People say heat pumps work well when the house is well insulated and air tight and they would be right but a lighting candle would also heat the house at that stage. After spend big money on insulation and air tightness a very simple heat source will heat the house my advice insulation, solid fuel and radiator's, no underfloor heating with solid fuel just keep it simple . I'm the plumbing game a long time . All the best to Stewart family

Heat pumps are for new builds with underfloor heating to be efficient. Now for older houses timber is best

Can't beat tradition in an old farmhouse

Agree with you 100% you cant beat coming in to a nice warm house and stretching out in front of an open fire and watch the flames dance.

All heatpumps are generally quite reliable its usually poor installation thats the problem, also you'd be amazed at the amount of times I went out to jobs complaining about high bills looked up in attic of a house and insulation still rolled up in the packaging... Broken heatpumps stories you'd have heard would be from about 2 years ago was because of the change over to R32 refrigerant, in most cases it was a software issue in the controls of the heatpump, software was updated and those machines have performed well since... Modern heating systems and heatpumps are complex machines and people should only buy from people who have a proven track record of being able to diagnose and repair them... it's really a specialist job ... it's the guys who jumped into it last week just cos there's a grant going or think there's money in it who ruin it for everyone...

Love the channel my granny always said an open fire place is the heart of the home brings family together on the cold winter nights

@johnsometimeswrong8742

8 күн бұрын

And it stinks

@8:50 my granny had a Pulley Clothes Airer in the Kitchen seeing it bring back good memories.Great video

Good idea phil. But I will advise you on one thing sow a lot more than 20 trees.. and to be honest go with an external burner that will take straw and timber. A fire in the house is savage but it generates a lot of dust and mess. If you were setup well with the external burner it’s just like feeding the cattle you get into a routine of topping up the burner.. fuel and mess outside heat inside..

@user-ed5nn9zm2b

29 күн бұрын

My thoughts exactly and I didn't even think about the dust and having to put on the pini to do the dusting

@robert22801

29 күн бұрын

@@user-ed5nn9zm2b Exterior burners are some job on a farm you can burn plastic 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Good old peat, I have memories of being on Mull and digging peat for next years fires. But your right to go with what you know and let’s face it you can’t really sit with a toddy on a winters night around a radiator! And no great story starts with siting around a heat pump!

Madness to be honest. Have a heat pump in 5 years. Never an issue. First year i think cost 700e to run for the year, obviously cost has gone up but is also coming down. Like everything if you get it put in right and have good insulation you'll never have an issue. Solid fuel is so dirty, ever wonder why your dad always has a cough? House will always be dirty from smoke and ash. As for open fire might as well throw 20 euros straight into it, all the heat up the chimney. You always say ye never have enough time, why would you add more work? Something you might not think of but if ye ever have kids, the heat pump really comes into its own. House is always warm for them nights when you have to get up during the night, always have hot water for them and you can make the house so comfortable for them. Wood chipper prob costs the same as a heat pump. I know a few who said the same about sitting in front of a fire in the evening so they put stoves in with the heat pump. Never light the fire. I think you'll regret it in a few years and end up putting in one.

@FARMERPHIL3690

Ай бұрын

My father damaged his lungs with silage persevitives years ago that’s why he coughs so much

@johnsometimeswrong8742

8 күн бұрын

This is the mind set when you dont value your own labour properly...have a heatpump warming 5000 square foot house for 10 years....very effeciant...no chore of gafhering material anx cleaning up mess...plus i really notice the smell of fires in peoples houses now. P.s. i work in construction and have access to an endless amount of waste timber and even that couldnt sway me to a stove.

No issue with heat pumps. It's not hard on electricity, just need a well insulated air tight house

100 % right Phil!, but don't put in a fireplace, the heat all goes up the chimney. A stove and a solidfuel cooker is the way to go....and when the winter storm knocks out the power you'll still have heat and a hot dinner.

U just can't beat a good old fire just watching the flames heats u up 🤙

We'll done with staying with solid fuel as you will have plenty around the farm and no point in letting it rot in the ditches . 👍🤠

I put a stove with a back boiler in my house, great job during the winter to heat the water but don’t expect the same heat in the room from the stove. Also it’ll eat a lot more sticks than the stove without a back burner. Still glad I put it in but I kept the oil for heating water in the summer, if you just want a bit of heat on in the morning before heading out oil is hard to beat.

