We have just had our house insulated from the outside. It has solid stone walls. It is already warmer. The roof space has been done as well.
Does this mean its been clad?...i dont really want cladding as i like the look of stone!
dpack
|
pellet is dependant on pellet manufacture ,wood chip is possible as diy,logs n sticks are easy to diy.
a multi fuel system has the advantage of not being dependent on a single fuel ie it can burn owt from logs to shoes
another vote for as much insulation/draft proofing as possible(you do need ventilation but not drafts)
|
Cathryn
|
It does. We had dressed stone on one side which I miss. It is still there preserved underneath the cladding without being damaged so my stepson can remove it when he takes over the farm and the next insulation technique is invented. The dressed stone at the front with it's creamy stripes of bricks had been covered over by the two generations before us so it was less of a shock. Vegplot is good on this - it is very thermally efficient and the house looks different but still fine. It fact it looks very smart! (Apart from the scaffolding, hen houses, random objects collected by dogs and children all over the lawn and heaps of rubble that need removing)
|
Nick
|
This gives you an idea of how it now looks at Cathryn's
|
Cathryn
|
We are going to keep woodburning stoves as well. We have enough wood on the farm for our use for a very long time but it is not worth us turning this into pellets. A locally proposed scheme to produce masses of pellets never got off the ground - too much paperwork and too many civil servants and farmers involved.
|
henchard
|
and the next insulation technique is invented. |
Aerogel already exists (which has the highest insulation value of any known material) but is very expensive
http://www.proctorgroup.com/products/spacetherm
http://www.thermablok.co.uk
Cathryn
|
It was nice to see that the pretty finishes on these old walls were undamaged by this technique.
I am still waiting to see if we can use the hotfish technology for internal heating but for us it's about timing and the slightly daft green deals that are currently available.
The ancient plaster on the inside of the house is starting to fall off as it dries out. I was expecting this but just so you are aware if you go this way.
|
Ty Gwyn
|
Will people be able to breathe in their houses in the future?
|
Cathryn
|
I have no worries about that. Next winter the ice won't freeze on the inside in my bedroom.
|
Nicky cigreen
|
Re: In need of some stove/boiler / off grid power advice pleHi,
Just signed up - so, Hello guys, pleased to meet you!
|
welcome
is the house listed? have you got room in your kitchen for a range ?
I live in an old house, stone walls, and there are mystery drafts all over we keep fixing. We keep pretty warm just using the two woodburning stoves - we burn logs and scrap wood. We have a woodburner in the living room and an esse ironheart in the kitchen which we also cook on and it makes hot water. You can go up a few models and get a range that can do radiators too. We top up with a gas boiler - you could consider oil or lpg
ricardodba
|
Re: In need of some stove/boiler / off grid power advice pleHi,
Just signed up - so, Hello guys, pleased to meet you!
|
welcome
is the house listed? have you got room in your kitchen for a range ?
I live in an old house, stone walls, and there are mystery drafts all over we keep fixing. We keep pretty warm just using the two woodburning stoves - we burn logs and scrap wood. We have a woodburner in the living room and an esse ironheart in the kitchen which we also cook on and it makes hot water. You can go up a few models and get a range that can do radiators too. We top up with a gas boiler - you could consider oil or lpg
Hi,
Yes there is room for a range or boiler stove in kitchen...Currently there is an old aga in the fireplace in the kitchen which is used for hot water. I dont think it will power CH too...so will replace it and sell the old aga (if its worth anything!)
There is another log burner in downstairs dining room too - which belts out a load of heat - so maybe with a new stove in kitchen i wont need radiators down stairs, just use both burners to heat downstairs... and just have rads in the bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.
i guess it comes down to price of new stove and how much casg i have.
There is a separate oven in kitchen as well as aga. Oven powered by electric and top by gas bottle, which has a feed from outside. So no need to get a new aga type cooker.
House isnt listed.
Cathryn
|
It sounds like it would be worth trying it all out before you do anything too drastic. Our rayburn would keep a less draughty and smaller farmhouse nice and warm and the woodburner is fab!
(Ignore Nick - he is just horribly hungover as usual. The stone work is lovely on a house but sometimes comfort wins out and ours had a few other problems as well.)
|
Nick
|
No hangovers here!
|
dpack
|
not listed helps a lot in terms of making sure the chimney/flues are in good condition,
if you are going to burn wood in any form make sure the flue liner is the correct type and is in good condition
|
Nicky cigreen
|
I agree with Cathryn about not rushing into things - take your time rather than ripping something out.
You may want to do a combination of things - as I said we have the wood fired esse ironheart - that makes hot water but we also have a gas boiler for the summer/if we have flu/ didn't have it lit etc
I certainly think you want another way to cook besides having to light the range - otherwise you have to light it in summer too - we let the fire out in summer.
an aga/rayburn/esse in the kitchen is a lovely thing though - at the mo it is fairly cold out but the only heating I have in the house is the lit esse, and I am cooking a shoulder of mutton in the oven and chicken soup on the top
|
ricardodba
|
So, what boiler stoves do you guys recommend for a room 4m x 4m x3m(ish) high...and will need to heat max of 8 rads and hot water?
Esse Ironheart, woodwarm and the Dunsley Yorkshire Multifuel are a few i have seen mentioned so far.
id like to be able to control the the CH if possible!
Thanks.
|
Mistress Rose
|
We have been looking at the Warmsler for years. It has the advantage of a raisable grate so in the summer you can have a small fire and just use it as a cooker. I would still recommend having an alternative for very hot weather though. It is a case of just not getting round to the alterations we would have had to make to put it in.
I would not get a stove that just heats the size of room. We have a reasonable sized closed fire in the lounge and leave the door open so it heats more of the house too. As firewood suppliers we also suffer from others who have tiny stoves for small rooms. In fact we can't supply some as the smallest logs we can do are 8" long and a very tiny stove can only take 6".
If you really want to use biomass as a direct 'plug in' for gas central heating, then pellet is probably your best bet, but as other say, you are dependent on your supplier. If you want to be as self sufficient as possible, logs are the way to go. Personally I prefer logs, but then we do supply then as well as use them, so I am a bit biased.
|
Home Home Home Home Home