Triple System (solid, sun & electric) Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[RogerL]

I'm busy restoring and converting an old farmhouse and I want to install - from scratch - a system for central heating and domestic hot water supply that will run off a sun-boiler in summer (supplying hot water only), a wood-burning stove with back-boiler in winter, and an immersion heater as backup. I'd like to use a thermal storage system for the hot water, and - I think - I'd prefer an 'open' vented system. Is there anyone who can advise me if this is actually possible? Or am I being too ambitious/unrealistic?

[sparx]

Hi,
not unrealistic, very conventional standard solar set up.

Our system here has a large cylinder with 2 coils installed, one takes heat from roof solar panel, evacuated tube type.
Second coil allows for heating by water from conventional boiler system.
We also have 2 immersion elements installed one at low point for nitestor rate electricity, the other one near the top for daytime top-up on normal rate.
We don't have any wet system heating in the place so second coil is currently unused, but I plan to connect it to our hot tub to remove excess heat from cylinder on sunny afternoons once solar has topped-out, free heating otherwise wasted!
hope this helps,
regards SPARX
sorry for late reply but usually only look at 'leckie forum'

[RogerL]

Many thanks - very encouraging. Now I can get on with finding equipment suppliers - if anyone knows of suppliers here in Holland where I live, or in the area around Toulouse where the project is, I'd be most grateful for details of them.