Brilliant video and congrats on going solid fuel rute, one thing about timber is have it dry, wet timber is a disaster, have one to two years ahead in two airy sheds ,keep rotating so you will always have a shed of dry timber

Great video again Phil. Heat pumps are going to be the way forward. Definitely if you are thinking underfloor heating and a cozy comfortable home ; you really need to give them another look. Look at the fabric of the building 1st then the heating. External wall insulation for any building would make such a difference. On demand hot water from the heat pump paired with a solar pv installation would leave running cost quite low. Many people don't look at the fabric of the building and that why heat pumps will be expensive to run. Ye should look into the derelict house grant and I would recommend having a listen to the seai retrofit podcast. Best of luck whatever ye decide. Keep us updated.

If you're looking at your heat the chance's of being cold are considerably less, don't forget a man that can feed himself is much more difficult to control ...😷

The Stove is the heart of the home in darker wetter days. Having the ole back boiler for hot water and rads just makes the bucking and seasoning worth while. Resilience is key and by having three heat sources it’s sounds like you’re well covered 👌

Solid fuel is definitely more reliable if you have the stock. Only thing I would say is it’s labour intensive feeding a fire all day never mind multiple fires. I’d go for a wood chip boiler and buy a proper G30 producing one. You can burn every bit of the tree above ground and also make a contraction business from it (especially with your no burn laws🙄🤦‍♂)

Cows looking good well done xxx

It would be a good idea to keep your oil boiler Phil, it will cost nothing to leave it in place and plumb into one of the coils, it's still a great option especially as you can use a timer, great for the cold early winter mornings. I've a back boiler stove along with oil, we use the oil very sparingly I wouldn't like to be without it and having to light more than one stove. You're accustomed to using turf too and there's a fair difference between that and timber, even hardwood like ash, the timber won't burn as long as turf. I also grew up in an old cold stone farmhouse, having more heating options is a good thing... Regarding firewood, you could plant biomass willow in wet ground on a 5 or 6 year coppice rotation to get decent sized ones, with alder on the edges. It needs 2 years inside to dry but it's really good fast growing firewood. Yourself and Liv have a lot of decisions to make which is always difficult, but no matter what it'll be grand! All the best with it anyway.

Phil,I am watching you a few years and want to give you some good advice.. If you are upgrading your insulation to a B+ or higher, the heat pump is brilliant. I built our house 2 years ago to A2 standard and the heat pump is so cheap to run. We are using 4900 kwh(2000ft house) a year, which is more useful than telling you how much it cost(€1800minus €600 subsidy for Sept to Sept last year) This year will even be cheaper with reduced electricity costs. House always warm, hot water always available, no saving turf or drying wood, and no ashes. I live in castlebar and can show you our bills if interested, we have had no problem with it. I was sceptical before we put it in but best decision we made while building

@stonemad4197

Ай бұрын

I don't have solar panels either

@John-hz9mf

Ай бұрын

I can heat a 5 bed bungalow cook on a solid fuel range for €0

@stonemad4197

Ай бұрын

Are you cutting the timber with your teeth

@Alan-rn5ip

Ай бұрын

​@@John-hz9mf I doubt that very much.

@John-hz9mf

Ай бұрын

Ya a few days in the bog

Solid fuel for the night time heat and solar gain- good windows in the right aspect and insulation for the daytime heat. Great video Phil.

100% right in what you have planned, I know a guy in the north here who has loads of people from the south buying oil burners to replace the heat pump they have put in, too expensive to run. I have wood pellets & solid fuel stove with back boiler. I also have underfloor heating and really impressed with it but make sure you put the proper screed in with it. I used the therma blocks on the inside walls, twice the price of a standard block but worth it. We cut about 2 hrs of turf every year but that will soon be over. Solid fuel is king, gives off a better heat and is renewable

You should definitely demo one of the Finnish/Swedish firewood processors. They cut and spilt the wood and can handle a broader range of wood. Also investigate gasification wood boilers. Brilliant. All the hot water and heat you need from burning a bit of wood.

You can't beat the heat from a roaring fore!

I have friends who moved from Castlerock Northern Ireland to near Stonehaven Scotland to a new build bungalow with a heat pump, they find it very inefficient and expensive to run, it is their biggest regret in the new house

Timber is the way to go in my opinion both financially and economically. It's also a very a satisfying process to sort your own fuel (although you've enough to be doing obviously 😂) I'd recommend a stove or range cooker with a back boiler as well as the other one for rads and hot water tank

Put a double wrap around solid system and you can add in a oil system after if yee want that's what we have and works brilliant

Thank you, Phil, for answering my questions. Brilliant video, Phil 👍

Wood is good main fuel and works whitout electricity. If heat pumps work well in here finland so they should work in your milder weather.

