# heating an water?



## tony an cj (Apr 12, 2017)

hi, we are looking at moving to the algarve next year. building a timber house that will be well insulated( british regs) we are looking at options on heating an hot water, but am a little stuck. we are thinking solar panels for electricity an possibly solar thermal for hot water. has anyone done a new build an had underfloor heating? is it really needed…any ideas an suggestions are greatly received before we go too far on the design stage


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## paramonte (Sep 9, 2007)

Heating really needed in the Algarvian winters.
Don't be fooled by the average temperature shown in websites like the min and max.

Underfloor heating is considered the most effective IF you use some sort of heat pump be it water/water or water/air low temperature based. Give a look to the new heat-pump solutions made by Daikin or similar (rather expensive like Altherma). Underfloor heating really expensive if it is simply electrical (resistor based) or gas based. I don't know if it is feasible to use solar solely to do the heating plus hot water.


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## robc (Jul 17, 2008)

It is quite possible to use a solar block system to provide hot water and underfloor heating using hot water.
There are plenty of companies to choose from and as far as I can see the COP ratings (co-efficient of performance) is greater than those of traditional methods such as heat pump.
There is a large PT company based in povoa varzim, north of Oporto who are European wide and seem to have achieved many awards for their systems. (No names, no advertising but you can always pm me)

HTH

Rob


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

tony an cj said:


> hi, we are looking at moving to the algarve next year. building a timber house that will be well insulated( british regs) we are looking at options on heating an hot water, but am a little stuck. we are thinking solar panels for electricity an possibly solar thermal for hot water. has anyone done a new build an had underfloor heating? is it really needed…any ideas an suggestions are greatly received before we go too far on the design stage


Hi, You don't say at what stage your build / design has reached so this may be irrelevant. Generally houses here are not wooden as it not a "local" building material. The trees here are not suitable for long straight beams and planks so this type of timber is usually imported from countries further north. The problem in the wet season of high humidity which makes unsealed timber absorb moisture to produce ideal conditions for wood worm, mould and rot, where as in the dry season the UV causing photo-oxidation.of exposed wood which affects its cell structure. The roof supporting structure of older houses used local hard wood branches often untreated but the roof space was not sealed or insulated so moisture would evaporate and be vented. Wood worm like 11% moisture so a day or two of sunshine directly on the uninsulated and vented roof would be enough to dry and kill the larvae in the wood. 

Solar water heating is considered a secondary system here so usually used to pre-heat water before a gas fired water heater. It takes juggling to work out a suitable system for a house as the consumption, available solar energy and heated water storage, there are also passive and active systems and several different designs of panel. Your architect will be able to advise on what is available and suitable for your planning project application.


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