This article provides essential tips for maintaining your heating system during January, focusing on boiler services, radiator efficiency, and exploring alternative heating options like infrared heaters and heat pumps. It also highlights the importance of insulation upgrades when considering heat pump technology.
January is a month of financial recovery after the holiday season. Even those who planned to reduce utility costs in the new year might experience unexpected expenses. Maintaining your heating system is crucial for optimal and safe operation, especially if you rely on a gas or oil boiler. An annual service is highly recommended, according to Derek Davis, who emphasizes the importance of a combustion check for efficiency.
He states that a well-maintained, efficient boiler can lead to significant cost savings.For oil boiler users, Davis advises booking a service with a member of Oftec, a trade association for liquid fuel heating equipment manufacturers and training providers. If you have a radiator system, it's important to ensure it's heating all rooms efficiently. If some radiators seem inadequate, try venting them to remove air, a process known as bleeding. You can purchase a key for this task at most DIY shops. If bleeding doesn't resolve the issue, inform the service technician when booking your boiler maintenance. This will allow them to address the problem during their visit and inspect each radiator in every room. However, this added service will incur an extra cost.A cold radiator that doesn't improve with bleeding likely has sediment buildup over the years, explains John Valentine, general manager of Crystal Air Renewable Energy. Visible rust indicates that the radiators are deteriorating. If they are 25 or 30 years old, they might be approaching the end of their lifespan. While they may still function, their efficiency is compromised. Valentine suggests that installing a new boiler might be necessary. However, adding a new boiler to an aging system might not yield the desired efficiency improvement. A complete system upgrade might be required.Electric panel and electric storage heaters, commonly found in apartments, have seen significant technological advancements, with older models readily replaced by newer, more efficient ones with minimal disruption. Valentine points out that apartments often have limited heat loss through walls, floors, and ceilings due to their structure and shared walls with neighbours. However, deeper retrofits in these homes can be challenging, requiring consent from the building management for installing heat pump cooling aspects on balconies.Infrared heaters offer a unique heating solution. Available in large canvas-like formats, they can be hung on walls like paintings or mounted on ceilings. They provide instant warmth but are relatively expensive to operate continuously, making them suitable as a secondary heating source within a home. Johnnie Briggs of Electric Radiators Direct highlights the silent operation and absence of dust circulation compared to convection heating, noting that the directional heat is considerably less intense than what one might experience in outdoor patio heaters. He recommends suspending the infrared heater from a ceiling at a height of 2.7 meters or higher and hanging wall-mounted panels at head height.For homes with unused open chimneys, a quick and affordable way to reduce heat loss and drafts is to install a flue balloon, readily available at most DIY stores. If the chimney is used for an open fire with uncontrolled heat output, Valentine recommends installing a fire door. This helps regulate the burning rate of the fire and can be used in conjunction with an existing back boiler to increase its efficiency. However, installing a door requires a chimney survey conducted by the supplier, with upfront costs, and might necessitate installing an artificial flue to ensure safety standards. Heat pump technology is widely recognized as the most effective long-term solution for addressing heat loss in Ireland. However, the initial purchase cost can be 2.5 times higher than oil or gas options. If you choose to invest in a heat pump, you'll likely need to upgrade your home's insulation levels, which can be expensive and disruptive. Valentine advises starting with a room-by-room heat loss calculation to determine the required heat output for each room and adjust the existing radiator capacity accordingly. He explains that switching from oil or gas will result in a lower water temperature in the radiators, dropping from 70 degrees to 45 degrees. This change promotes a warmer room rather than just warm radiators.
Heating Systems Boiler Maintenance Radiator Efficiency Infrared Heaters Heat Pumps Insulation Home Energy Saving
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