This is such an exciting project. I'm very envious. You can get so creative with the conversion. Can't wait to see it all come together. Nice one, guys.
Hydronic heating is the only way to go Gavin. Circulation of hot water, underfloor heating, radiator panels and ducted air radiators. So as the cost of fuel changes you don’t have to change the heating infrastructure, just the heat source, be oil, gas, geothermal (would be my choice.. while you have the water drilling rig!!) or heat pump. All sounds very expensive…! Better sell a few more copies of “Chasing Awe” by G.H. …there’s a link… In the description 😳 Good luck. Watch a few episodes of Grand Designs to see the traps of such an endeavour. Cheers from down under 👍🏼❤️🍷🇦🇺🎪
Garret, if you want to get an architect's opinion, you may want to rethink you design plans and consider making half of the church nave into a two story great room with a wood stove or fireplace chimney off to one side, leading your photographic eye to those magnificent timber rafters and ceiling decking. The other half could be a kitchen with an open loft (master bedroom/master bath for you and Amanda) looking down to great room below. It would be a shame to cover the beautiful ceilings with guest bedrooms only for your mother-in-law to enjoy. The other space would be more appropriate for bedrooms, baths, and storage. Electric heat pump with potential ground source seems to be your best route for heating/cooling. My 2 cents, but happy to advise more in exchange for one of your famous books.
Heating engineer here. Heat pumps will work even in Canadian winters (they do in Scandinavia too 🤷♂) with 3 caveats. 1) Insulation 2) Insulation 3) Underfloor heating (UFH) 4) Did I mention insulation? As we say in the trade, insulation is the cheapest form of heating. However as you're in Canada, a biomass boiler may be the most appropiate system to use as wood should be available in abundance. They come in 3 flavours fuel wise. Either system will require to install a wet system which works better than a hot air system anyway and as it is a conversion you may just as well do it properly. Message me if you want some more detailed info on options. Looking forward to your new adventures. 👍😺
As a licensed HVAC contractor I would start with a load calculation including upgraded insulation factor and windows that you’re going to have. That will help size the heating load you will need and cooling load you will need to evenly heat the structure. Then based off Heating sources available propane,oil, electricity,geothermal. do the cost of operation and comfort expected. It beings us an old remodel I would be thinking more long a Mitsubishi duckless with a possible ducted option for a large area they have the best HSPF for Heating and balance point. This is a large subject and completely possible to cover in e-mail/txt I have 24 yrs OTJ experience plus Bachelors degree in HVAC -. Can do a phone conversation to help.
Ceiling is way to high to keep the place heated, all the warm air will rise. I'd use the far 3/4 parts of the building and put a second floor up and just keep the first quarter as a grand entrance hall. . As a builder/joiner I'm very interested to see the mess you've got yourself in unravel 🤣🤣🤣 Ps, don't sell the camper 😳😁👍
Gavin, I understand why you moved, but now is the time to invite mom in-law. While there's work to be done and living is toughest. With luck and exploitation, there may never be a return trip. Don't forget to plan photographic trips to the southern hemi during the winter months. Amanda and her mom can keep working on the Reno in winter while you are working hard in the sun. This advice is taken at your own risk.
Best heating Solution in my opinion would be to install a wood pellet boiler and underfloor heating.you would have to insulate the existing wood floor and then install the underfloor heating hose on the insulation.after that you lay screed on it.then you put your choice of floor on it. Here in Austria this is a very popular way to heat old renovated houses.
I’m very happy for you guys. And I’m looking forward to seeing the landscape photography from the new location. Your landscape channel is probably the only photography related video my wife wife really enjoys. She doesn’t know a thing about photography but she says your channel is entertaining either way.
Keep the furnace and add a heat pump. The plenum will move the heat around and the furnace will act as a back up heat source. Air conditioning as a bonus.
Holy Mother of Pearl... you bought a church! Man, now I have another TH-cam channel that I have to watch! Wishing you two all the best. Looking forward to all of your new adventures.
Wow, you’re going to need sponsors. You could easily drop a fortune in that beautiful church. There’s a reason they sold it. I look forward to seeing what you and Amanda do with it.
Well Gavin your project makes anything I need to do around my old house look like child's play. I would stick with electric - as we do, but keep the furnace for AC. Those old buildings can get stinking hot in the summer. Your other option is propane but if you want to be in the new moral majority, stick with electric. Your stove will also be cheaper as well a hot water tank. Glad you have the camper and each other, you will need to get away from time to time for photography. I am an enthusiast of your channel, I'll stay tuned. Any improvement in your situation is a big improvement at this point. I do admire your pluck. You two are the best
Thanks Stephen. We were thinking maybe a propane generator and stove. Hadn't thought about using propane for the hot water tank. Propane is becoming expensive too. I'd go for solar but the up front investment is crippling.
Welcome to the Maritime Provinces and New Scotland .. I've owned 3 older properties and swore after the first that I'd never do it again. Have fun. This is going to be very interesting ..😁
Well, a wood stove or fireplace is handy. I've had my fill of oil furnaces, they work, but so terribly expensive, just like Gas. I took a bit of time to look into geothermal possibilities in Nova Scotia, and while it doesn't look like there's enough heat in the ground to produce energy, it does seem like there's the possibility of running a geothermal heat pump. It's worth looking into, possibly expensive to start up, but could be a project worth documenting for long term sustainability.
