Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Jul 11, 2009 4:27 pm Brand newbie - so hello all. Doing significant refurb of a Newtown terrace and very keen on hydronic heating (used to the UK where we call it central heating). Reckon UK/Europe has a good handle on heating as they've been at it a while. Any success/horror stories? Any recommendations of company or installer. so that heats us now how do we go about cooling? Would ceiling fans be enough? Not a fan of aircon. But take in paying guests and a lot insist on aircon. So need to really keep them cool ... somehow. Has anyone got useful info on ducted gas heating. So far research suggests people not all that keen on it. Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 2Jul 11, 2009 5:25 pm Here are some useful factsheets on heating and cooling: http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs62.html http://www.energysmart.com.au/les/Displ ... ?PageID=21 Hydronic in-floor heating has the highest capital cost. Running cost using natural gas is similar to natural gas ducted systems. The reason that it is not more economical in Australia (compared to UK/Europe) is that central heating often does not need to be left on all day here. Cycling the hydronic on and off wastes heat because it takes a lot of energy to get the slab to a comfortable temperature again. The cheapest way of heating the hydronic water is natural gas first then off-peak electricity. An alternative is to use a heat pump. You can use a solar pre-heater but it probably is worth the expense for the amount of real heating energy you get during winter Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 3Jul 11, 2009 6:36 pm Jaynovak, re the paying guests - my advice is to insulate the house as well as you can in the ceiling and windows (double glaze if you are replacing windows) which will dramitically reduce the size of the air cond you'll need to install - plus draft proof all areas, then on those hot sydney nights your guests are less likely to need to and when they do need to - they can flick a switch to be comfortable, as opposed to put up with it like you might. Re hydronic - as per dynos comment - I think it's too warm most of the time in sydney to warrant it. Look at a good reverse cycle aircond and the above instalation and draft proofing and I think you'll be far happier re costs - running and installation. Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 4Jul 11, 2009 6:48 pm Thanks posters. Other problem I am having is that I'm in a conservation area (sigh!) ... and council not keen on aircon units. And architect chose not to put aircon on plans as it was expected council would not greenlight it. So i've been looking into other options. And remembered the 20 years in London where I just loved central heating. Only on from say 6am to 10am - then back on at say 6pm to 10pm - just great. House - a big one - toasty warm all day. Here you could reduce those times considerably, I'm sure. But the system does have great controls so you shouldn't be wasting heat overall. And the boiler could be earning its keep by heating the water for the house. And I really don't like that hot air blowing around the place ... Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 5Jul 11, 2009 7:25 pm I know what you mean re the hyrdronic boiler and it providing hot water as well. I've lived with that sort of system in the UK, and yes it is nice - however the point is that in OZ we find that our nice days are not as energy draining in winter as a UK winter is and the need to warm it all up is not require as often hence the useability and costs of heating the water from coooler state and the longer lag times to get up to temperture such as in a hydronic system is only useful in the coldest part of winter and with the NSW climate that is not very long in Sydney. Sure you do it - but I think you are holding onto old values in a different climate. What sort of layout and areas are you looking at heating? Some options I've seen installed in OZ are the following. Electric ceiling panels that sit under the insulation and on top of the plasterboard and radiat heat down. Efficient electric panel heaters that you turn on as and when required. Can be the danish ones or the ecopanel which are not dangerous to the touch. Solar hot water system that also feeds water through pipes to hydronic wall panels. As a guide here is an indication of running costs. http://www.sedo.energy.wa.gov.au/pages/heat_run.asp and if you are hell bent on Hydronic - then using the sun to heat the water is one option you must consider. http://rotex-solar-hot-water-hydronic-heating.com.au/html/domestic/10/solar-hot-water-heating-hydronic-residential Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 6Jul 11, 2009 8:02 pm jaynovak Thanks posters. Other problem I am having is that I'm in a conservation area (sigh!) ... and council not keen on aircon units. Air con units (otherwise known as heat pumps) are actually not that eco-unfriendly. Gas is always better (less GH emissions) but for space heating AC units uses similar amounts of energy. The problem with AC is that during summer heat waves peak loads put a huge strain on the grid. A well designed house that includes a lot of passive cooling and heating components can significantly reduce AC use. In some situations, summer AC requirements are minimal. Our Adelaide Hills passive solar house is using 1/5 the heating energy of our previous city house despite being an average of 4 degrees lower here in winter. It is operating at an energy rating of about 7.5 stars compared to 3 stars in our previous home (3 stars is about average for the typical Oz house). In summer despite a several days of mid 30s weather, the internal house temperature didn't rise above 28 C (AC not installed at that point). Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 7Jul 11, 2009 8:55 pm thanks very much for rotex - not a company I had heard of. I'm going back to the drawing board. Have a bit of time to resolve the heating issues. Am conscious that Australia would have adopted central heating if it suited conditions here - but sometimes Aussies can miss the obvious. Like front loading washing machines. huge take-up overseas yet here they are far less popular. Seems we just love our top loaders. Trouble with several choices - means you have to do so much more research. but thanks - this site is a great find and clearly a mine of information. Today has been so-o-o worthwhile Re: Heating Cooling in Syndey terrace house 8Jul 11, 2009 8:58 pm jaynovak tbut sometimes Aussies can miss the obvious. Like front loading washing machines. Like the Americans using a clothes line instead of a clothes dryer even in the Nevada desert! Wow...you mean you let the SUN dry your clothes. How cool is that. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good hydronic in slab heating speacialist who may be able to help me with an existing system and wether or not it may need a seperator… 0 4883 You’re on the right track, wire brush in a grinder then a zinc rich epoxy primer then a top coat of some sort, like a waterproofing membrane. Raising the concrete would… 1 7031 How good is Simeon?! Always taking time to help others out! Wish we were building in NSW and could work together. Thanks for all that you do! 7 6571 |