Domestic Heat recovery systems

[bluebirdnick]

 

[bluebirdnick]

Thanks all. For some reason the image of teh ground floor layout didn't upload to my previous message so here it is. The new bit is bordered in red. It won't quite be like that as we won't be extending the kitchen quite so much and instead using that area as a utility/storage space and what is marked as the utility will be the laundry room. The hardest rooms to get to will be the living room and dining room which is why I was asking about using the chimney.

Point taken re the location of the unit itself. It will likely go in the loft, above the new bathroom we install as part of the extension. I actually want the upstairs extension to be wider than the downstairs by about a meter, and incorporate a pathway into the design to allow access to the garden and still look normal but that is another challenge! We had insulated the loft with 100mm insulation and boarded it out as that was easy, but I might actually run the ducts over the boards; insulate between/above them with a further 170mm; and board out again. we've got loads of height in the loft space so it could work. I suspect we will need to include some sort of vertical run on the "extended" side of the house to get the ducts down to the kitchen, and from there into the downstairs WC and utility/laundry room.

 

[RogerS]

Where are you planning for your recovered heat to feed back into the house ?

 

[Mike G]

The recovered heat normally goes into all the "dry" rooms (ie bedrooms, lounge, dining room) where air goes in rather than out. The principle is out from the wet rooms (kitchen, bathrooms, utility etc) and in to the dry rooms.

 

[bluebirdnick]

Thanks both. I'll take advice on it, but my basic expectation is that I would extract from the kitchen, bathroom and living room which are on the south-east side (and the utility and WC which will be internal), and pumping it back into the front bedrooms which face north-west. Ideally in the summer I would extract from the front bedrooms too as they can get seriously hot, but if not then I am hoping a summer bypass will have a similar effect as I will at least be sucking warm air out of the house and creating a gentle circulation of fresh air.

I may not bother having anything in the front reception room. It stays cool in summer and we plan to have a woodburner in there which we would use in winter.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

We don't heat upstairs at all apart from the bathroom. bedroom doors are left open and the living room door is opened an hour or so before bedtime so the accumulated heat downstairs flows up stairs.
We try to manage the summer solar load of southfacing windows by drawing the curtains and resisting the temptation to throw open windows during the day and let the DG insulate us a bit.

Bob

We do the same; no heat on upstairs regardless of the season and it's only the bathroom towel rad that's on. I also open the upstairs windows so that any heat that does build up in the summer might hopefully disappear.

Our south facing lounge used to get seriously hot so we fitted a thermal roller blind to the window which lets in a fair degree of light but no heat, so the lounge stays relatively cool and the curtains stay open. The kitchen/diner has a ceramic tiled floor which is very cool in the summer, but it can get a bit 'parky' in the winter; again there's a thermal blind fitted which can be rolled down during hot weather to cut off the rays - Rob

....Jeez...you south coast wombles do not know you are living...parky enough here tonight for heating to be on already. I was down in Somerset and Cornwall for the the last two weeks and it was like being in a different country...sub Saharan Africa maybe...just didn’t have the exotic wildlife (even in Glastonbury village!)...


Shivering Sam

 

[RogerS]

....

....Jeez...you south coast wombles do not know you are living...parky enough here tonight for heating to be on already. I was down in Somerset and Cornwall for the the last two weeks and it was like being in a different country...sub Saharan Africa maybe...just didn’t have the exotic wildlife (even in Glastonbury village!)...


Shivering Sam

But they're still walking around Newcastle in shorts and skimpy tops !! You need to man up

 

[Rod]

The heating switched on the other night, so not always toasty down south.
Drizzling and max 13C today

Rod

 

[9fingers]

I've not allowed the CH to come on yet on principle. :lol:

But I have flipped the air con into air source heat pump mode for the last couple of evenings to bring the lounge upto 20C.
OK it cools the outides air by a micro-degree or 3 but I don't think the neighbours notice.

Bob

 

[RogerS]

....
OK it cools the outides air by a micro-degree or 3 but I don't think the neighbours notice.