With a fractured rock basement don't forget to check Radon levels. Good luck finding building materials, recycling and upcycling what you already have will really help. Our house is much smaller and we heat with pellets, love the consistency of even predictable warmth. Beautiful ceiling, reminds me a Viking ship.
heating: How long are you intending to stay there?... the answer to that question tells you everything you need to know. If you aren't there long, then go for cheap. However, if you want comfort (unbelievable comfort) and you are planning on staying a while (10yrs+), then there is no question: Go for radiant heat in the floor. There are several ways to do it, but the most efficient and intelligent way is to string PEX tubing in the floor and to do so in multiple separate loops. Separate loops allow you to control the temps in different areas very effectively (and very efficiently). For example: keep bathrooms warm, keep bedrooms cold, keep living areas medium, keep closets cool, keep offices cool, keep kitchens cool, etc --- or most important: recognize that by using separate loops you can customize the temp profile of the place to your liking. Note also: radiant heat is a very comfortable heat, even if it is not a high heat. This is because if your feet are warm, your whole body feels warm: You aren't trying to heat the hot air which will rise to that gorgeous ceiling, you don't need hot air. you only need warm floors. (NOTE: radiant heat is often used in aircraft hangers for the same reason I'm describing: the people on/near the floor need to feel comfortable, you don't need to heat the air near the (high) ceiling.) As for how to control the heating system: Choose Tekmar controls. (thank me later). As for how to heat the floor, consider this: www.warmboard.com. Yes, I know you already have flooring (thick flooring), but a layer of warmboard will do a few things: let you run the PEX tubing easily, let you have a solid floor, allow even heat distribution. While warmboard might seem an extra cost, the ease of installation and easy installation of wood, tile, carpet, or whatever above it will more compensate for the cost of the material. Ok, I get it, I sound like a salesman. But I'm not. I'm a homeowner in Tennessee who used to live in Massachusetts. I built my home in Massachusetts almost 4 decades ago, and built my house in Tennessee 1 decade ago. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Radiant heat is the way to go especially in a cold climate.... Tennessee doesn't seem like a cold climate, it isn't, but I'm so glad I've followed my above advice that I suggest it with confidence to my new neighbors who are likewise undergoing renovation/new house construction. Every single one of them has thanked me. Lastly, air conditioning: Choose a split system (such as the Mr. Slim by Mitsubishi). Unfortunately, Carrier (a USA system) folk may have invented air conditioning, but they are way behind the technology, quality, and performance of the Japanese systems. A split A/C system can do double duty as backup heating, but it will primarily provide easy separable room controls for AC. Just as for heating, having individual room control for cooling will save you lots of money downstream and will allow you to regulate comfort wherever you are. Lastly, be sure you put a power outlet behind the toilets (ok, this might seem over the top, but it is cheap to install the power outlets when you are renovating --- and expensive to do it as retrofit) Why would you want a power outlet behind the toilets? For the answer, you might need to take a trip to Japan and learn the joys of not only heated toilet seats but also the joys of being "really clean"... Yes, you can thank me later for that suggestion too... :-) Meanwhile I thank you for your TH-cam videos. I've learned a lot (and been entertained to boot). Thanks BTW, the suggestions for Geothermal heat source are worth considering... My suggestions are agnostic with regard to the actual heating fuel. Wood works, pellet works, so does geothermal, and even "fossil" works (but it isn't as green as some of us might like). As for the 2 minute showers, once you do heating for the house, you might discover there are easy ways to augment hot water heating with some of the various heat source suggestions others are offering.... A hot soaking tub (Japanese style) will definitely make your life/old age easier... 🙂
Thanks Skip. I'm leaning toward your suggestion. A lot depends on cost which at this early stage might mean we put in a temporary solution that doesn't prevent us from later upgrades. Just need those 3 million subs first ;)
For heating, i would look at wood burning stove, under floor heating or infrared heating. I would also consider putting a second floor in the main room. You can still keep it open plan. There are some really good examples of this on youtube if you search for church conversations and if you do it right, you will still see your wood. Good luck
Having been in the heating industry for almost 20 years I'd say your best bet is the newer improved heat pumps. You can even possibly use some of the pre-existing duct work from the furnace.
Gavin, you have to have some sort of radiant heat system if possible. Heating air in a space that large will cost a fortune. It takes less energy to make you feel warm from heat radiated from under the floor, that it does to heat the air (especially that volume) to warm yourself via conduction essentially, and achieve the same feeling. If you can't do the underfloor, then good insulation under there and large wall panels would maybe be an option. If you heat the air, you'll need to reduce the heated volume somehow, which if you want to see that ceiling means that you'll probably have to enclose the living space and heat it more, and just deal with the larger open plan bit being a bit cooler. Luckily you have masses of personal insulation so you should survive the winters, but please, think about Amanda!
Really cool project ! :) Congrats’ for this big decision ! I am also in favor for underfloor heating “powered” by some viable source that you can afford in your budget (heat pump etc.) Be sure to get a really good engineer to design and calculate that underfloor heating if you go that route. Those are really high ceilings (if you keep them that way) and the volume to be heated it’s pretty large. A good engineer will take into consideration all the facts : - high ceilings - very large windows (and many of them) - insulation and total R value of the structure (floor, walls, ceiling, doors/windows) - floor and subfloor structure and the solution for optimal heat dissipation (maybe a screed on top of existing wood subfloor) - optimal confort level and energy efficency - etc. Anyway, good luck guys and ENJOY the process! :) Don’t let the stress or any unexpected problems bring you down !
Good for you both to make this move. If I was near your age, I would do the same thing. I’ve lived in the Northwest most of my life, and I must say, it used to be a fun and Fabulous area to live in. Seems like it has been a rapid transition into living with “ Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves”. Enjoy your new Adventure. Look forward to be able to occasionally peek into your New world.👍👍
Grand Designs, I was expecting Kevin McCloud to introduce you both and then mock you on your under-budgeted project that will take the whole of the next 10 years to complete. :-) Welcome to your new home, Gavin and Amanda. I love the wood ceiling.
Thing about a Pellet Stove to argument your central heating system. Ive used one for years and have been quite pleased. It will quickly take the chill off the House/Church. Nice ambiance too. Best of luck... You and Amanda have Guts.
Expensive but...geothermal heat pump with supplemental outside wood burning boiler. Add some solar power on roof to help soak up electricity bill for heat pump. That way you have two methods to heat (and one method to cool) your home.
Hey your new book can be called Chasing Awelder. Heating wise though, a wood stove helps a lot in our cold months so if you're allowed that source of energy it's a go to for us up here. Radiant floor heating is also really nice and fuel efficient as long as you spray foam or insulate your floor joists. If you're ever worried about the place becoming to 'tight' and needing of airflow any fartbox or range hood is equivalent to HVAC or you can install some fresh 80s!
