Self-Build Case Studies

Chelmer have designed and supplied thousands of integrated heating and hot systems for all types of self build projects over the past 20 years. Here you'll find a slection of recent projects we have completed for self builders.

New Eco Self-Build Home, Cambridgeshire

Mr and Mrs H from Cambridgeshire wanted their new self build home to cost as little to run as possible. They sucessfully minimised their heat requirement at the design stage by maximising the use of solar gains and incorporating elements such as a rammed earth wall and using a SIP (structurally insulated panel) construction method.

After consultations with Chelmer, Mr and Mrs H decided on our solar thermal and gas boiler system to provide the heating and hot water for their home, with the option to add a wood burning stove to the system in the future. A gas boiler was chosen over a heat pump since the property had easy access to a mains gas suppply and a gas boiler provided similar running costs for a much smaller capital outlay.

A Chelmer Ecocat 400 thermal store was selected to integrate the solar thermal, gas boiler and future log burning stove into both the underfloor heating and hot water systems. Like all our renewable systems, the Ecocat thermal store system is configured to use available heat from the solar thermal and future stove whenever possible and only bring on the backup gas boiler to maintain performance if the renewable sources cannot cope with the heating/hot water demand.

Chelmer also provided the zoned underfloor heating system, towel rail circuit integration controls and a touchpad central controller for the project.

New Eco Self-Build Home, East Sussex

Mr and Mrs H from East Sussex chose Chelmer to provide an integrated heating solution for their Code 4 sustainable home.

In order to meet the stringent levels outlined in the Code for Sustainable Homes, several aspects of the house, including the heating system, had to be markedly more efficient than a standard new build home. The H's also wished to make use of renewable and low carbon heat sources in order to reduce fuel bills in the long term.

Chelmer designed and supplied a heating and hot water system to suit these requirements by integrating solar thermal collectors and a wood burning stove into the system, with an air source heat pump acting as a backup heat source. Our Ecocat 400 thermal store cylinder was seleced for the project as it allowed the relatively simple integration of all three heat sources into a single system.

In addition to desinging and supplying the thermal store system and heat sources, we also provided fully zoned underfloor heating system for the project, which was specifically designed to operate with the low temperatures required for the heat pump to work efficiently.

Eco Renovation, Bedfordshire

Dr R from Bedfordshire commissioned Chelmer to update his existing oil boiler system with a wood pellet boiler and Ecocat thermal store in order to improve his hot water performance and reduce his fuel bills.

An Ecocat 500 thermal store cylinder was selected to provide the large volumes of mains pressure hot water required as well as act as a heating buffer to minimise on/off cycling of the wood pellet boiler under low heat loads.

The wood pellet boiler and five tonne pellet hopper were housed in one of the farmhouse's outbuildings, with underground ducted pipework connecting the boiler to the Ecocat in the main farmhouse.

New Eco Self-Build Home, Oxfordshire

Mr ans Mrs S chose Chelmer to provide an integrated solution for their eco self-build in Oxfordshire. The property was designed to meet Code 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and included multiple new technoigies to reduce both energy and water use.

Chelmer designed and supplied the ground source heat pump and ground loop array for the project as well as the solar thermal and underfloor heating systems. One of our Ecocat 300 thermal store cylinders was selected to integrate the solar thermal and ground source heat pump systems into a single heating and hot water solution.

Mr and Mrs S have been in touch since their project's completion and are happy to report that the annual electricicty and FITs generated from their solar PV installation aare more than enough to provide for the running of the backup ground source heat pump, making their energy bills negative overall.

New Self-Build Home, Essex

Mr and Mrs G approached Chelmer heating after we were recommended by his father-in-law who has one of our integrated systems. Mr G was interested in using an air source heat pump in conjunction with a wood burning stove to heat his new self-build house in Essex using a combination of underfloor heating and radiators.

Our proposed heating system was comprised of underfloor heating on the ground floor with radiators on the first floor, both of which are fed from an Ecocat thermal store. Each room is controlled by its own room thermostat so that separate rooms can be heated to individual temperatures for comfort, and are only heated as and when required for efficiency.

The Ecocat thermal store was selected to integrate the stove and heat pump together in order to provide heat for the underfloor and radiator systems, as well as producing mains-pressure domestic hot water for baths and showers.

The Ecocat’s controls utilise heat from the wood burning stove automatically when available, so the occupant only has to be concerned with lighting and fuelling the stove. The controls are also configured to automatically bring on the heat pump as a backup heat source should the stove not be contributing enough in order to provide consistent heating and hot water performance without user intervention.

The Chelmer system in this project was nominated for "Best Technical Project" in the 2013 LABC Bulding Excellence Awards by the local authority inspector and went on to become an award finalist.

Church Conversion, Gloucestershire

Mr and Mrs P chose Chelmer to design and supply an integrated heating solution for their church conversion in Gloucestershire.

The system utilises a wood burning stove to provide heat for heating and hot water, with a gas condensing boiler acting as a backup heat source. The two heat sources are integrated together using an Ecocat 400L thermal store, which provides mains pressure hot water for baths and showers as well as enabling the stove and/or boiler to serve the underfloor heating, towel rail and radiator circuits.

New Self-Build Home, Essex

Mr and Mrs A chose Chelmer to provide an integrated solar thermal and gas boiler based heating and hot water system for their new build home in Essex.

An Ecocat 300 thermal store forms the heart of the system, allowing the solar thermal to provide heat for hot water during the summer months as well as assisting the underfloor heating with low grade solar thermal input in the winter.

The system also has a gas condensing boiler to maintain performance when the input from the solar could not keep up with a heating/hot water demand.