Good stuff

Great video farmer Phil

Old skool heating is the simplest and more efficient in the long run, plus you are in control. Fair play Phil👍🏻 Keep an eye on rear end oil temp, those conveyor pumps are severe on oil flow, especially when speed adjuster is on them, maybe its ok on a modern tractor

Interesting video. I enjoy hearing your thought process

I’d say to ya to get a back boiler or the like of it aswell

Over in west aus they using deep bores to heat/cool places cos the temp is warm in winter but cooler in summer

Look at ground source heat pumps as we put one in 8 years ago with underfloor heating and would not go back. But you need to spec radiators for a heat pump system because the system runs at cooler temperature to conventional central heating system, but runs all day so whole building is warm.

Great video Phil. Enjoyed watching. 👍🏼👍🏼

Boiler stove plus pellet stove to heat water as well so you can set the timer for heat and hot water when your out on the farm working

Should consider biomass boiler great job takes big blocks of timber

We live in a mid 80ts bungalow 4 bed with oil and solid fuel the stove would do on its own (boiler stove) but we need a lot of timber you have no problem there and it's OK when you're young when you get to 70 it's not easy and that house you have is big we just finished a house for our youngest son with heat pumps system at the top of a hill and it's brilliant for heat but it's a new house well insulated and it doesn't take much to heat it. What ever heat system you choose make sure to insulate everything treble glazed windows wall insulation and floor insulation and it won't take much to heat it.

He who cuts his own timber warms himself twice

Nice video ❤

You're right

The old ways are the best

right move

Phil. Just be aware that when the little Phil's arrive and you have a big open fire that takes alot of maintenance, it's also a hazard to kids. Think it through. No time wasted cleaning, setting, lighting, maintaining, watching.

Hi phil I think you made the right decision but I am wondering why cant you get turf after the bit you have runs out

Your right to go with the wood burner I really miss having the fire on in the house in the cold nights and it's also good as you still have heat when the power is off were on gas and any power cut it's freezing

Same as that , anyone I know with a heat pump has problems with it , from constantly breaking down to using loads of electricity.

Solid fuel will never give you any problems

@stonemad4197

Ай бұрын

Headache drying it...Ashes....chimney leaks ...chimney fires...stoves backboiler bursting..no heat in morning

We have a wall mounted heat pump and a wood stove. Spring and fall we use heat pump and for AC

Might be an idea to put some solar panels on the house to work alongside the solid fuel Phil. We have a solid fuel stove, a great job and 3 solar panels on roof. Even on good bright days have lots of water for showers and that. If we had good summer no fire needed if house well insulated. Best if luck with the revamp.

I went for solid timber too. I got a heat mass stove. It has a bigger firebox than your , but it heat the mass around it and it is a comfortable heat. Ecco stove from England. I only refill on a normal winter day twice and it releases heat over 12 hours. I start the heating of the mass stove with heating twice early winter, then a single fire until days gets cold/wet. Make sure there is very dry wood, so it heats up fast, otherwise you are losding heat to steam and the stove will not get hot, snd you will have far more ash. No coal/turf, dry wood only. So Three firings (2 refills) on hard frosty weather. My house is an old stone cottage with poor insulation. I have often be in my t shirt early morning and see the frost outside the window. It is not a hot house, but comfortable for me.

Solar panels are a very good job. They pay for themselves fairly quickly and look into if you haven’t already a system called eddie. Basically any excess energy you’re solar panels are making instead of going back to the grid it switches on your immersion heater in the hot water tank and heats your water. Deadly in the summer months when you’re not lighting the stove. Also if the house has an old esb meter (not digital) don’t let the esb change it to digital. Thats when you’re solarpanels make you great money.

Definitely good to go with wood burning. The modern fire places are amazing, we just installed them be and it’s so easy to run and heats really well, nice dry heat which is good for an old house. As far as timber source, look into pollarding and coppice tree management methods. I reckon you could plant willows and poplar in a lot of places on your farm. Best thing is you can harvest the timber above where the cattle can reach, so it grows back quick, I’d say with the size of timer your new machine can handle you’ll be on a 2-4 year harvest cycle. If you’re creative with where you plant these set ups you could probably produce enough surplus to start selling bundles. A more advanced method would be silvo pasture, where you have rows of trees, the gaps between rows that suit your machinery. Probably better for grazing only paddocks, but allow for spraying and fert/slurry. So many possibilities guys enjoy 👏👏

Here in northern Sweden we have more or less stopped using firewood as heat source. The heat pumps nowadays are so good that even if you own the forrest and do all the work yourself it's still more expensive to heat with firewood. We do have pretty cheap electricity and it's easy to get a loan if you tell the bank that it's for installing a geothermal heatpump. Pretty much the only reason to keep an old boiler here is as backup for when the powergrid fails.