Heating solution.... We use in our house Hydroinc water heating......this is with in the concrete pad and is covered by 100mm of concrete....heats entire house...I understand there is a wood floor version one also....... this method can then be extended using lots of water pipes in the ground dug in as it uses a heat pump to move the water and generate the heat in the water and heat the concrete pad......laying lots of pipes deep in the ground the temperature is a constant temp and the heating of the house becomes very cheap.
Oh, I'm glad I found you! This is going to be interesting....right down my alley!!!! My dream was to buy an old Church and reno it....never got there, so I'm looking forward to this!!!!
I have seen church conversions that have some sort of partial mezzanine which fulfils need for private rooms for bedrooms and the like and preserving the overall internal feel of the building.
You could make the Belfry into a mother-in-law flat! with a one way locking door! On a serious note, watch out for the bat guano and asbestos! Hopefully any asbestos and lead paint issues would show up on a pre-purchase inspection! Best of wishes to you both!
Suggestion: Turn this into a recording studio. You are a former musician aren’t you? Turn basement into a wine cellar. Forget about heat pump. Be forewarned, useless in that environment unless you always like blowing cold air and I’m not talking about air conditioning in summer.
I think you're a little out of date. Modern heat pumps are fantastic and work well even in northern climes, especially when paired with a propane furnace for those really cold days (below -15C). I have one and it works great.
I used to be a plumber and I also used to own a 100 year old farmhouse with a giant barn that basically had no heat. The house came with two ancient furnaces one oil burning and one wood burning and they were both connected and produced forced hot air but sadly neither worked very well. I ripped them both out and replaced them with forced hot water baseboards and a new furnace. The new furnace was oil burning but it could have easily been natural gas. The large barn space 20 foot by 30 foot with 12 foot ceilings I heated with forced hot water Modine heaters. You can get these also as gas fired or propane of the forced hot water like I used. If you leave the big space open then I thin you will have a hard time heating it all efficiently. If you break it up into rooms then you could easily install baseboard heat. Would you make multiple stories in the large space or would the rooms have super high ceilings? Depending on the way the building faces I wonder if solar would be an option? I built a solar energy home back in the late 80s that was a disaster because the technology back then was terrible but I think we have come a long way in the past 35 years. Anyway it will be great watching your renovation of this church. I almost bought a church back in the 90s to make a music venue out of it. It would have been brilliant but I was young and didn't have the capitol to purchase what was considered a business property.
Gavin, congratulations to you and Amanda's new adventure in life. I'm a US electrician by trade and I know Canada and us follow some of the same codes but not all. I'm curious on your power situation. Heating wise sounds like it could be a challenge with the cost of Gas and oil atm. I can say that electrical heating can get quite expensive vs propane and natural gas and doesn't give as many BTU's. Geo thermal is an option, but living on bed rock I would think that be rather expensive to drill, in addition to the cost of drilling already for well water if it's available in the area and how deep you have to go to get it. Maybe the driller can drill 2 holes for a better cost, not to sure. I for sure would layout your plans to allow for the kitchen and bathrooms to be under the existing basement for easier access. Figure out your floor plan and then figure out what areas need to be heated and cooled and possibly keep the required BTU's for that area smaller and affordable vs trying to heat the whole building. Utilizing the existing duct will save you some money so I would keep that in mind. Heat pumps, we use them a lot here in the middle of the states (Nebraska) but i believe they don't work to well in really cold environments. I use a mini split heat pump for heating and cooling of 2 rooms of my house. I have a hundred year old house with stone foundation. I use propane to heat another room in winter in addition to Cove heaters in a few of the room, I'm pretty much all electric at .11 cents a kw/h where I live. My lawyer down the road bought an old school house with electric furnaces for heat and with heating 2 apartments in the school (converted to apartments) his electric bill is 600-800 a month in the winter time. As far as insulating your walls, one can go up in the attic and sometimes run a fish tape down the outside walls to see if there is any blockage at points for possible blow in insulation options. Closed cell foam is great if you have access to spray it in. I would for sure consider planning for next winter now as far as closing up holes, windows in the basement, installing an insulated door for your basement and insulating the framed walls in basement entry. Looking forward to your next video, maybe a walk around the property maybe?
What a great place you bought. That ceiling is fantastic. In Sweden many have changed from oil to pellets or/and you can combine that with solar cells. They have come down in price now. I have seen loads of renovation projects on TV from England, churches among others and I hope you plan it well and keep an eye on the budget else these projects can be very expensive.
High ceiling... all your heat will stay up. I would install a channel on the right and left up there to return the heat down with a dug transfer motor. May you find a way to hide them . Insulation is everything. Get sure you make a tight insolation on the roof, I prefer on the floor because you have less surface and not the big air volume between roof and floor which effect your insulation in the bad way. Most cold and heat comes from the attic!!!!!.... Don't use foam insulation.. when only a open pore insulation which can breath, otherwise you create mildew. This would be the most effective insulation. Get sure not any cold air enter the basement. Close all the gups. I would keep the Furness which is installed. The tank looks still good. But with he the long air dugs I would insolate all dugs, because until you get the heat to the rooms ..... the air cool down pretty much. may oil is expensive, now. But you never know what coming up in the years to come. !! Windows in the basement I would put bubble package material ( sells in rolls ) cover all windows. Put some silicon trop on the window and stretch out the plastic bubble foil. Is later easy to remove ! ... and cheep. Put some ventilation opening in the basement too. Best is you can control them. On very cold days you keep them closed. Don't make this important mistake: Opening only across !! not on all sides !! When you have it on all sides you get very less to no air flow! Always across ! Window would be good to replace with windows with Aron gas for insulation. Always about how much money you can spend or have. ... Check your ladder.... your cross boards are not safe. Sorry I hope you understand...English is my second language. I wish you all the luck in the world for your project...... keep your wife warm...
I'm with you on the 'too busy' reason...I'm born and raised on this rock and can't believe the population and development explosion that's taken place in over 6 decades...good on 'ya for making the jump...Nova Scotia is beautiful and hope it is everything you two expected....good luck with the reno!
