>> With UFH you just need to leave it on all the time, and allow it
>> to regulate the temperature as it sees fit. In a new house built to current
>> specs, which are almost ' Passiv Haus' there's a good chance you will not need
>> much heating anyway!
I'm hoping that is the case. I think the current standards imply a U-value of about 0.2 (watts per m^2 per degree Kelvin IIRC). Ours is designed to be around 0.13 for the inner leaf (timber frame with insulation infill, total of about 120mm of Kooltherm). We are some way off passive but a fair but better than the minimum. We also have a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery, no window vents and no airbricks. The multifuel stove uses external air so I don't have to knock open holes in the walls. We have no gas appliances.
Several people who don't have a heat pump themselves have told me we won't be warm enough without some supplementary heating. I hope and believe they're wrong - I suspect they have heard stories from people who have put heat pumps into older houses. Anything pre-1980 that is unimproved could easily have heat loss of more than 10 times current minimum standard. Nationally there is a huge amount to be gained from better insulation.
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