I'm doing a project as part of a surveying degree. It's about the maintenance of an eco house. This was first prompted by a visit to an Eco village in Austria, where they claimed there was "no maintenance" required...Meanwhile after quite a frustrating search, I find there is very little about ongoing maintenance.
So, if you have experience in maintaining these elements of an ecohouse: Biomass boiler, Solar Hot Water Panels or Ground Source Heat Pump, I would be really grateful for a couple of lines about your experience?
Thanks. Erica
tony
3 Jul 2010, 6:36 PM
I have a very low energy and very low maintenance home
No boiler of any sort to maintain or service or replace
Solar hot water has no maintenance either since it was installed though I expect to replace the pumps after 10 years, panels are self cleaning and I have no antifreeze in the system so there are no issues there.
Heat pumps are OK for thirty years and very similar to fridges -- know anyone who services their fridge?
I do clean the windows and frames and change the filters on the MHRV.
Cedar fascias etc -- zero maintainence etc....
etownend36
3 Jul 2010, 8:58 PM
Hi Tony Thanks for your reply. I looked up your website. Your house is amazing and there's so much information.
I take it you installed Solar hot water panels and a heat pump? And you have had no maintenance?
My own experience is that our air source heat pump used for a small pool has been problematic, in 3 years it has been replaced completely once and now it has just broken down again (compressor) because the gas ran low.
I'm told that I bought a cheaper brand and the parts are not very sturdy, so this particular brand has a history of breaking down.
I'd be interested to know if anyone has a biomass boiler and what their experience is with maintenance? Erica
maybe
18 Jul 2010, 10:15 PM
we have a bio-mass(wood pellet) heater at home here in Denmark.It supplies all our hot water and 150m2 of floor heat.the only maintenance is cleaning the burn chamber at the start of winter.There are 1000,s in use in Denmark as they provide the cheapest heat.However there is a fast growing trend to replace bio-mass heaters with heat pumps-air to water or water to water(ground heat).They cost the same to run,take up less space and don,t involve any work or pellet storage .