Looks like this will be a great new channel! My wife and I are going the opposite direction. After 22+ years, we’re selling our lovingly restored 3400 s/f 1872 Victorian home and beginning the downsizing to live in a camper and travel the US full time. As always, with older structures, the devil is in the details.
Heat Pump all the way! That way it's 100% electric (and thus can be fully renewable) but also significantly more efficient than normal old resistive electric heat. If you can, a ground-source heat pump is the most efficient, but $$$. Bonus: a heat pump should be able to work with the existing forced-air system.
Geothermal is the way to go! 💯 It's a major investment but they last for 50 plus years. You start saving on your electricity bill immediately and it eventually pays for itself way, way before it needs replacement like in 6 years. Good luck whatever you decide :)
First thing I'd do is get some EPS sheets and place them between your floor joists - to stop heat loss through your floor. Also do the same in the attic.
This is exciting. Both for the landscape photography and the renovation. Being so close to the coast I would think there is ample wind so maybe you should consider some wind generated electricity as a supplemental source of power.
Here is Michigan, we've got a propane run furnace and a wood stove. Propane is not cheap, but I believe it's less expensive than oil. With our wood stove the furnace comes on much less often, and since we can get the wood off our property it's basically free. Just a little labor intensive. Another recommendation would be to install some ceiling fans. Most of your heat is going to end up in that beautiful ceiling. The fans will circulate The heat back down. Good luck!!!
good luck to you and Amanda in your new life, I can wait to see how is going to look.can wait until you are going out to photograph around Nova Scotia, good luck and stay safe you guys....
Gavin I love the new channel. Totally right up my alley, I’m a plumber in Oregon, got into photography because of you and absolutely love it. You can totally install radiant heat flooring in this building they have radiant heat that you put on top of the flooring instead of underneath. I don’t know maybe something to look into.
I put a ductless minisplit ac/heatpump on my van, on the back bumper/door. The one I bought says it goes down to -13 F for heat. I can say it works great for AC and then you have the heat pump for temps that aren't too cold. They are relatively easy to install oneself and are energy efficient compared to the rising prices of oil and straight electric baseboard. I live in PA so we don't get super cold here.
I put a 3 ton heat pump in at my cottage in Ontario. Great results so far. We had a propane furnace before and kept it as a back-up. The heat pump works down to -15 C. At that point, the thermostat kicks over to the propane furnace. Here in Ontario, our power is based on hydro and nuclear, so the price won't go up as oil goes up. Not sure about Nova Scotia. Heat pumps are 200% to 300% efficient (they don't turn electricity into heat, they us electricity to pump heat from outdoor air into the indoors) versus 90% for my high efficiency propane furnace. It's a really good system that excels during the shoulder months. In January and February, the propane back-up kicks in quite often. As a bonus, you also get air conditioning in the summer.
I've recently moved into an 1820s cottage in Snowdonia, and we share a number of problems - including oil heating, no insulation and creatures in the attic! We do have water though! 😂 Will be making sure to tune into every video. All the best!
Install some solar panels and an air source heat pump but you will have to get the place well insulated. Have some mixed heating systems some under floor, some wall heaters to give flexibility. Full height ceilings are nice but put in a second floor for at least some of the length of the building then you can have under a small kitchen diner with sofa and solid fuel stove- to keep a small part of the building toasty warm 😀
Have you thought about a geothermal system for the church ? Heat is extracted from and rejected to the ground.. so no fuel source.. same heating and cooling as a regular refrigerant based system.. it’s a bit higher first cost but pays off over time..you can do your domestic hot water with it was well..
Wow, interesting project for sure! Regarding heating, I think you need to think in the long run, that's a lot of space to heat, depending on what energy sources can you tap in. Personally, I would do something like this: - start insulating the building to lower the escaping heat. - AC and other heat pump-based solutions are pretty energy efficient nowadays, so that would be my main source of heating. Although the efficiency of AC is dropping when it's cold, so need to research the lowest temperature days and their lengths on average, and choose accordingly. - Would clean up/replace the oil tank to accommodate petrol or diesel and buy a generator in case the regular power line is severed. - Maybe would add some additional heating options if AC/HP can't keep up Solar panels wouldn't cut the cost if it's lots of cloudy days with the current efficiency, although a few years later new types could be efficient for your use case, worth investigating. Nowadays, not necessarily think of Lithium-based power storage, since they are pricey and you may need a lot of them, depending on your base energy needs and their longevity not necessary cuts. Would wait for much cheaper battery alternatives like sodium-based or nanowire-based ones, which last longer and will be cheaper. If it will be available, then first I would install a battery backup system, then extend it with solar or wind-based if it's feasible.
Welcome to beautiful Nova Scotia!! I look forward to this channel and I hope to see you out in the zillions of gorgeous spots in NS when I am out shooting sometime.
I’m a heating engineer. As you’re pretty isolated why not get heating with radiators and a hot water cylinder system like we have in the uk. A combi boiler is an option that would do away with the cylinder. Natural gas won’t be an option but another fuel source such as LPG (liquid gas) or oil surely would be.
In Canada, propane is the gas of choice when a natural gas hook-up is not available. Propane is readily available via delivery trucks, you can rent tanks and purchase high efficiency furnaces.
You're so close to my hometown now! I grew up on PEI. For your heat, you were asking for suggestions, given that you already have ductwork installed, a heat pump might make the most sense. Heat pumps are generally fully electric, so if you have the funds to do so, you might also want to explore solar on the roof or a wind turbine, so you could offset your heating and electricity costs. Although, I would worry any kind of wind turbine would freeze in winter, which obviously wouldn't be an issue with solar.
#1 recommendation for heating system: Insulate all as best you can! Insulate the main walls if you can blow it in. Spray foam insulation on the basement/crawlspace walls (most important, not under floors. Keep the lower level as a conditioned area). Then you will have a good option to heat with heat pump or oil, depending on your local fuel costs. I live in a 100 year old house in Indianapolis and use a geothermal heat pump.