On the heating system, look into a battery/generator backup for the water pumps for if the power goes out.

I hope Minister Ryan is going to listen to you on your thoughts on Heat Pumps He is as educated about electric cars as he is about heat pumps. My dad always said Be ware of people in suits and in power!!!!

That chopper needs a hitch on it. That way you can hook the trailer to it. Otherwise you're looking at two tractors. Unless it will work on the front PTO, and then you drop the trailer, process the wood, and hookup the trailer.

Heat pumps work really well when well speced to the house and enough insulation. Weve been running ours for two years and get on really well. We do have a wee log burner for those days when ye need to sit by a flame but otherwise the house is warm and snug. Firewood is grand amd youre lucky to have a supply of it. But if youre time poor, its yet another job to do when you always seem stretched fir time. Machine or no machine.

Nice video lad 🤠

@bumpkinrocks

Ай бұрын

You could've only watched a maximum of 3 mins😂😂

Could hire out that wood processor

What sorta hp does the processor need to run(min hp) its an interesting machine to watch 👍

have been heating with wood stove for 40 years.....often thought about on of those machines for doing saw mill slabs but would need one to chip 16 inch pieces

100 % right Phil and Mrs ESB goging roof fuel neary 2 euro litre in next few months

Well come ji

Hi Phil and family That is a very impressive machine for chopping timber well done. with regards to heat pumps? They work very well in the right conditions as mentioned in order comments you need to have a BER of B2 or better for them to work efficiently. The building will need to have a very high level of insulation airtightness and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery unit to work well with a heat pump. I myself have a biomass Boiler that I use about full wheelbarrow of Timber every day to day and a half that heats a 2000 litre buffer tank to 65 degrees and that heats the house and domestic hot water. when you have your own supply of Timber this not a bad system to have. I would suggest that you consider doing a two day retrofit course with an ETB before you start doing anything at all to the house. I have done this course myself and I have to say it really has informed me and all the things that you can and you can’t do with regards to insulation airtightness and ventilation getting these three things right before you even think about any kind of heating system will make a big difference to your energy consumption going forward and your overall comfort levels in the house. best of luck with the house I’m sure ye will do a great job on it.

Hi phil I think your right and wrong haha if it makes sense the heat pump is brilliant but there are some cowboys fitting them and don't fully understand the system when set up right (piped and thermostats ) theres a huge saving on compared to gas and oil a lot of people only notice my Elec bill is up by 100 a month yes but ya don't have a 200 gas bill ive a heat pump because I know the systems and understand it so it suits me also use a heat recovery system so when we have the fire lighting its distributing the heat throughout although its an expense im not sure is justified but for you you basically have free heat you need to dispose of the wood anyway 😂 so I think ur right solid fuel but heat pumps are great when installed right also you could put in a heat pump at a later date

We went new build 5 years ago with a heat pump, no issues at all and not that hard on electricity. Probably much less efficient in a renovation job though. No right or wrong ye will have the right set up for ye when its all done 👌🏻

It will be wood and solid fuel for us, with the multi fuel range running the heating. Nothing says 'you're home' better than a fire on a cold wet winter evening.

Whatever you do don't use spray foam insulation on the roof It's causing major hastle in the UK at the moment because it's causing damp wood and you can't see where the damage is until it's too late Spray foam on the ceiling makes more sense as you have to heat the attic before it becomes effective if applied to the felt

Interesting project - so you can use solid fuel for underfloor heating? Thought that was by the air to water pump only? Best of luck with the renovations

We live in a old farmhouse a cold house, we have used many different methods to heat it over the 30 plus years, the solid fuel burner is the best for large amounts of heat, we now have a heat transfer system and a heat pump for the other big room, when the children lived at home all the bedrooms were kept dryer by oil column heaters, now the heat transfer including excess heat from the roof cavity on sunny days, has dried the house out, it was getting damp with no extra people living in the other bedrooms. But it took time, plus all the rooms are now double glazed, plus most internal and external walls are insulated.

