Gas Vented Heating

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Gas Vented Heating

Wazza69

69 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#248882 14-Apr-2019 15:51

Hi all,

We are having a gas, vented heating system installed. I know there are downsides to this system but it was are only realistic option for our particular property and my English wife wasn't prepared to have another winter without central heating!!

Does anyone who have had a system installed have any tips, gotcha's or things to be aware of when designing and installing a system?

Our main consideration at the moment is deciding how to split the two zones for our 5 bed property. My wife is home all day with the kids so our current thinking is to split the living areas + main bath room vs all the bedrooms and the ensuite even though we have a couple of bedrooms/office that we don't use as much. Also, have people gone for the internet gateway to allow access from their phones? Do you use it? (Cost $500). Thoughts/experiences welcome.

The system is the Breavis 6 star system.

Thanks,

Wayne

decibel

315 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2217046 14-Apr-2019 18:24

You sure you don't want a ducted heat-pump system?

DjShadow

4085 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#2217056 14-Apr-2019 19:00

If you are going to install that I'd suggest considering Genesis Energy's top gas plan, going from memory and assuming its still offered its around $100 a month for something like 9000 units (ring and confirm, its not on the website).

Wazza69

69 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2217058 14-Apr-2019 19:26

decibel:

You sure you don't want a ducted heat-pump system?

Unfortunately there isn't enough current (probably the wrong term) to our property to drive the size of a system required.

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2217113 14-Apr-2019 22:08

We used to have a Brivis system many moons ago. It was fantastic. We had 2 zones, basically split the house in half with one zone being the living areas, the other the hall and bedrooms. The vents also had individual adjustments so you could restrict airflow into the lesser used rooms, and to a degree balance out the temp into rooms that had the door closed (e.g. kids bedrooms). Took a few weeks of fiddling around at first to get it how we wanted it, but then it was just a case of turning it on at the start of winter, and turning it off at the end. I do miss it.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Wazza69

69 posts

Master Geek

ID Verified

#2217114 14-Apr-2019 22:11

scuwp:
We used to have a Brivis system many moons ago. It was fantastic. We had 2 zones, basically split the house in half with one zone being the living areas, the other the hall and bedrooms. The vents also had individual adjustments so you could restrict airflow into the lesser used rooms, and to a degree balance out the temp into rooms that had the door closed (e.g. kids bedrooms). Took a few weeks of fiddling around at first to get it how we wanted it, but then it was just a case of turning it on at the start of winter, and turning it off at the end. I do miss it.

Thanks! The installer said he didn't recommend the adjustable vents as they whistle, did you find that?

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2217132 14-Apr-2019 23:42

Dont put the thermostat in the hallway. If you do, then the temperature will be unstable.

Since you are getting zone control, ideally you want 2 thermostats. 1 in the main living room. Other one in the main bedroom.

Another thing to consider when designing the zones. Are there some rooms that get lots of sun, and other rooms that get no sun? Or do all rooms get a similar amount of sun (even if not all at the same time)? As on a sunny day in winter, rooms that get plenty of sun probably wont need heating. While the rooms that dont get any sun, definitely will need heating.

As for a ducted heatpump. Do you have electric or gas cooking? If electric, then switch to gas cooking. And that will free up enough electrical capacity to get the ducted heatpump. And have you asked to see the sizing calculations for the ducted heatpump? As it is very common to way oversize heatpumps for the heating load. As the extra capacity is needed to meet the cooling load.

And I'm assuming that you will be using Natural gas for the gas heater? If you will instead be using LPG, Then just don't. As such a system running on LPG will probably be more expensive, or at best only slightly cheaper than using plug in electric heaters.

Lizard1977

2061 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2219806 17-Apr-2019 12:23

We have a Brivis 6-star gas central heating system, installed about 2 years ago. My observations:

1. The type of heating is different to more traditional forms of heating - think gradual, environmental, rather than the kind of radiant heat you get from a log fire or gas heater. While I'm fine with that, my wife constantly complains that it's too cold (even though the thermostat reads 22C).

2. We find that when the system boosts, it can create a whooshing sound through the vents. This is most pronounced in our lounge, where we have two vents, and sometimes the sound is loud enough to make hearing the TV difficult. When we had the first service done last year we asked the tech to adjust this, and it's slightly better but still noticeable.