Bob

Ah...so it's all your fault then why we're shivering up here, Bob :lol:

 

[9fingers]

....
OK it cools the outides air by a micro-degree or 3 but I don't think the neighbours notice.

Bob

Ah...so it's all your fault then why we're shivering up here, Bob :lol:

What do you mean shivering? It’s still t shirt weather here lol



Bob

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Postby RogerS » Yesterday, 05:45
But they're still walking around Newcastle in shorts and skimpy tops !! You need to man up

You need to take your eyes off the wildlife and remember you're married!

Seriously, I was struck by just HOW different the southern micro-climate - particularly around Bristol - was compared to the north-east's one. I've commuted thence and back a few times now (helping No3 and his partner dig a home out of the bombsite they mortaged on) and we've left them in shorts and sandals mode, got home to socks and an extra pully, only to have them phone that evening and remark it's still balmy!!

So, it's not surprising (to me) that Bob'n'Rob can be thermally replete, but up here we're wondering if the Lifas are still packed away in the loft.

Mind you, I have a mountaineering mate up in sheep-molesting country, north of Fife that is, and HIS place can be frikkin' Baltic in June! And that's before he and I put in a few thousand feet of ascent.

Sam

 

[RogerS]

Sam

Did you ever come across a guy called Duncan Sperry during your mountaineering exploits ?

Roger

 

[Woodbloke]

Seriously, I was struck by just HOW different the southern micro-climate - particularly around Bristol - was compared to the north-east's one. I've commuted thence and back a few times now (helping No3 and his partner dig a home out of the bombsite they mortaged on) and we've left them in shorts and sandals mode, got home to socks and an extra pully, only to have them phone that evening and remark it's still balmy!!
Sam

Agreed Sam. No.1 daughter lives in Carlisle and she permanently reminds us that it's either cold, windy or wet 'oop Narth'. When the locals enquire about her accent and she mentions Salisbury their reply generally includes the phrase 'southern softie'. Or similar, with suitable adjectives :lol: - Rob

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Sam

Did you ever come across a guy called Duncan Sperry during your mountaineering exploits ?

Roger

Not to be introduced to, Roger, but we're a cheery lot and tend to greet and natter briefly to fellow outdoorsies as we pass them 'on the hill'. I may have thus saluted him, without ever knowing his moniker.

You tend to get more informed/introduced if you bump into them when you are re-hydrating(!) at the end of the day. Pubs in Scotland are also great places for buying the local ghillie or landowner 'a wee dram' and then getting good verbal path and scramble info to take you off the beaten track and away from the grockles clutching their guidebooks...

I am most familiar with the western Scotland hills, from maybe, north, from Crianlarich to Assynt, but I've also ambled over Cairgorm, Spittle of Glenshee, etc etc. I'm not a 'driven' Munro bagger (only got 87 or so, out of the 200-plus) but, Corbetts and Grahams really don't 'do it' for me. My favourite is Sgurr Fiona and the Corrag Bhuidhe pinnacles on An Teallach. Crackin' day out, that. Next best one after that would be watching Angel Glacier on Mount Edith Cavell 'birthing' a berg same size as a skyscraper.


Sam, now steeping in memories, and needing to look up old photos...

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Agreed Sam. No.1 daughter lives in Carlisle and she permanently reminds us that it's either cold, windy or wet 'oop Narth'.
When the locals enquire about her accent and she mentions Salisbury their reply generally includes the phrase 'southern softie'. Or similar, with suitable adjectives :lol: - Rob

Absolutely identify with both of those Rob!! I come from the north coast of Northern Ireland, Lough Foyle direction, and its precipitation, sheltered only by Malin Head from the North Atlantic...boy, you REALLY learn what "lashing rain" means!

Round here, my Durham-educated son and his muckers use "southern fairies".... Sorry!

I was not far from you recently, but medical events precluded me getting away, next time p'raps.

Sam

 

[Woodbloke]

I was not far from you recently, but medical events precluded me getting away, next time p'raps.

Sam

Absolutely Sam! - Rob