What to do with the huge roof area? Once you start to insulate an old building things like condensation will become an issue, unless a lot of care is taken.
After doing a similar project with my wife and enjoying the adventure I have two tips for you. 1. Do not get rid of anything for at least two years. 2. And this is the most important, make sure that your apprentice knows that you’re in charge. Bon chance Gavin and Amanda
Quite a venture taken and it looks like an exciting project in your future. I look forward to watching the progress and wish you and Amanda all the best. Cheers!
Heat pump and oil as backup... I had that in my last home... worked well exept for expensive reverse valve repair on heat pump after 10 years. Now we have natural gas for heating and ac for cooling. A good powerful shop vac works well for spider removal! Enjoy your new adventure.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 82 วันนี้!! คู่เอก | ยอดไอคิว vs อับดัลลาห์](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hSsyTl_9bqs/mqdefault.jpg)
Did I mention me book? www.fototripper.com/chasing-awe-landscape-photography-book-gavin-hardcastle/
maaaaaaaaaany times haha
you have a book?🙃
A book a book thats Awe-some, what's it about friends and family .
I don't think anyone knows about these books and you won't sell them. So just an idea... You can use them for the heating? Right? :-)
I heard that book was sold out due to its popularity
This is such an exciting project. I'm very envious. You can get so creative with the conversion. Can't wait to see it all come together. Nice one, guys.
Cheers mate. One day we'll have you over for some bevvies and capers ;)
Watch out he could be a fake Heaton 😂
@@HardcastleTowers fake Heaton turns up for photo trip. That will make a great episode. You’re welcome lol
@@jonb8875 😂
You should go for a relaxing visit!
Heaton and Gibbs do van builds…….Gavin says “hold my beer” and does a church build. 😂
bwahahqahaha
When you said concert hall, I imagined a Tilt reunion!
Gavin, you’ve been blessed with a jewel in Amanda!
Exciting project! Amanda playing the keyboard was absolutely hilarious!😂😂😂
Hydronic heating is the only way to go Gavin. Circulation of hot water, underfloor heating, radiator panels and ducted air radiators. So as the cost of fuel changes you don’t have to change the heating infrastructure, just the heat source, be oil, gas, geothermal (would be my choice.. while you have the water drilling rig!!) or heat pump. All sounds very expensive…! Better sell a few more copies of “Chasing Awe” by G.H. …there’s a link…
In the description 😳 Good luck. Watch a few episodes of Grand Designs to see the traps of such an endeavour.
Cheers from down under 👍🏼❤️🍷🇦🇺🎪
Can’t wait for the Adam Gibbs cameo as Manuel
Garret, if you want to get an architect's opinion, you may want to rethink you design plans and consider making half of the church nave into a two story great room with a wood stove or fireplace chimney off to one side, leading your photographic eye to those magnificent timber rafters and ceiling decking. The other half could be a kitchen with an open loft (master bedroom/master bath for you and Amanda) looking down to great room below. It would be a shame to cover the beautiful ceilings with guest bedrooms only for your mother-in-law to enjoy. The other space would be more appropriate for bedrooms, baths, and storage. Electric heat pump with potential ground source seems to be your best route for heating/cooling. My 2 cents, but happy to advise more in exchange for one of your famous books.
I already designed that pretty much in Sketchup;) He's putting it together right now.
Heating engineer here. Heat pumps will work even in Canadian winters (they do in Scandinavia too 🤷♂) with 3 caveats.
1) Insulation
2) Insulation
3) Underfloor heating (UFH)
4) Did I mention insulation?
As we say in the trade, insulation is the cheapest form of heating.
However as you're in Canada, a biomass boiler may be the most appropiate system to use as wood should be available in abundance. They come in 3 flavours fuel wise.
Either system will require to install a wet system which works better than a hot air system anyway and as it is a conversion you may just as well do it properly.
Message me if you want some more detailed info on options.
Looking forward to your new adventures. 👍😺
As a licensed HVAC contractor I would start with a load calculation including upgraded insulation factor and windows that you’re going to have.
That will help size the heating load you will need and cooling load you will need to evenly heat the structure.
Then based off Heating sources available propane,oil, electricity,geothermal.
do the cost of operation and comfort expected.
It beings us an old remodel I would be thinking more long a Mitsubishi duckless with a possible ducted option for a large area they have the best HSPF for Heating and balance point.
This is a large subject and completely possible to cover in e-mail/txt
I have 24 yrs OTJ experience plus Bachelors degree in HVAC -. Can do a phone conversation to help.
Ceiling is way to high to keep the place heated, all the warm air will rise. I'd use the far 3/4 parts of the building and put a second floor up and just keep the first quarter as a grand entrance hall. .
As a builder/joiner I'm very interested to see the mess you've got yourself in unravel 🤣🤣🤣
Ps, don't sell the camper 😳😁👍
Gavin, I understand why you moved, but now is the time to invite mom in-law. While there's work to be done and living is toughest. With luck and exploitation, there may never be a return trip. Don't forget to plan photographic trips to the southern hemi during the winter months. Amanda and her mom can keep working on the Reno in winter while you are working hard in the sun. This advice is taken at your own risk.
Amanda on that organ, I thought Keith Emerson had arrived! lol
Deffinately set up some cameras at night. 100 year old church = haunted 🤣
Don't tell Amanda FFS!
Wonder if a haunted church would keep the mother-in-law at bay??? "Gareth's Ghost Adventrues!"
@@AJ82778 We've already seen evidence of haunting. I'm afraid Amanda was possessed by the Hammond.
Best heating Solution in my opinion would be to install a wood pellet boiler and underfloor heating.you would have to insulate the existing wood floor and then install the underfloor heating hose on the insulation.after that you lay screed on it.then you put your choice of floor on it.
Here in Austria this is a very popular way to heat old renovated houses.
Heat rises so a few ceiling fans would be good to install.
I’m very happy for you guys. And I’m looking forward to seeing the landscape photography from the new location. Your landscape channel is probably the only photography related video my wife wife really enjoys. She doesn’t know a thing about photography but she says your channel is entertaining either way.
