Hi, I'm new to this game so excuse if this has all been covered before.

Basically, my dilemma is as follows. I'm in the process of building a three bedroom house on the west coast of Scotland. No mains gas, only oil or LPG. With geopolitics being what it is I don't want to use oil or LPG (the P being petroleum) to provide heat for radiators and underfloor heating, already installed. Ground source heat pumps are not an option although we are hoping to install a small solar panel to provide some domestic hot water. A wood burning stove will provide space heating in one room downstairs (and hopefully circulate throughout the rest of the house, which is very well insulated). Back boiler not an option due to layout. That leaves me with little option but to consider an electric boiler to produce hot water to circulate in the central heating system. (Our supply comes from a pair of privately run hydro-electric generators which feed the grid, so green issues are covered). I know electric heating is very expensive, even on Economy 10, which seems to be the best deal.

As I said, the house is well insulated and we should really only require the central heating occasionally, but I am led to believe that underfloor heating is best used by keeping a background heat in the system - 15 degrees I think - even when not on. This would entail the boiler cycling 24/7, often outwith the E10 off peak hours. Also, the ability to warm the house outside the off peak periods without breaking the bank (and do they really need my help to do that) would be nice. Does anybody out there have any tips or suggestions with regard to the most economical way forward? Who does the best electricity only deal for this area - postcode PA31, Argyll - or are all suppliers available to me? I'm currently ( no pun intended) with Scottish Hydro, on a standard tariff. Are there better deals than E10? Has anyone had experience of electric boilers?

Thanks in advance

Hi,

You've got 2 options really

Air source heat pumps - Less expensive than Ground, but still costly as hell, starting at about £10K. May be worth it in the long run tho and will add to your "green" points, more info below..

http://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/homeowner/products/air-source-heat-pumps

http://www.ecoheatpumps.co.uk/

Wet heating system - you know what this is about, the company who invented it and also the economy 10 tariff (in conjunction with Scottish Hydro) have their website here...

http://www.electric-heatingcompany.co.uk/

If you go for the wet system, Eco 10 is the best tariff for that system by a mile. It either wont work, or ruin you, if you try any other tariff with it. If you go for Air source, it'll depend on the application you chose, however Eco 10 may still be your best bet.

You may need to confirm the supply you have to your property can support the expected loads of these tariffs. Once you know what your going for and how much load you'll need, contact your distributor directly to confirm this. (if you do need an upgrade, budget at least 2k for this initially)

Gabriel

Thanks for the reply.

Air source heat pumps have been considered and it's my understanding that they're quite large - like a big air conditioning unit, stuck on the outside of the house - and noisy. Also, I believe that they work well with UFH as the circulating water temp - 40 - 45 degrees I think - is lower than conventional rads which require about 80 degrees, and in order to get sufficient heat from a radiator it's surface radiating area needs to be almost doubled. Having said all that the major consideration I have is budgetary.

With regard to the load test, already done and satisfactory.

(Just looked at the Danfoss site and see that the unit has a much smaller external footprint than I thought. Still, the budget....)

Anyway, I still need to think this through before committing to electric so any more advice from all out there appreciated.

I would highly recommend that you don't have a ground source heat pump fitted to the property as they do not work. I have just had one fitted and was told the system would heat the whole house and my hot water in the house. The sytem heats the ground floor of the house so most of the house is cold. the system only heats upto 30 degrees so the hot water will never be warm enough to use for showers or baths. We are dependant on an imersion heater in the hotwater tank which is expensive.

The sytem is more expensive to run than gas and the hidden instalation costs are massive. Extra plumbing electrical instalation and ground work over all this came to over £2500. This does not includ the fitting of the sytem to the underfloor heating and ground loop.

Lee