Badger's activity

If the insulation levels are high and the thermal analysis is good, then you could expect a pump size of approximately 17Kw output, as a maximum. Expect to pay circa Euro 20K, which would include the domestic hot water tank of 300 ltrs, plus excavation costs for the ground loops and plumber connection to the heating system.We have a installation close to us in a 300 sq mtr house with minimal insulation running a 17kw pump, so a better insulated house of your size should be within that criteria.

AngieLThe setup costs are relative to the house size and the thermal needs of the house. Another consideration is as to whether you are going to be running underfloor heating or radiators. The domestic hot water running costs are minimal over the year, as the pump is only running about 1 hour per day, so for the installation here about 40 cents. Life expectancy: Pump circa 15 years, (compressor 10 year g'tee ) ground loops 100 years.For a 100-300 sq mtr house, expect to pay 1000-2000 Euros per year for 24 hour heating and domestic hot water. If you want to give me more specific information, regarding heating type, house size then hopefully I can answer better.Hope this helps 

Without specific information as to insulation levels etc., then it would be impossible for me to give you any real guide to what size heat pump that you would need or the cost.  Have you the thermal analysis for the house with regard to the heat loss against the heating requirement? Please do not get a plumber to estimate this, as unless they have the right software and the experience, then they will just guess. Use a thermal engineer to give you a accurate figure.I am about to install a geothermal system in a 220 sq mtr house ( completely rebuilt ) which has been running on GPL for about 4 years at an average cost of E5000.00 P.A. Calculations expect this to drop to approx 1500-2000 euros per year.( independent 3 phase pump supply + single phase for the house to keep to the lowest possible electricity costs ) Internal temperature is set at 20C with 24hr heating. If you have more information, then I may be able to give better answers, either on here or by PM.

Is anyone else having problems with logging in and out. I log out and it still shows me as active, if I refresh it says access denied. Then when I log in again, the messages I have already read are still shown as unread. Refreshing the page does not change the status. Perhaps some bug has got in to mess it all up!!!

As you are thinking of putting a wood burner in the kitchen area, then I would suggest also putting a door to the upstairs steps. Heat rises, so most will go up the stairway. You also have to consider, if the bathroom doors are closed, then the heat will not have any access, so another problem, especially if you want to shower on a cold winters day. May be better to have radiators connected to the unit. 

Underfloor heating, is probably about the best system to use in a average insulated renovated Italian house ( roof insulation and double glazing ). The disadvantage is the initial warm up time and the higher installation cost for the system. Because of the type of heat that is produced, then normally it is recommended to have the room setting at around 19C. Heating temperatures for thermal requirements are usually based on room temperatures of 20C. I would be interested to know the open plan floor area, insulation levels and the heating setting for Sebastiano's friends. E1500 is a phenomenal amount to pay for 15 days. As regards to open plan, we are here, lounge, rear hallway and kitchen, underfloor heating, with only roof insulation and double glazing and with all rooms heated, we still come well under the sum above for the whole year, others with the same system are in 250 - 300 sq mtr properties are also between 1500 - 2000 per year for heating and hot water costs.With regard to porches etc for wet wellies, we only have a small hallway, but when we redesigned the house, we made a utility room off the hallway specifically for that purpose, but then, that was relatively easy due to the original layout of the house. 

This is a product that you can get here. I have used it on a couple of ground level application, and it is very effective.http://www.specifinder.com/pdfs/4642_pdf3.pdfYou can also get bitumen damp proofer in rolls, or if you want to ventilate the floors then this other product may help.http://www.pontarolo.ca/html/cupolex.shtml 

OK, I agree with some of what you are saying. If you have a thermal store over the winter months, then you have to ensure that temperature is boosted to approx 70C every 2 - 4 weeks to prevent bacterial infection in the showers etc. Your original question was with regard to DHW production for basic summer use and not for heating purposes, but as usual the post changed to then include PV, Heating and DHW.As it only costs about 1200 euros per year to heat my house 24/7 and supply constant hot water using electricity, then that is my demise ........ so be it.It only costs me about Euro 3 per week in the summer months for hot water, but I do have the advantage of not having glass panels all over the place.I am quite happy not to make any comments or suggestions if you feel they are not informative.

If I remember correctly from some of the posts on the old forum, then solar powered domestic hot water and heating only constituted about 20 - 30% of the requirements of a house, before other heat sources were required. This seems to be the synopsis from the linked site in earlier emails. I appreciate that solar can provide all the hot water in the Summer months, but then it gets cloudy and the efficiency drops.I, honestly cannot understand why people want to install solar, GPL, woodburners etc to just live comfortably. Currently, I am working on a project for a 220 sq mtr new build (4 years old ), where they are paying Euro 5000 per year for GPL just for hot water and heating, both on 24 hrs with room temperature 20C. Our calculations reduce the heating and hot water to approx Euro 1500 - 2000 per year and that is using electricity alone.

Apart from the problem with power cuts, there is a new product on the market from Ariston, solely for domestic hot water production. The model is the Nuos and uses a air/water heating system.This has an internal hot water tank of either 80/100 or 120 ltrs and last prices I had were circa Euro 1000 + IVA. It uses approx 300 watts of electricity in normal mode. Cannot include the pdf of the details, as they were made from the brochure. If you would like them, send me a PM with your email.