I think doing a DIY camper van project would have been simpler than escalating everything to this level. But will be fun to follow. 😀
Welcome to Nova Scotia! I hope you love it here. We have so many beautiful places to photograph!
This certainly trumps those van conversions (mentioning no names)! The very best of luck to you both.
I've been renovating my church for 22 years. I wish you guys the best of luck. Watch your wallet.
The wallet is officially on fire.
Keep the furnace and add a heat pump. The plenum will move the heat around and the furnace will act as a back up heat source. Air conditioning as a bonus.
Holy Mother of Pearl... you bought a church! Man, now I have another TH-cam channel that I have to watch! Wishing you two all the best. Looking forward to all of your new adventures.
Wow, you’re going to need sponsors. You could easily drop a fortune in that beautiful church. There’s a reason they sold it. I look forward to seeing what you and Amanda do with it.
This is going to be 100 times better than anything DIY or HGTV has to offer. This looks epic!
waiting for the next vidéo, and watching this one again :-)
So when you install the bathroom, will that mean that cleanliness really will be next to Godliness?
Ba.....BOOOOOM!
It doesn't get any cooler than this! I love Chasing Awe! Another book documenting the church renovation?
Now that's a bloody good idea
Oh no I can hear Adam rubbing his hands now
Well, with you two having a great sense of humour, this will be an interesting . . . Project 😁
Guano just makes me think of Ace Ventura! Bet this channel will be just as funny and outrageous! Good luck
Well Gavin your project makes anything I need to do around my old house look like child's play. I would stick with electric - as we do, but keep the furnace for AC. Those old buildings can get stinking hot in the summer. Your other option is propane but if you want to be in the new moral majority, stick with electric. Your stove will also be cheaper as well a hot water tank. Glad you have the camper and each other, you will need to get away from time to time for photography. I am an enthusiast of your channel, I'll stay tuned. Any improvement in your situation is a big improvement at this point. I do admire your pluck. You two are the best
Thanks Stephen. We were thinking maybe a propane generator and stove. Hadn't thought about using propane for the hot water tank. Propane is becoming expensive too. I'd go for solar but the up front investment is crippling.
Waiting with baited breath, for your new book, "CHASING CONTRACTORS"...link in the description 😁
So far we've met a couple of good ones.
All the best, looking forward to both channels
Welcome to the Maritime Provinces and New Scotland .. I've owned 3 older properties and swore after the first that I'd never do it again. Have fun. This is going to be very interesting ..😁
Well, a wood stove or fireplace is handy. I've had my fill of oil furnaces, they work, but so terribly expensive, just like Gas. I took a bit of time to look into geothermal possibilities in Nova Scotia, and while it doesn't look like there's enough heat in the ground to produce energy, it does seem like there's the possibility of running a geothermal heat pump. It's worth looking into, possibly expensive to start up, but could be a project worth documenting for long term sustainability.
The possibilities of that church are endless! That ceiling is spectacular!
What a great adventure ! Count me in ....
Now, you really need our prayers.
With a fractured rock basement don't forget to check Radon levels. Good luck finding building materials, recycling and upcycling what you already have will really help. Our house is much smaller and we heat with pellets, love the consistency of even predictable warmth. Beautiful ceiling, reminds me a Viking ship.
My wall mounted radon detector tells me we are within safe levels.
heating: How long are you intending to stay there?... the answer to that question tells you everything you need to know. If you aren't there long, then go for cheap. However, if you want comfort (unbelievable comfort) and you are planning on staying a while (10yrs+), then there is no question: Go for radiant heat in the floor. There are several ways to do it, but the most efficient and intelligent way is to string PEX tubing in the floor and to do so in multiple separate loops. Separate loops allow you to control the temps in different areas very effectively (and very efficiently). For example: keep bathrooms warm, keep bedrooms cold, keep living areas medium, keep closets cool, keep offices cool, keep kitchens cool, etc --- or most important: recognize that by using separate loops you can customize the temp profile of the place to your liking. Note also: radiant heat is a very comfortable heat, even if it is not a high heat. This is because if your feet are warm, your whole body feels warm: You aren't trying to heat the hot air which will rise to that gorgeous ceiling, you don't need hot air. you only need warm floors. (NOTE: radiant heat is often used in aircraft hangers for the same reason I'm describing: the people on/near the floor need to feel comfortable, you don't need to heat the air near the (high) ceiling.) As for how to control the heating system: Choose Tekmar controls. (thank me later). As for how to heat the floor, consider this: www.warmboard.com. Yes, I know you already have flooring (thick flooring), but a layer of warmboard will do a few things: let you run the PEX tubing easily, let you have a solid floor, allow even heat distribution. While warmboard might seem an extra cost, the ease of installation and easy installation of wood, tile, carpet, or whatever above it will more compensate for the cost of the material. Ok, I get it, I sound like a salesman. But I'm not. I'm a homeowner in Tennessee who used to live in Massachusetts. I built my home in Massachusetts almost 4 decades ago, and built my house in Tennessee 1 decade ago. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Radiant heat is the way to go especially in a cold climate.... Tennessee doesn't seem like a cold climate, it isn't, but I'm so glad I've followed my above advice that I suggest it with confidence to my new neighbors who are likewise undergoing renovation/new house construction. Every single one of them has thanked me. Lastly, air conditioning: Choose a split system (such as the Mr. Slim by Mitsubishi). Unfortunately, Carrier (a USA system) folk may have invented air conditioning, but they are way behind the technology, quality, and performance of the Japanese systems. A split A/C system can do double duty as backup heating, but it will primarily provide easy separable room controls for AC. Just as for heating, having individual room control for cooling will save you lots of money downstream and will allow you to regulate comfort wherever you are. Lastly, be sure you put a power outlet behind the toilets (ok, this might seem over the top, but it is cheap to install the power outlets when you are renovating --- and expensive to do it as retrofit) Why would you want a power outlet behind the toilets? For the answer, you might need to take a trip to Japan and learn the joys of not only heated toilet seats but also the joys of being "really clean"... Yes, you can thank me later for that suggestion too... :-) Meanwhile I thank you for your TH-cam videos. I've learned a lot (and been entertained to boot). Thanks BTW, the suggestions for Geothermal heat source are worth considering... My suggestions are agnostic with regard to the actual heating fuel. Wood works, pellet works, so does geothermal, and even "fossil" works (but it isn't as green as some of us might like). As for the 2 minute showers, once you do heating for the house, you might discover there are easy ways to augment hot water heating with some of the various heat source suggestions others are offering.... A hot soaking tub (Japanese style) will definitely make your life/old age easier... 🙂
Thanks Skip. I'm leaning toward your suggestion. A lot depends on cost which at this early stage might mean we put in a temporary solution that doesn't prevent us from later upgrades. Just need those 3 million subs first ;)
For heating, i would look at wood burning stove, under floor heating or infrared heating.
