Evaluating heating options for a small 40 year old terraced house.

Hi,

I think my pensioner parents get little or no value for what they spend on heating their home. Its a one storey mid-terrace 3 bed house with minimal insulation, virtually unchanged since when it was built in 1969. They are very much resistant to change, but if the figures made sense they would upgrade!

The windows are original steel sash and have little or no insulation value. They need replacement.

Attic insulation was done about 20 years ago, about 4 inches between the joists. This needs upgrade.

There is no insulation in the cavity walls or any external insulation or underfloor.

The 40 year old solid fuel Stanley range is the source of heat for the central heating and cooking. In days gone past turf was cheap and we did all the labour with it. They are now spending €2,000 - €3,000 annually on delivery logs/turf/briquettes. This is crazy money, and has being going on now for a few years. The house is less than 1,100 sq. ft and it is only warm where the range is. There is just the range burning the fuel. They also spend about €1,300 annually on electricity, mostly tumble drier, occasional electric cooker, bathroom heater.

My own place is larger and I pay about €600 for natural gas and €600 for electricity annually.

Purely from what they are spending they need to modernise. New windows, attic insulation and a new heating system definitely. Natural gas is not in the town. They are too used to the range. Are the options restricted to LPG, oil!, wood pellet?

Heating options for 40yr old house.

Hi

It is pointless to spend any money on changing a heating system or whatever without first getting the insulation sorted. That means walls, attic and windows. Ok, its expensive but a lifetime job and adds greatly to the value of the home so its a good investment. There is no point in having a range blazing away with all the heat lost through lack of insulation. Once that is sorted, then look at how best to heat the house. A simple wood burning stove without back boiler is an excellent and cost effective means of heating a room. Open fireplaces lose over 80% of the heat generated up the chimney. With a stove that is reduced to 15% loss. As ever, buy a good reputable make from a firm you trust and burn only DRY timber. I can give you names of stove manufacturers and supplers if you wish. Oil and electricty are expensive, coal and peat are dirty and also dear. Wood pellet systems are complex and the pellets are mostly imported from as far as Canada. Good quality Irish logs are cost effective, carbon neutral and are freely available as of course are wet poor quality ones. Caveat emptor!!