How To Choose A New Home Heating System In 4 Steps

It’s not everyday that you buy a new home heating system, and so it’s a pretty big decision to make. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t fret! The following guide will talk you through the process for choosing the most efficient home heating system, step-by-step.
When deciding on a new home heating system, it’s important to keep the following key factors in mind:
Cost: First things first, you’ll need to establish a clear budget. How much can you afford to spend on installation, and what options will be most cost-effective in the long run? It’s important to have a clear idea of how much you’re able to spend in order to narrow down the options that might be suitable for you.
Efficiency: This goes hand in hand with cost – the more energy efficient your new home heating system is, the more cost-effective it will be. Not to mention, energy efficient systems are much more eco-friendly. When exploring your options, make sure to pay close attention to the efficiency of the system, and how it is run e.g by renewable sources or oil or gas.
Space & Location: How much space do you have to accommodate a new home heating system? This is an important question as some systems may require outdoor as well as indoor space. Your options may also vary depending on whether this is a retrofit project or a brand new installation in a new build.
Know Your Options
Keeping these 3 key factors in mind, the first step in choosing a new home heating system is to make sure you’re aware of all the potential options available to you. The 4 options currently available in the Irish market are:
Stoves
This is a unit that’s fitted into your fireplace to provide direct heating for the surrounding room, but also to provide hot water for central heating and household use. Stoves use solid fuel such as coal, wood or peat briquettes. Whilst stoves were popular in the 2000s, they are rarely installed in new builds nowadays due to new building regulations and concerns about their CO2 emissions.
Oil/Gas
Probably one of the most familiar heating systems, oil and gas powered boilers are used to power a central heating system and provide hot water for the home. These types of boilers require the water to be heated to very high temperatures in order to run (between 50-80 degrees). As a result, this has made them very expensive to run, particularly in light of rising oil and gas prices.
Solar Panels
A renewable energy source, solar panels use energy from the sun to warm domestic hot water. Solar panels called collectors are fitted to the roof of the property. These collect energy from the sun and use it to heat water that’s stored in a hot water cylinder. Solar panels are of course reliant on sunlight, which can be problematic during the Irish winter! When sunlight energy is at its lowest, a boiler or immersion heater may be needed to support the solar panels.
Heat Pumps
A renewable alternative to oil or gas boilers, air to water heat pumps take energy from the outside air and transform it into usable heat. This is done via a refrigeration process and vapour compression cycle – effectively how a fridge works, but in reverse! Unlike boilers, heat pumps can operate at very low temperatures (even in the middle of winter in Ireland!), and are best paired with an underfloor heating system.
Choose Your Energy Source
Once you’ve made yourself aware of all the options that are out there, the next step is to decide which energy source is best for your new home heating system. With increasing concerns about climate change, as well as the price of oil and gas, most homeowners nowadays are turning their heads towards renewable options. Aside from being better for the environment, they’re also far more cost-effective in the long run. Providing efficient home heating, renewable sources like heat pumps, could reduce your annual energy bills immensely. If you are not sure which options would suit your property layout and size, our team at Pipelife can help advise you on the options that might be available to you.
Choose Your Distribution Method
So you’ve decided on the best energy source for your new home heating system, but how are you going to distribute the heat throughout your home? The two most common methods used for this are:
Radiators
Radiators heat a room by pumping hot water into the radiator which then heats the air in the room. The water is then returned back to the boiler and reused. You can now buy aluminium radiators which improve energy efficiency by heating the room using lower water temperatures and conducting heat more effectively than traditional steel or cast iron radiators. They do not create hot and cold spots, which older radiators have sometimes had a tendency to cause due to the high temperatures they operate at.
Underfloor Heating
Underfloor heating is another popular choice for new home heating systems, largely because it creates an even distribution of heat for a pleasant indoor environment. Water is heated up and distributed through a network of pipes hidden underneath the floor. The major advantage of underfloor heating compared to radiators is that the water does not need to be heated to such a high temperature in order to operate. The pipes heat up the floor, which effectively turns into a giant radiator, distributing heat evenly throughout the property.
Design Your New Home Heating System
Once you know how you want to heat your home, it’s time to organise the design and installation. Our recommended solution at Pipelife is an air to water heat pump with underfloor heating – this is the most energy efficient way to heat your home, with the best cost savings in the long run. However, we can design all sorts of retrofit projects, as well as bespoke designs for new builds. Whether you’d rather radiators or underfloor heating, our skilled team of engineers will work with you to create your new home heating system.
Please don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop us a message to discuss your options, and start the process.