I would also consider putting a second floor in the main room. You can still keep it open plan. There are some really good examples of this on youtube if you search for church conversations and if you do it right, you will still see your wood.
Good luck
I legit cannot contain the excitement I have for not one, but TWO Majesty Hardcastle channels!
Thanks Joel :)
Having been in the heating industry for almost 20 years I'd say your best bet is the newer improved heat pumps. You can even possibly use some of the pre-existing duct work from the furnace.
Gavin, you have to have some sort of radiant heat system if possible. Heating air in a space that large will cost a fortune. It takes less energy to make you feel warm from heat radiated from under the floor, that it does to heat the air (especially that volume) to warm yourself via conduction essentially, and achieve the same feeling. If you can't do the underfloor, then good insulation under there and large wall panels would maybe be an option. If you heat the air, you'll need to reduce the heated volume somehow, which if you want to see that ceiling means that you'll probably have to enclose the living space and heat it more, and just deal with the larger open plan bit being a bit cooler. Luckily you have masses of personal insulation so you should survive the winters, but please, think about Amanda!
Man - this is going to be just brilliant!
Gavin, you should go with geothermal heating..
Really cool project ! :) Congrats’ for this big decision !
I am also in favor for underfloor heating “powered” by some viable source that you can afford in your budget (heat pump etc.)
Be sure to get a really good engineer to design and calculate that underfloor heating if you go that route.
Those are really high ceilings (if you keep them that way) and the volume to be heated it’s pretty large.
A good engineer will take into consideration all the facts :
- high ceilings
- very large windows (and many of them)
- insulation and total R value of the structure (floor, walls, ceiling, doors/windows)
- floor and subfloor structure and the solution for optimal heat dissipation (maybe a screed on top of existing wood subfloor)
- optimal confort level and energy efficency
- etc.
Anyway, good luck guys and ENJOY the process! :)
Don’t let the stress or any unexpected problems bring you down !
Good for you both to make this move. If I was near your age, I would do the same thing. I’ve lived in the Northwest most of my life, and I must say, it used to be a fun and Fabulous area to live in. Seems like it has been a rapid transition into living with “ Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves”. Enjoy your new Adventure. Look forward to be able to occasionally peek into your New world.👍👍
Grand Designs, I was expecting Kevin McCloud to introduce you both and then mock you on your under-budgeted project that will take the whole of the next 10 years to complete. :-) Welcome to your new home, Gavin and Amanda. I love the wood ceiling.
Thing about a Pellet Stove to argument your central heating system. Ive used one for years and have been quite pleased. It will quickly take the chill off the House/Church. Nice ambiance too. Best of luck... You and Amanda have Guts.
New opening music is a must. Don’t want to get confused on which channel I am watching. I know their is text but who wants to read TH-cam?
...I am [foolishly] looking forward to this adventure...
congrats on the new project. Married now??? OK, congrats on that as well and where's the video? 😁
Expensive but...geothermal heat pump with supplemental outside wood burning boiler. Add some solar power on roof to help soak up electricity bill for heat pump. That way you have two methods to heat (and one method to cool) your home.
Good tips
I would second heat pumps, but aren't they best used with underfloor heating? Deffo install tons of best quality insulation and triple glazed windows.
I usually avoid church conversions (theologically) , but I’m here for this one.
I see a huge white wall that will be a great place for your Photos Gavin!
Wedding!!! Way to go Amanda, taking on the creative fun Gavin will keep you young and full of smiles.
Yes Amanda can practice walking down the aisle to the altar I think Gavin planned this all along hahaha
Hey your new book can be called Chasing Awelder.
Heating wise though, a wood stove helps a lot in our cold months so if you're allowed that source of energy it's a go to for us up here.
Radiant floor heating is also really nice and fuel efficient as long as you spray foam or insulate your floor joists.
If you're ever worried about the place becoming to 'tight' and needing of airflow any fartbox or range hood is equivalent to HVAC or you can install some fresh 80s!
Heating solution.... We use in our house Hydroinc water heating......this is with in the concrete pad and is covered by 100mm of concrete....heats entire house...I understand there is a wood floor version one also....... this method can then be extended using lots of water pipes in the ground dug in as it uses a heat pump to move the water and generate the heat in the water and heat the concrete pad......laying lots of pipes deep in the ground the temperature is a constant temp and the heating of the house becomes very cheap.
Only thing that makes sense is mini split heat pumps with baseboard or propane backup. A wood stove might help too.
Oh, I'm glad I found you! This is going to be interesting....right down my alley!!!! My dream was to buy an old Church and reno it....never got there, so I'm looking forward to this!!!!
Congratulations!!!
What an exciting adventure.
Please be careful of LEAD. The old paints were made of huge amounts of lead.
Will do Stefan.
I have seen church conversions that have some sort of partial mezzanine which fulfils need for private rooms for bedrooms and the like and preserving the overall internal feel of the building.
You got it ;)
A bit worried about all those acro props in the basement. I'd get a structural surveyor to have a look.
You could make the Belfry into a mother-in-law flat! with a one way locking door! On a serious note, watch out for the bat guano and asbestos! Hopefully any asbestos and lead paint issues would show up on a pre-purchase inspection! Best of wishes to you both!