Nice processor... 👍🏻 we have a multi fuel hunter stove double sided for donkeys and been great but no central heating.... but now installing a pellet boiler for hot water and central heating as being able to set a timer to switch the water or heat on is a god send when doing long days 😉.. Nice seeing your progress on the cottage.. stay safe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

High Phil and Liv -family your right about solar panels Phil if I tell you a very cheap energy is coming soon,and the money I told you about has been held up but will be moving soon it's called Quantum money,lot of Luck

Coppice some trees or plant some to Coppice. Hazel sweet cheshunt depends on climate willow fast turn around

Great idea going the solid fuel route. I have relations in 3 different new builds, all with heat pumps and everytime I visit them I end up leaving with a headache. Personally I find the place stuffy and uncomfortable after a while and cant wait for a bit of fresh air. Also, I notice that some people living in homes with heat pumps tend to get more colds and minor sickness on a regular basis. Definitely not for me and also the installation cost,running cost and maintenance cost would prove prohibitive. I’m sure they work well for a lot of people but just not for me anyway. As you say,nothing like sitting at an open fire on a wet,cold and dreary evening. Best of luck with the refurbishment and I’ll be keeping a keen eye on your progress. Great channel btw👌

@jeremiahdeasy6803

Ай бұрын

Totally agree with you on all of your comment

Well if ye have plenty of timber it is a great job but a oil boiler is a great backup in any house try to keep a oil boiler outside again

Is that the machine that was in the box that ye got with the new sprayer ?

Hi Phil grate video as always. I was just wanting to let you know that if your planning on planting a small forest for firewood I recommend planting eucalyptus as it's one of the best timber you can use for firewood here in ireland. It grows like a softwood getting to a good hight in 8 to 10 years but it burns like a hardwood so the timber will last ages on the stove not to mention it will grow back once its cut down so you wouldn't have to replant after it's harvested.

When you sat in front of the wood burner, there was an old picture on the wall behind you? May I ask what the picture was off??

Where did the processor come from? Could do with one for a week on hire at ours.

Hi both just to add my ten pence worth. Basically heat pumps work the same as a fridge but in reverse drawing any available heat from the outside and multiplying it. Supposedly 3 to 1 ratio. Work well in modern well insulated houses not sure about old ones. Expensive to buy even with a grant. I have heard the Government intend banning solid fuel fires, wood burners, not sure if this applies to Ireland though. Perhaps consider an evacuated tube solar for heating water in a tank, great in the summer when you are not using the fire. Yes was wondering if you were going to grow trees to supply your needs, I've seen people on you tube planting willow as a source as it is quick growing. I am with you love a fire to gaze into on a long winters night. Just to finish underfloor heating requires a lower heat output compared to radiators so you won't have to have the fire going so much.

Hey Phil, are you going to have a back boiler in your burner, or are you having an oil boiler for heating the house and your water. 🤔

Did they ban turf cutting in your area Phil? We still at it in Co Roscommon and Mayo

I would think you’d need something like a large wood burner to run the underfloor heating, one or two stoves won’t run it consistently.

Good video. I don't think a heat pump would work in that house anyway, you really need an A2 rated house, it would cost an arm and a leg to get the house rated to that. I wouldn't depend on just timber and turf to heat the house though, personally I'd look at a wood pellet boiler, and still have your wood burning stoves with a back boiler connected too. Having a timer or even a smart timer on the heating is great.

We do most of our heating with a solid fuel stove I'm conscious though that at 51 timber won't work when I hit 70 just a thought

@foxdmulder

Ай бұрын

neighbour up the road is 87 and ctill uses a chainsaw to cut up firewood.......and her husband died 4 years ago.

Don’t bother with a heat pump.We are finding these videos of the house very interesting.We don’t want a heat pump I’ve the birds were beautiful singing birds.Good piece of kit so so good 😅.Till next time.Good luck 🍀.

Phill, can I have the outdoor boiler please

I heard lately a man wanted to put in a solid feul cooker he was told anywhere he went that they are not making them anymore

Turfs not over 😅

If it right for you that all that matters. Think heat pumps are to costly to run. We run heating oli

Great video Phil. Sounds like ye have given a lot of thought to it. Probably makes sense when you have such a supply of timber for it. Have ground source heat pump here in a new, well insulated house and we would never go back. No hassle with timber, turf, oil etc and so clean. Its gas, grew up with turf fires all my life but if i went near one now id have fierce problems with allergies etc Best of luck with the new build

Did ye consider geo thermal?

Heatpumps work great here in Sweden so it should work great in Ireland where it is significantly warmer, also, using both together would be an even better option.

Solid fuel is the best because in the future the electricity systems will have more power cut’s because they won’t be able to cope.