weekend/holiday cottage heating options

C

Cottier

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Long post, but it usually helps to have some details.

We have a small weekend/holiday cottage in the West that we're renovating at the moment, and maybe extending it next year with an new add-on living/kitchen. We're drowning a bit in all the contrary advice about heating options.

so far, we haven't done anything about it from what the previous owner left us with. Here's the basic spec...

existing cottage is at about 150 years old
  • very thick rough stone walls (no lining)
  • thatched roof over corrugate iron, insulation and wood ceilings

usual traditional three room layout (about 4.5m x 12m internal = 54m2)
  • full height barrel ceiling in the main room (maybe 4-5m high)
  • low ceiling in the bedroom (c2.4m) void above
  • low ceiling in the third part (currently bathroom & kitchenette)
  • attic/mezzanine/balcony above this bit (open onto main room)

about 100mm concrete floor over plastic sheet, over earth/rock (as far as we can tell?). We'll be replacing laminate with stone, tiles or wood at some point but we won't be digging up the floor.

three small windows to front (south)
  • no windows on the back (north)
  • no windows on the gable (east)
  • attic window on the gable (west)
The old windows sizes will stay but replaced with efficient glazing. We will open up the attic (west) gable wall into a large window (for the view, because we need daylight and we might get some afternoon passive benefit) but will try to max out on the efficiency of the units to avoid what loss we can.

We have no oil tank or gas supply (and aren't planning one)
  • modern electric supply was wired with a reasonable number of sockets etc
  • two additional circuits also wired from fuse box to separate wall boxes in bed and main room (for storage heaters that were never fitted)
  • there's space on the fuse box for other options

Previous owner left a whole collection of old heaters of different ages (mobile calor gas, fan heater, couple of decent oil filled panel heaters). There's a hearth with a small wood stove and a small fireplace in the bedroom. You get the feeling they were cold and never really sorted it out! Their plan was for the two storage heaters.

Bedroom shouldn't be a problem to warm up (it will need it though at the north east end). Sitting up on the attic level in the afternoon sun will probably be fine. We might extend a new large room next year (that will be modern spec and positioned to have a lot more passive gain).

But we have that big open space in the old main room at evening and breakfast, which is nearly 30-40% larger volume at height than at ground level (because of the open attic platform) and only one small south window. I'm guessing whatever we throw at it will rise up to heat that lovely ceiling.

So, right now we have electricity, we have some useful bits of spare wiring in place. We've thought about panel heaters, storage heaters (duo?), underfloor electric matting, fan assisted convection, external air heat pump.

Main thing, it's a weekend cottage, mostly we get there about 5pm for a couple of days, so a 24hour warm-up isn't ideal. Running cost isn't the biggest concern but obviously it helps.

Any thoughts?
 
Check out Solarventi. I haven't used one but according to all i read it might be a big help in your case. Used in such holiday cotts in Denmark. There is a supplier in Co. Sligo.
 
thanks, that might be interesting as a background dehumidifier and air warmer when the place is empty. Might keep the chill off a small holiday cottage and make it quick to heat up on arrival.

I just looked up their UK website and they are claiming their SV14 panel...

  • 'will dehumidify and warm any building with a footprint up to ~70m²'
  • with 'airflow of ~70m³/hour'
  • 'a maximum temperature increase of ~30°C in the incoming air'.
  • '~0.6 Kilowatts of energy per hour each hour the sun shines'.
  • For £800+VAT with a regulator/thermostat (delivery and fitting on top), DIY installation and no running costs.

I've no idea where we'd put it. Don't think we can stick one of those panels on the front wall of a 150 year old thatch cottage without it looking a bit out of place. Something to think about in planning the extension.

Good idea if their product claims are realistic.
 
so, I think we could work out where to put one (the planned extension will have a SE wall and there's a SW gable out of sight with good sun). I can see a lot plus points. Reading through the specs I think the questions would be:

How much 'sun' do they really need to kick into action and how many of those 'sunny' days there are on the west coast?

It's a 'dehumidifier' not a 'heater' (the bit of warmth is a bonus product). That's good but it's not going to work when the ambient humidity outside is higher than in. Reading between the lines, a cold sunny mornings when the dew has fallen and the air is dry is a peak operational time, with less operation as the day warms and becomes more humid. I'm guessing that means SE might be preferable to SW?

So it needs dry+sun...and how many dry, sunny days are there on the west coast? They are claiming sufficient dry+sunny days on average in England and in the winter (but noting the 'UK' average is less...Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland presumably much lower)


They don't recommend it will work in a hot summer (you'd have the windows open anyway, they say). So, it might not deal so well with any with residual damp in a holiday cottage that was locked up during the week.

Using warmed dry air to expel moisture relies on pushing it out through cracks etc. So, not a great dehumidifer for super insulated houses.

All that said, looks like a handy piece of kit.
 
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