3. We have two zones, like you are considering. We have one for the living areas (lounge, hallway, kitchen and bathroom) and one for bedroom areas (master bedroom + 2 kids rooms). Sometimes the balance is a bit off though - we find that the kitchen (which is not insulated to any noticeable degree) can be much cooler than the lounge. We've even noticed some weird situations where the heating in one zone doesn't switch on for all the rooms, even though the room where the thermostat is located is not at temperature (and consequently all the vents in that zone should be running). At our first service, the tech discovered an animal (likely one or more cats) had got under the house and had crushed the ducting in some places. They did some repairs, and we blocked off the underfloor access as best we could, and things are better, but sometimes the heating can be uneven still.

4. Our gas usage has increased quite a lot, even despite the high efficiency heating unit. I read that this can often happen, as you are "spending" those efficiency savings with a more constant, even form of heating. I'm happy with that, but it makes getting a good deal for your gas unit price really important. We use gas for cooking and hot water too, and as a result spend a small proportion of our total energy bill on electricity. With the high number of gas units consumed annually, even a small reduction in the per unit cost can add up to big savings.

We don't have the IP gateway - I don't know that it was available at the time we had ours installed, or it certainly wasn't offered. That would be handy, being able to control the system away from home, but in practice we just set a schedule to follow our typical daily/weekly patterns and then leave it on. It comes on about 30 minutes before we get home, and set the temps through the night for comfort, and have it switch off just before we leave in the morning. It's easy enough to override when you're home unexpectedly, and it can warm up the house pretty quickly. But an IP gateway could open the door to some cool smart home interactions, possibly with Alexa so we can change the thermostat settings. But that's definitely more of a nice to have, than a need to have.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

dfnt

1512 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2219847 17-Apr-2019 13:36

We're moving into a house soon that has a Brivis unit, no idea which model. I don't think it has more than one zone and unfortunately the thermostat is in the hallway.

Anyway, does anyone recommend someone to come service it/recommend any changes in the Wellington region?

I have no idea of actual usage because we don't move in for awhile, I had a play with various usage scenarios on powerswitch and it alternated between the the Genesis eSaver Lifestyle Plan or the Nova Home Freedom Standard User Plan

Comments on which to go with, or is it dependant on usage?

mdf

3513 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2219997 17-Apr-2019 15:52

We've got gas central ducted heating, though a different brand to you.

We've got three zones, upstairs bedrooms, upstairs living + dining + kitchen, and downstairs (mixed use area).

From a heating perspective, we like the heat. It does cause an airflow, but it is warm. It seems relatively efficient, gas usage isn't as high as I feared. Heats up a room from cold pretty quickly. The ducting is relatively easy to install if you have either a roof or underfloor cavity.

We went with a system that includes an external fresh air option; we were trying to double up the ducting as a DVS/HRV for the summer months. In principle, this seemed like a good idea.

But...

I've found the system pretty dumb overall. You can program the heating on a very basic (though somewhat convoluted) timer, but not program the fresh air option. Which means you end up going around all three controller/thermostats any time you want to adjust anything.

We placed the burner unit underfloor. It's really important that you make them install it on a flat, level base that isn't going to sag. After a year ours shifted and led to all sorts of problems. Eventually remedied but make sure they do this bit right. We've also found that (contrary to claims) you can very much hear a mechanical noise when the unit is running. Don't put it under/over a bedroom.

We've also had some issues with after-sales support.

Basically the "back end" of the system works really well, but the front end is rubbish. If you can manage it, I'd highly recommend having a play/demonstration with a controller for each of the main systems to decide which you like best. Certainly have a go with the IP module and app before committing to buying that. As I understand it, the Big 3Bs (Braemar, Brivis and Bonaire) are all Australian. You might like to head over to Whirlpool forums or other Aussie site and look as some comparisons before you commit.

mclean

581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#2220489 18-Apr-2019 11:05

With a multi-zone system the return-air arrangement has a big impact on the running cost. That's the ductwork that draws air from the room(s) and returns it to the heater. When heating is being supplied to just the living spaces the return air needs to be drawn from those warm spaces only, not from a common return-air grille out in the passageway where it will be much cooler. And ditto when the bedrooms are being heated.

This means a few extra motorised dampers and return-air grilles, but really reduces the gas consumption. It also makes initial warm-up much faster.