Gas Underfloor Heating Advise

[adslev]

Hey all. I'm a member of the electricians forum just across the road and my knowledge of plumbing and boilers is non-existent!
Im in the process of building a 2 1/2 story detached house with garage and was thinking of going for gas underfloor heating with a cylinder buried in the garden. What kimd of gas boiler would be best and is gas suited to underfloor heating? The house will be approx 1800sq ft so what would the approx installation costs and running costs?
Sorry for all the questions but like i say im clueless when it comes to plumbing!!
I live in northern ireland btw
Thanks in advance for any help I receive!

 

[Gray0689]

Yes gas is suited to underfloor heating price is dependent on system you want but if you post location I might be able to point you in right direction as I'm from NI to
Your talking about LPG running costs are approx the same as oil at min more regs on gas tank buried as I'm led to believe and is more expensive

 

[adslev]

Cheers for the reply, im from between omagh and enniskillen, yeah ive been on to calor already and it has to buried 8metres away from a solid structure and you have to pay rent on the tank, because im out in the sticks so to speak ofch is the normal around here but I want something different, would it heat the house quicker than oil and would I still need a cylinder or would a condensing combi boiler do the job?

 

[Gray0689]

I'm from Tyrone
Well it a hard one yes gas in my opinion heats that bit faster but as for running costs I'm not sure
Yes you can have a combi boiler but for your size of house I'd go for a system boiler with unvented cylinder
Are you going for underfloor heating everywhere or just ground floor rads upstairs etc

 

[adslev]

I want underfloor throughout the house but it depends on the cost, I am getting a friend to price it for me at the moment however he dosent fill me with confidence as he has never worked with gas boilers and underfloor before. As for a system boiler and unvented cylinder I have no idea what that means!

 

[Gray0689]

It won't be cheap
And a system boiler is just a gas boiler that heats water in central heating and heats hot water through a coil in a hot water cylinder
If your mate has never worked on gas then he can't as that would be illegal

 

[Gray0689]

There is no difference to set up really if using a gas boiler or oil boiler

 

[adslev]

Well I was hoping it could all be done for around the 7-8k mark again saying as I havent a notion about plumbing is that wishfull thinking?
Yeah I would need a gas safe registered plumber for the boiler connection

 

[Gray0689]

It all depends on what set up you want but for 8k if that full supply and fit of entire plumbing then yes wishfully thinking
I'd say more like 12k

 

[adslev]

Rads it i then, I was hoping that gas would work out cheaper in the long term as oil prices have been shooting up
However because we dont use gas as much here as opposed to england,scotland and wales I wouldnt have heard or
paid much attention to the price of gas, the calor gas tem do a great pitch about the benifits of gas heating, but they would
be slightly biased i suppose

 

[Gray0689]

Underfloor is expensive you could go for underfloor downstairs and rads upstairs
To be honest whether you go for oil or gas the installation cost won't be that much different as gas you don't bye the tank oil you have to bye a bundled tank gas boiler is cheaper than a oil boiler more choice where you can site a gas boiler
Also are you on a main road or in sticks got to look at water pressure as you may not have the flow rates to run an unvented cylinder (mains pressure to bath showers etc)
You have a lot to think about I'm afraid mate do you spark for yourself

 

[Gray0689]

Oil and LPG is very similar in price

 

[adslev]

Work for a local firm but do a fair bit in my own time, the house is being built on the main road and there was actually three water mains running through the house when they starting digging the founds, so the mains would be about a 10metre run away from the house, your more than welcome to take a look at the plans and give me a price aswell, it wont be ready for first fix until march or there abouts

 

[Gray0689]

I'll pm you

 

[jtsplumbing]

Have you considerd useing electric boilers or air sorce heat pump ? think electric would be cheeper to run than oil or lpg

 

[Gray0689]

Have you considerd useing electric boilers or air sorce heat pump ? think electric would be cheeper to run than oil or lpg

Electric is not cheaper lol
And air source heat pumps can be good IF sized and installed correctly but still far to expensive to bye

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hello gray0689 with ref to electric boilers and running costs do you not have differant tarrifs ? as on mainland uk eg Econ 7 ect. yes air source is costl`y to buy but look at long term running costs,

 

[Gray0689]

Yes we have same tariffs as you but let me put it this way how many electric boilers are there compared to say oil and lpg they are no less to run any I have seen have been expensive to run but I'm
Here to be proved wrong also
Air source can be great but it's the initial cost to buy the product that puts to many off and really not many people go for them as no grants

 

[adslev]

Definetly not heat recovery or geo thermal as I havent been impressed by either system in the past plus the intial cost are astronomical compared to gas or oil, electric underfloor maybe with a few alterations made to the electric meter!!

 

[Gray0689]

Definetly not heat recovery or geo thermal as I havent been impressed by either system in the past plus the intial cost are astronomical compared to gas or oil, electric underfloor maybe with a few alterations made to the electric meter!!

Lol I like your thinking with the meter

 

[Nordio]

Always go with oil when lpg is the alternative.
Even if lpg is cheaper. (Though its not)
Reason being oil is easy to work on and safer. Plus you don't need corgi trained operatives to work on oil who would charge you the earth.
The boilers are also a lot more reliable. Especially Grants with Riello burners.
Bomb proof combination.

I keep a spare set of parts for my Grant oil boiler.
1- Control Box
2 - Photocell
3 - Solenoid
4 - Capacitor.

In 14 years I've only had to change the capacitor which only cost a few quid. Never serviced either. Thats what you call reliable.

 

[Gray0689]

Always go with oil when lpg is the alternative.
Even if lpg is cheaper. (Though its not)
Reason being oil is easy to work on and safer. Plus you don't need corgi trained operatives to work on oil who would charge you the earth.
The boilers are also a lot more reliable. Especially Grants with Riello burners.
Bomb proof combination.

I keep a spare set of parts for my Grant oil boiler.
1- Control Box
2 - Photocell
3 - Solenoid
4 - Capacitor.

In 14 years I've only had to change the capacitor which only cost a few quid. Never serviced either. Thats what you call reliable.

And very inefficient if not been serviced in all that time
But do agree grant are best

 

[Nordio]

And very inefficient if not been serviced in all that time

Possibly but I know my consumption down to the liter from year to year and I'm happy with that.

 

[Gray0689]

Possibly but I know my consumption down to the liter from year to year and I'm happy with that.

Good for you