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A retired couple has finally found a convenient and cost-effective heating solution for their mountain retreat.
There was a husband and wife who more than twenty years ago fell in love with the charming countryside of the Jizera Mountains. As time went on they realized they would like to have a house here and so they procured a new timber lodge, which they first used as a cottage but eventually decided to move in permanently. By taking this step, the couple suddenly faced a burning problem: What to do about the heating in preparation for the winter season, if they don't want to risk being cold?
Cost analysis
The newly built cottage with no basement or cellar is partly timber and partly brick: the ground floor is built half in the classic mountain style with timbering sealed on the inside with a layer of thermal insulation, then covered over with wooden boards, and in half with masonry (using wood-cement profilated brick "IZOBLOK"). The wooden framework in the attic employed the "sandwich" method but instead of using plasterboard for interior sheathing, they went for a more natural type of panelling, known as the "STRAMIT" boards. The total size of all heated areas comes to 147 m2, which after considering the clear height of 2.6 m and the slanted roof in the attic space, makes up about 337 m3 of cubic content to be heated.
Before the construction began a detailed analysis was conducted to determine what costs could be expected considering the accessible heat/energy sources.
The chart above clearly illustrates that using wood chips or a heat pump would be most cost-effective. Second position is taken by wood-burning stove with an insert and PION comes only as third.
The heat pump was, however, immediately crossed off the list due to its rather steep acquisition cost. Nevertheless, the procurement of a wood-chip boiler would again need setting up a dedicated utility room directly in the house, and consideration would also have to be given to space requirements connected with the storage of roughly 15 cubic metres of wood chips for the whole period of heating season. Similarly, if the decision was to get a wood-burning stove and use nothing but wood then again the same issue would arise: where to store some 20 cubic meters of wood. After many consultations and further specifications of what the owners actually prefer as far as the house, its rooms and their specific use go, the decision was finally made: for practical purposes, PION infraheaters shall be installed about the house plus, in the mountain-lodge spirit, there will also be a fireplace in the living room - to create the right atmosphere.
In this case, the total wattage of all PION units was 10.4 kW (i.e. 5.80 kW downstairs and 4.62 kW upstairs. At the end of the heating season 2010/2011 (i.e. October to April) the total power consumption of heating came to 13,413 kWh, which represents CZK 31,387 calculated at the unit price CZK 2411.21 per MW-Hr charged by ČEZ energy provider.
A practical example illustrating the layout of PION heaters in an actual space
Summary
The retired couple won't hear a word against the solution of their choice. In fact, none of the other solutions combined all the key parameters in such a good balance. These required parameters included: comfort, low acquisition costs and decent operating expenses. The husband and wife also appreciate the warmth comfort that PION heaters brought about in their new home: at last they feel better both physically and mentally.