accurate reports within the scope oft teh report. They don't comment much on heating/electrics/woodworm, usually suggesting it gets assessed by somebody qualified in that field.

perksy - 22/2/21 at 04:06 PM

I always thought that legally the seller had to leave the buyer with a home that was habitable with working water, waste/drains and heating ?

I know when our neighbour sold his house he had to have the boiler repaired just before the new owners took up residence