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Discuss Should I switch to Infrared radiators or install TRVS? in the Central Heating Forum area at PlumbersForums.net

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NJlookingforhelp

Hi!

We're looking for a consult for our 1905 built (renovated in 2010) victorian house for the future of our heating system. The house is 2 floors and runs 2 different systems and hot water.

On the ground floor we have water based underfloor heating with a mix of tile and wood floors with each room having their own thermostat. On the first floor we have a series of 5+1(towel rack) aluminium and steel radiators, hooked up to a Nest thermostat in the hallway, as all of them still have a manual valve (so no zoning possible at the moment). The system has 2 valves: Heating and Hot Water, so if the heating downstairs comes on in a single zone, the upstairs heating does as well.
The gas boiler and the unvented-cylinder are also on the first floor.

The house is currently D-rated in energy efficiency and needs some insulation work as part of this project.

We were thinking either replacing the upstairs radiators with infrared electric ones and continuing running the bottom system and hot water on gas, potentially moving to a air heath pump or a fully electric boiler for UFH and Hot Water down the line.

Am I mad to think this, or should I just have the existing radiators be installed with TRVs instead?
With 5 new radiators (I guess the towel rack will be just a non-heated one if we remove the central heating from the upstairs room), and work needed to remove the old system (leaving the pipes in the floors, but removing the connection to the boiler), I'm projecting a ball park figure of ~£5k, is that realistic?

Thanks so much for any tips and help - haven't been able to get good advice from reaching out to plumbers and I don't know who to consult on this.
 
You should spend £5k improving the insulation in your home with the intention of eventually moving over to an ASHP. Your system sounds modern enough for the time being without too much tinkering. Perhaps add some Nest compatible smart TRV's to upstairs rads for zoning, if you do replace upstairs radiators over size them because that's what an ASHP will like.

No to electric boiler/IR panels unless you really want a £10k pa electricity bill.
 
Agree with the above insulation and windows are the biggest ways to cut your bills
 

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