DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi

We have bought an old Farmhouse and need new heating ( no Gas so oil is the best option). We want a Range cooker but have been told as the property is large ( 6 bedrooms) it may not be most effective to use this for water and heating; better to have a condensing boiler. The implicaion is that the former is not 'man enough' to do the job and keep the entire house warm.

Can anyone advise which would be more efficient in terms of heating the whole house as well as being cost effective.

We are considering electric cental heating for an annexe but are not certain if this is en effective counterpart to the other heating

Any help greatly appreciated

You could fit a Heritage Cooker, which has an integral oil boiler up to 140,000 Btu (around 35Kw). This would be large enough for most houses but you need to do a heating calculation (use the whole house heating method. If you Google "sedbuk.com" you will find info here.

The difference in efficiency between a condensing boiler and non condensing Heritage Boiler is minimal. The Heritage boiler is separate with the cooker casing so the output is unaffected by the use of the cooker.

Google "heritagecookers.co.uk" or "hwch.co.uk"

It is unlikely that the range will put out the amount of heat required.
But, it depends on where you are, here it gets down to minus 5C at times and a mile or two up the hill its a lot colder. When its cold and a strong wind blows it gets/feels colder, the wind can strip the heat from a home.

How warm do you want to be, what can you afford to pay to keep warm?

What is the heat loss of the property?
You need to go through the house, room by room, what will you use each room for? What will subsequent owners use the rooms for?
Will they all be used all the time?
All these questions have a bearing on what you want to spend.

On the other hand - if you line all the outside walls with polystyrene, and fill the spaces between the joists in the loft with blown foam and fit all round double or better treble glazing then, your heat requirement will drop considerably.