1.45 Gas & Oil Systems

2.30 Electric Heating

3.00 Heat Pumps

3.15 Solar Thermal & PV

3.25 Green Deal

3.30 Roundup and questions

3.45 Close

Boiler (the heat source)

Cylinder (to store the hot water)

Boiler programmer or timer (to turn the hot water

and heating system on automatically)

Room thermostat (to control the temperature of

the house)

Radiators (to heat the room)

Sealed heating system

No open water tanks in the loft

“Condensing” Boiler ◦ All boilers are now “condensing”

◦ Recovers some heat from the flue

Piped natural gas, oil, LPG

Produces hot water on demand

Good points:

◦ Water heated only when needed

◦ Don’t need a cylinder

Bad points ◦ May not deliver hot water quickly enough

◦ Cannot feed both heating and hot water at the same

time

◦ More sensitive to mains water pressure

Hot water stored in a tank

Some people like an airing cupboard

Good points: ◦ Can use a lot of water at once

Bad points ◦ Cylinder takes up space

◦ Heat loss from cylinder

It’s a fire!

Gas jets enter a sealed chamber where they are

ignited

Fire heats a pipe containing cold water

Heats water up to about 60 degrees

Pipe is part of a pipe system that goes round the

whole house through the radiators

Boiler may be on but not producing heat

A radiator is: ◦ Copper pipe bent back and forth 10 to 20 times

◦ Surrounded by steel to protect and make bigger

surface area

Either on or off

Cannot be set to different temperatures

Valves will either let water through or not

When warm will give off heat into room as room

is cooler

We have a boiler

We have a pipe system

We have radiators

So we have a hot house!

We need control over the system: ◦ Thermostatic Radiator Valves

◦ Boiler programmer

◦ Room Thermostat

Radiator still on or off

But now you have more control

Set the TRV to a temp level you want

When the room is cooler the valve opens ◦ Hot water goes through the radiator

When room reaches temperature the valve closes

◦ Radiator will cool down as no more hot water going

through

Doesn’t stop the boiler running

Could be separate or built into the boiler

For a combi boiler sets:

◦ when boiler is on for heating

For other types of boiler sets: ◦ When boiler is on for heating

◦ When boiler is on for hot water

Set the times that the boiler is on

Programme this to suit your lifestyle

Overall control of the boiler for heating

Takes the temperature in one room

Won’t have a TRV in that room

When the boiler is turned on RT decides if the

boiler needs to produce heat

Calls for heat

Can be digital, programmable

Setting a higher temperature does not increase

the speed that the house will heat up!

The boiler produces the heat

The boiler programmer turns the boiler on and

off

The room thermostat calls for heat

The radiators distribute the heat

The TRV will allow the room temperature to be

set comfortably

Replaces boiler programmer & room stat

Does the job of both

May be able to programme a range of

temperatures, eg: ◦ 7am = 20o

◦ 9am = 15o

◦ 4pm = 20o

◦ 9pm = 13o

There is a lot of debate and opinion on this

Our recommendation is…

Don’t leave it on permanently

Set programmer to go off 30mins before you go

out

If you want the house warm to come home to,

set it to come on 20mins before you expect to

arrive home (but this will cost you)

Only have heating on when you need it

Use the boiler programmer

Change the programmer the night before for the

next day

Lower the temperature of the room thermostat –

reduce calls for heat

Use the TRVs to set each room’s temperature

Reduce the temperature of the water in the

heating system on the boiler

Do you have windows open with heating on?

Do you leave the door open when you go to the

car, garden etc?

Close curtains when it gets dark to keep heat in

With a combi boiler just open the hot tap a little

until the water gets hot, then open it as much as

you need. Saves gas and water

Don’t leave an electric immersion heater on all the

time, especially if you have a gas boiler

Lifestyle will affects costs

Can change your lifestyle to lower your costs – if

you want to

Heating System FAQs

My radiator isn’t warm ◦ Is the gas on?

◦ Is the electricity on? Systems needs electricity

◦ Is there money on the meter (if pre-payment)

◦ Is the boiler programmer turning the heating on?

◦ Is the room thermostat set high enough to call for

heat?

◦ Is the TRV set too low?

◦ Is the room warm enough? May be that the radiator

doesn’t need to be on.

Some rooms are too hot, some too cold ◦ Adjust the TRVs so that each room is the right

temperature

◦ Don’t leave windows open

No hot water ◦ Is the gas on?

◦ Is the electricity on?

◦ Is there money on the meter (if pre-payment)

◦ With a hot water tank - is the boiler programmer

turning the hot water on?

Electricity distribution is really, really technical

UK electricity at roughly 240 volts

Volts x Amps = Watts

So a 2400w hairdryer will be working at 10 amps

If you have a 3 amp fuse in a plug the most

power that will go through is 720w

1000w is a kilowatt (kw)

If you use 1kw for one hour you have used one

kilowatt hour (1kWh)

Electricity supplier measures your usage by kWh

10kW electric shower running for 15 minutes

uses 2.5kWh

Three main types:

Normal

◦ same rate throughout the day & night eg EDF £0.1271

Economy 7 ◦ At night cheaper than “normal”: EDF £0.0522

◦ Daytime more expensive than “normal”: EDF £0.1512

Economy 10 ◦ As Economy 7

◦ Extra few hours during the day at cheap rate

Hundreds of tariffs – don’t be on a standard one!

