renewable energy in homes

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seánieboy

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seeing that theres a big increase in the price of oil per barrel at over $74 a barrel today should a person be thinking of introducing solar panels and other methods of heating and energy in ones home and if so how do you go about it and get the knowledge that you need to install this system
 
Sustainable Energy Ireland launched a grant system for domestic users recently. See [broken link removed] for all the information
 
The problem with most renewable energies in this country is the expense. Solar panals are expensive to purchase and operate. Geothermal heating still requires a degree of electricity to run the system. It would take 30-40 years for these systems to make economic scense.

Government have put in place grant schemes but because we are in Ireland this only meant that the retailers of such equipment simply put their prices up.
 
Have you exhausted your options with regard to better insulation in your home and other ways to save energy? Not quite what you had in mind but a different route to the same end perhaps?
Personally I don't see much point in going solar when I hear that the production of the panels uses massive amounts of energy, and they are so costly....
 
To golden mean : "....use massive amounts of energy, and they are so costly...."
What do you mean by that? Any facts and numbers? The energetic pay back time for a solar collector is about two years depending on the type as far as I followed the discussion. But we're willing to learn, so please let us know.
 
I was going to go for solar panels for water heating but then someone reminded me that the water would not be hot first thing in the morning (doh there is no sun at night time!) & this is the time that I would need it......that is worth a consideration.

At the moment we are going to insulate to the nth degree & the design for our house makes use of lots of south facing windows etc for passive heat etc. After that we are still in a dilema regarding the actual heating system........geo thermal (prob not) wood pellet or just bog standard oil......Plan to have open fire with back boiler as well.
Hoping that if we insulate properly etc this will reduce the importance of the actual heating system.
 
Winnie said:
Plan to have open fire with back boiler as well.
Click to expand...
Winnie
You're putting so much energy into insulating your house and you're putting in an open fire? Thats like dressing up real warm to go out in the snow and forgetting to put any shoes on.
See this article recommending them to be banned
[broken link removed]

They actually cause you to use more heating oil / gas etc than the heat they create...its the same as leaving a window open winter long!
 
Open fires are banned in most EU countrys as a source of heat. No planning permission!
Solar collectors are connected to a tank that would hold the warm water for several days. No panel feeds direct to the tap, it would be dangerous because of bacterial contamination and relativly shortlived, one freezing night and you need a new one. However, in our Ireland this is standard plumbing, similar to Turkey or China where open water tanks and solar collectors are kept on the roof for a gravity fed distribution.
 
Winnie,

Have you considered combining wood pellets and solar panels?
Kerry biofuels sell a wood pellet utility boiler called the Biosol which has a wood Pellet burner as the primary source of hot water production with a back up of solar panels and an electric immersion.

I'm building a house at the moment as well and was hoping to install this
system however i do not have enough south facing roof space for solar panels.

It is a rather expensive option though as the Boiler itself is around EUR8,000, you will have to source the solar panels yourself as they do not supply them and i found that solar panels were in and around
EUR2,000 - EUR4,000 (depending on your requirements).
 
re the open fire or not, shouldnt there be a middle ground whereby you can easily close the flue opening from your fireplace when the fire isnt on, therefore no draught up the chimney taking heat out of the room. When a fire is on Im sure its a net heat contributor.

Also, I guess a stove is a more efficient heat contributor than an open fire.

Call me oldfashioned but a house aint a home without a fire (even a 'real' gas fire would do).
 
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