Eco advice: Insulating to retain heat
Friday October 24 2008
Q: At present we have oil fired central heating and we are looking at alternative ways of heating the house. We were thinking of insulating the inside of the outer walls of each room and installing solar panels on the roof in order to be more eco-friendly and help save money on our heating bill. This will mean that we will have to get a large silo tank in the garage to store water heated by the solar panels.
Our heating contractor has suggested that we replace our oil system with a wood pellet system that would be more eco-friendly and would save us money as oil prices will continue to increase.
However, we are not so sure as storage of wood pellets will probably use up most of our garage. Also, there is the cost of installation. We have heard that it is not always easy to get a supply of wood pellets and surely they will also increase in price. He suggested a geo-thermal system as an alternative, but we do not fully understand the implications involved.
Ruth replies:
It seems that you're trying to think of everything at once and may feel a little confused in terms of the number of green products out there. Perhaps before completely overhauling your heating system you should try to cut down on the amount of heat and energy needed in the first place.
Greener homes start with a sealed envelope and if there are areas in your house where you can feel a quite obvious draught these should be addressed. Consider where the majority of your heat is being lost and whether your walls and roofs are adequately insulated. Your idea of re-insulating the walls is a great one and definitely warrants further examination. You may, however, find that's easier to install insulation externally as its less invasive and can not only provide a greater level of insulation than dry lining internally, but also give your house a bit of a facelift.
Given that you have oil fired heating, I imagine that your home is more than 10 years old.
If your windows have never been upgraded its something to look at as there have been great inroads made in terms of low E glazing and insulated frames with integrated thermal breaks.
Have you replaced the bulbs in your house with compact fluorescents or LEDs? Compact fluorescents use about 1/3 the amount of electricity of a incandescent bulb while new LEDs use just 12pc.
Wood pellets as you have mentioned require a large storage area, but this applies only if you are relying on them as your sole source of heat.
A wood-pellet burner can be used to supplement your existing heating system by feeding back into it rather than replacing it completely.
A geothermal system entails either drilling vertical boreholes into the ground or, depending on the size of your site, laying horizontal tubing across it.
The heat pump then takes the heat from the ground and upgrades it for distribution, usually in the form of a hot water supply to radiators.
Once installed, the system requires little maintenance and although installation costs may be quite high the payback in terms of energy costs is usually worthwhile.
You may also be eligible for an installation grant under the Greener Homes Scheme, details of which are available at www.sei.ie.
Questions to ecoadvice@independent.ie
- Ruth Kealy, architect