Two main types

Storage

◦ Night storage heaters

On Demand ◦ Panel heaters

◦ Convector heaters, hot air fans

◦ Electric fires

Only one company makes these

Different types:

◦ Manual control

◦ Automatic controls

◦ Built in fan

Common sizes ◦ 0.8kW

◦ 1.6kW

◦ 2.6kW

◦ 3.4kW

Insulated box

Filled with special bricks

Bricks heated up by electricity during the night

Release heat during the night and day

The heat will come out during the day

Most of the heat comes from the metal box

Some control over how quickly it comes out

Often not enough heat left in the evening

Power rating refers to how much electricity will

go in per hour

So a 3.4kW NSH can cost:

◦ 3.4kW x 7 hours = 23.8kWh

◦ On EDF E7 tariff = 23.8 x £0.0522 = £1.24 per day

Input control ◦ Controls how much electricity goes into the heater

how much it will cost to run

how much heat there will be to come out the next day

◦ A thermostat inside the heater turns off the incoming

electricity when they reach a set temperature

Output control ◦ Opens & closes flap on top of heater

◦ More open equals warmer

◦ More open will lose heat faster

Input control ◦ Increase the input as the weather gets colder

◦ Decrease the input as the weather gets warmer

◦ Check the forecast every night and increase or reduce

the input

◦ Don’t want to be opening windows to reduce room

temperature the next day

◦ Well insulated properties less susceptible to variation

Output control

◦ Turn it right down when you go out and at night

◦ Open it as little as is comfortable

Setting them up

Set the input control to mid position

If the next day is not warm enough increase the

input control

Leave as is if the forecast says the next day will

be warmer

Input Control ◦ Input is controlled by a room thermostat

◦ Try different settings to decide which is most

comfortable during the day

◦ Set to the click point then adjust up or down

◦ Don’t need to change the setting when the weather

changes

◦ If you use a top-up heater late into the night may affect

the thermostat

Output Control ◦ Thermostatically controlled

◦ Opens or closes flap to maintain temperature

◦ Doesn’t account for how much heat is in the heater

◦ Reduce temperature when you go out & at night

Heat generation

◦ Heat pumps

◦ Solar thermal water heating

◦ Micro CHP

◦ Biomass boiler

Electricity generation

◦ Photovoltaic

◦ Hydro electric

◦ Wind

Heat pumps ◦ Air source

◦ Ground source

◦ Exhaust air

Ground source more efficient

Air source more cost effective to install

Exhaust air not as efficient, not widely used

Ground source ◦ Gets heat from the ground

◦ A borehole up to 100m deep

◦ A long pipe with a liquid that picks up heat

Air source (air to water) ◦ Gets heat from the air

◦ Outside fan unit

◦ Sucks air across a radiator

Exhaust air ◦ Reclaims heat produced in the property

◦ Mainly from kitchen & bathroom

◦ Residents need to generate heat

3 types connect to a normal radiator system

Radiators will probably need to be bigger

Produces heat more efficiently than hot water

Will be cheaper than electric heating & immersion

heater

About 2000 installed by Advantage SW Members

Will be contacting them about satisfaction

NOT free heating & hot water

Basically a big fridge in reverse

For every 1kw electricity that goes in, about

2.5kw heat & hot water comes out

So ◦ More efficient than electrical heating

◦ Cheaper to run than electrical heating

◦ Probably not cheaper to run than gas

Keep the heat pump on all the time

Call for heat controlled by room thermostat

The higher the heat required, the lower the

efficiency

Radiators shouldn’t be hot – just warm

Keep the room temperature as low as is

comfortable

Keep the hot water temperature as low as is

comfortable

If hot water used throughout the day leave keep

the hot water on during the day

If used at specific times eg breakfast & evening

programme on for those times

The controls are not user-friendly

New product has friendlier controls

Explanatory video at www.advantagesw.co.uk

Uses roof collectors to heat stored water

Does not need to be immediately used

Generally needs a hot water tank

Generally only heats hot water, not heating

Liquid within the collectors absorbs the heat from the sun and is fed into a water cylinder

Heat is transferred by a heat exchanger to the domestic hot water supply

The cooler liquid is returned to the collector for reheating

If there is not enough solar radiation then the boiler will top up the heat

Tenant’s savings depend on ◦ How much hot water they use

◦ Whether they have an electric shower

◦ Roof orientation

◦ Less susceptible than PV to shading problems

Income to Landlord ◦ Renewable Heat Incentive – uncertain

Value for money? Not great: ◦ Doesn’t provide all hot water

◦ Doesn’t help heating

Need to use electricity immediately or

Sell unused electricity to the national grid

Has been expensive but prices coming down

Income to landlord from Feed in Tariffs

Feed in Tariffs cut from 43p per kWh to 14p

No desire from landlords to pursue PV at the

moment

Enough sunlight hits the Earth every day to

satisfy our power requirements for 27 years

Sun hits the Modules, convert energy to power

Modules on the roof give a DC output

Inverter converts DC to AC at 240v

Connects to fusebox

Peak time is between 11am & 2pm

If the tenant is home can use the electricity

produced

Tenant benefits from lower electricity bills

Savings dependent on how much of the

generated electricity the tenant can use

May be Feed in Tariff income to the landlord

Output will be affected by ◦ Location – south west best in England

◦ Amount of light

◦ Orientation – facing south is best

◦ Roof angle

◦ Shading – will affect all panels, not just those shaded

Each kWp will generate about 900kWh pa

For 2 kWp peak system

◦ Will cost about £3,500

◦ 12 square metres

◦ Output 1800kWh p.a.

◦ Feed in tariff of £250 pa

◦ Energy saving of up to £180 pa

For private sector and social housing

Landlord / Leaseholder will need to give consent

Upgrade property fabric & heating equipment

Make savings on energy bill

The upgrades will cost less than the savings

Loan is against the electricity meter

Future residents will continue to pay off the loan

Landlords currently working on their consent

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