Geothermal heating and underfloor heating?

[amallon]

Has anyone installed a Geothermal heating system?  I've heard some mixed reports on it.  I've heard that there are some cowboys installing it and people are getting poor heat from it.  Other people have said that the savings on oil are eaten up by the electric costs of running the pump. 

I've been advised not to put underfloor heating in the bedrooms as radiators are better because you can turn them off quickly if you are too hot.  Anyone have an opinion?

[gander]

I know one person that has it and he has no problems with it.  The house is always warm.  He has it upstairs as well as downstairs with no issues.  Dunno about down south but up north if you have something like that in they give you a grant to subsidize the initial cost of the unit and you can get economy7 (cheap electric) for a certain period every evening, so he's saving there as well.  He only puts the heating on in the evening and that keeps the house warm for the whole day.

[johnneycool]

I've heard conflicting reports on the underfloor heating, some love it and others hate it, but I think its got to do with how you use it. If you or your wife with a squad of kids are in the house all day every day then underfloor is supposed to be spot on, but if there's no one in the house all day and you come home in the evenings and want that burst of heat then it's a bit more pricey than radiators.

I know of one plumber who's put in a hybrid system in his own house, underfloor heating in his kitchen/dining area, sunroom and bathroom(s) but rads in the bedrooms and even in his living room where he also has underfloor heating. I suppose if you get the zones right it can work for you.

[Puckoon]

I think there might have been a thread on this already AM. From what I remember it was right and informative. You should have a look for it. Ill take a quick search myself.

[Puckoon]

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?topic=3666.0

[The Real Laoislad]

Don't go anywhere near geothermal or any sort of underfloor heating its a load of balls if you ask me...
I have installed the Electrical gear (ie.Thermostats and pumps etc) for these type of systems and have seen them working and too be honest i would have a radiator any day over it
The Electrical pump will pull alot of amps so it will cost a lot to run it and i didn't think the heat from the floor was great,Plus people forget that they won't have radiators and will have no where to put a few damp clothes to dry apart from on the floor that is
If i was building i would go for gas or oil to heat the house and i would install Solar panels to heat the water

[theskull1]

Lets not forget that electricity is thee most expensive form of energy per KW

[amallon]

From reading the old thread there seems to be some mixed reports about both under floor heating and geothermal.  I have a friend who has under floor heating and his oil bill was very high for the first year until he worked out that it operated better if left on all the time at a lower temp.  He swears by it now.

Does anyone have any idea of the installation cost of a geothermal system for an average house? 

ludermor - Is that £1500 or €1500 running cost per year. 

[The Real Laoislad]

From reading the old thread there seems to be some mixed reports about both under floor heating and geothermal.  I have a friend who has under floor heating and his oil bill was very high for the first year until he worked out that it operated better if left on all the time at a lower temp.  He swears by it now.

Does anyone have any idea of the installation cost of a geothermal system for an average house? 

ludermor - Is that £1500 or €1500 running cost per year. 

The cheapest part would be the Electricians invoice 

[Gnevin]

If i was building i would go for gas or oil to heat the house and i would install Solar panels to heat the water

Are these worth it ? I mean for 6 months of the year you'll have the heat on so no benefit from that . In the summer you can throw the  heat on for 10 min and have plenty of hot water last summer the gas bill like no more than 30 euro for the 3/4 summer month. Would the solar things beat this?

[The Real Laoislad]

If i was building i would go for gas or oil to heat the house and i would install Solar panels to heat the water

Are these worth it ? I mean for 6 months of the year you'll have the heat on so no benefit from that . In the summer you can throw the  heat on for 10 min and have plenty of hot water last summer the gas bill like no more than 30 euro for the 3/4 summer month. Would the solar things beat this?

Yeah i noticed my gas bill was only about that for the summer months too,sometimes i wondered where they even got that amount considering how little i used the gas..

Anyway back to your question..Im not doubting you but if you had a pump shower or wanted to run a bath you would need the heating on for at least an hour,I don't think ten mins would do it..
I think if you add up the costs of the gas and also the rising fuel costs plus the price of the electricty to run the burner plus maybe if you have a immersion for heating water i think the Solar panels would save you money plus if you care its also better for the envoirment

[naka]

i have underfloor heating and have to say its not great, it eats up a lot of oil and as previously said you dont get the burst of heat that you would get with the radiators

[theskull1]

i have underfloor heating and have to say its not great, it eats up a lot of oil and as previously said you dont get the burst of heat that you would get with the radiators

I know of someone who designed their new build house with solar gain in mind. Thier house is 3000sq ft and they have UFH downstairs and rads upstairs. They used to live in a 1500sq ft house with rads throughout. Their oil consumption in the new house compared to the old one is up by about 40% ( I would have expected alot higher than that seiing as the house is twice the size). He says that his oil usage varies massively between summer and winter. Because of his house design he uses next to no oil in the summer. Personally I prefer the heat from UFH

This is the problem with anecdotal stories