S
Sera
Hi there
I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to decide on what system to install for heating and hot water on my new build stationary houseboat, of which the inside floor space is 70sqm with a 6m ceilings in the mid section. My London residential mooring is on mains electricity and water. There is no gas and the mooring is too far down the tow path for oil deliveries.
I was originally going to have a wet UFH with an electric boiler powered by an air source heat pump positioned on the mooring staging which is in front of the boat but this is not possible due to the movement of the conduction hoses/pipe work. The mooring is semi tidal and the boat moves up and down throughout the day. The boat is fabricated from steel so situating the heat pump on deck would be prohibitively noisy. I then thought just an electric boiler but this would be hideously expensive.
The boat is essentially a rectangular steel box with a bedroom at either end, a bathroom and an open plan kitchen living room. It is well insulated and although one side is almost all glass it is triple glazed. The boat also has the very effective insulation of water, so it losses very little in the way of heat once it is warm. My current thoughts are to install a remotely operated zoned electric UFH system under the entire floor with highly conductive porcelain tiles, a solid fuel stove and a dual element immersion heater for hot water. I will be predominantly living alone with visitors on the weekend and occasionally during the week. The UFH system throws out about 12+kWs in it’s entirety but I would probably only switch on the open plan living room and one bedroom an hour or so before I got home (depending on the responsiveness), light the stove which is 6+kWs and turn off the UFH off once the space was warm. The stove will be installed against a brick wall which separates my bedroom and will act as a decent sized storage heater.
I would be very grateful for any suggestions or thoughts on a better way to do things. Like everyone I’m very keen to minimise my energy costs but I am somewhat locked into using electricity. I have thought about using a multi fuel boiler etc, but I work long hours during the week and my journey home is an hour. I don’t really fancy having to wait for hot water etc. There are also safety issues to consider on a boat. I am south facing and my very top deck has plenty of room for solar panels. This is definitely something I would consider in the future.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Regards
Sera
I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to decide on what system to install for heating and hot water on my new build stationary houseboat, of which the inside floor space is 70sqm with a 6m ceilings in the mid section. My London residential mooring is on mains electricity and water. There is no gas and the mooring is too far down the tow path for oil deliveries.
I was originally going to have a wet UFH with an electric boiler powered by an air source heat pump positioned on the mooring staging which is in front of the boat but this is not possible due to the movement of the conduction hoses/pipe work. The mooring is semi tidal and the boat moves up and down throughout the day. The boat is fabricated from steel so situating the heat pump on deck would be prohibitively noisy. I then thought just an electric boiler but this would be hideously expensive.
The boat is essentially a rectangular steel box with a bedroom at either end, a bathroom and an open plan kitchen living room. It is well insulated and although one side is almost all glass it is triple glazed. The boat also has the very effective insulation of water, so it losses very little in the way of heat once it is warm. My current thoughts are to install a remotely operated zoned electric UFH system under the entire floor with highly conductive porcelain tiles, a solid fuel stove and a dual element immersion heater for hot water. I will be predominantly living alone with visitors on the weekend and occasionally during the week. The UFH system throws out about 12+kWs in it’s entirety but I would probably only switch on the open plan living room and one bedroom an hour or so before I got home (depending on the responsiveness), light the stove which is 6+kWs and turn off the UFH off once the space was warm. The stove will be installed against a brick wall which separates my bedroom and will act as a decent sized storage heater.
I would be very grateful for any suggestions or thoughts on a better way to do things. Like everyone I’m very keen to minimise my energy costs but I am somewhat locked into using electricity. I have thought about using a multi fuel boiler etc, but I work long hours during the week and my journey home is an hour. I don’t really fancy having to wait for hot water etc. There are also safety issues to consider on a boat. I am south facing and my very top deck has plenty of room for solar panels. This is definitely something I would consider in the future.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Regards
Sera