Suggestion: Turn this into a recording studio. You are a former musician aren’t you? Turn basement into a wine cellar. Forget about heat pump. Be forewarned, useless in that environment unless you always like blowing cold air and I’m not talking about air conditioning in summer.
I think you're a little out of date. Modern heat pumps are fantastic and work well even in northern climes, especially when paired with a propane furnace for those really cold days (below -15C). I have one and it works great.
I used to be a plumber and I also used to own a 100 year old farmhouse with a giant barn that basically had no heat. The house came with two ancient furnaces one oil burning and one wood burning and they were both connected and produced forced hot air but sadly neither worked very well. I ripped them both out and replaced them with forced hot water baseboards and a new furnace. The new furnace was oil burning but it could have easily been natural gas. The large barn space 20 foot by 30 foot with 12 foot ceilings I heated with forced hot water Modine heaters. You can get these also as gas fired or propane of the forced hot water like I used. If you leave the big space open then I thin you will have a hard time heating it all efficiently. If you break it up into rooms then you could easily install baseboard heat. Would you make multiple stories in the large space or would the rooms have super high ceilings?
Depending on the way the building faces I wonder if solar would be an option? I built a solar energy home back in the late 80s that was a disaster because the technology back then was terrible but I think we have come a long way in the past 35 years.
Anyway it will be great watching your renovation of this church. I almost bought a church back in the 90s to make a music venue out of it. It would have been brilliant but I was young and didn't have the capitol to purchase what was considered a business property.
Splitting the rooms is the plan but solar seems outrageously expensive to get setup.
Gavin, congratulations to you and Amanda's new adventure in life. I'm a US electrician by trade and I know Canada and us follow some of the same codes but not all. I'm curious on your power situation. Heating wise sounds like it could be a challenge with the cost of Gas and oil atm. I can say that electrical heating can get quite expensive vs propane and natural gas and doesn't give as many BTU's. Geo thermal is an option, but living on bed rock I would think that be rather expensive to drill, in addition to the cost of drilling already for well water if it's available in the area and how deep you have to go to get it. Maybe the driller can drill 2 holes for a better cost, not to sure. I for sure would layout your plans to allow for the kitchen and bathrooms to be under the existing basement for easier access. Figure out your floor plan and then figure out what areas need to be heated and cooled and possibly keep the required BTU's for that area smaller and affordable vs trying to heat the whole building. Utilizing the existing duct will save you some money so I would keep that in mind. Heat pumps, we use them a lot here in the middle of the states (Nebraska) but i believe they don't work to well in really cold environments. I use a mini split heat pump for heating and cooling of 2 rooms of my house. I have a hundred year old house with stone foundation. I use propane to heat another room in winter in addition to Cove heaters in a few of the room, I'm pretty much all electric at .11 cents a kw/h where I live. My lawyer down the road bought an old school house with electric furnaces for heat and with heating 2 apartments in the school (converted to apartments) his electric bill is 600-800 a month in the winter time. As far as insulating your walls, one can go up in the attic and sometimes run a fish tape down the outside walls to see if there is any blockage at points for possible blow in insulation options. Closed cell foam is great if you have access to spray it in. I would for sure consider planning for next winter now as far as closing up holes, windows in the basement, installing an insulated door for your basement and insulating the framed walls in basement entry. Looking forward to your next video, maybe a walk around the property maybe?
I'll look into geothermal but the cost might be unrealistic.
What a great place you bought. That ceiling is fantastic. In Sweden many have changed from oil to pellets or/and you can combine that with solar cells. They have come down in price now. I have seen loads of renovation projects on TV from England, churches among others and I hope you plan it well and keep an eye on the budget else these projects can be very expensive.
High ceiling... all your heat will stay up. I would install a channel on the right and left up there to return the heat down with a dug transfer motor. May you find a way to hide them . Insulation is everything. Get sure you make a tight insolation on the roof, I prefer on the floor because you have less surface and not the big air volume between roof and floor which effect your insulation in the bad way. Most cold and heat comes from the attic!!!!!.... Don't use foam insulation.. when only a open pore insulation which can breath, otherwise you create mildew. This would be the most effective insulation. Get sure not any cold air enter the basement. Close all the gups. I would keep the Furness which is installed. The tank looks still good. But with he the long air dugs I would insolate all dugs, because until you get the heat to the rooms ..... the air cool down pretty much. may oil is expensive, now. But you never know what coming up in the years to come. !! Windows in the basement I would put bubble package material ( sells in rolls ) cover all windows. Put some silicon trop on the window and stretch out the plastic bubble foil. Is later easy to remove ! ... and cheep. Put some ventilation opening in the basement too. Best is you can control them. On very cold days you keep them closed. Don't make this important mistake: Opening only across !! not on all sides !! When you have it on all sides you get very less to no air flow! Always across ! Window would be good to replace with windows with Aron gas for insulation. Always about how much money you can spend or have. ... Check your ladder.... your cross boards are not safe. Sorry I hope you understand...English is my second language. I wish you all the luck in the world for your project...... keep your wife warm...
I'm with you on the 'too busy' reason...I'm born and raised on this rock and can't believe the population and development explosion that's taken place in over 6 decades...good on 'ya for making the jump...Nova Scotia is beautiful and hope it is everything you two expected....good luck with the reno!
Looks like this will be a great new channel! My wife and I are going the opposite direction. After 22+ years, we’re selling our lovingly restored 3400 s/f 1872 Victorian home and beginning the downsizing to live in a camper and travel the US full time.
As always, with older structures, the devil is in the details.
Heat Pump all the way! That way it's 100% electric (and thus can be fully renewable) but also significantly more efficient than normal old resistive electric heat. If you can, a ground-source heat pump is the most efficient, but $$$. Bonus: a heat pump should be able to work with the existing forced-air system.
Geothermal is the way to go! 💯 It's a major investment but they last for 50 plus years. You start saving on your electricity bill immediately and it eventually pays for itself way, way before it needs replacement like in 6 years. Good luck whatever you decide :)
the cult of Hardcastle? sign me up!
There is a rigorous initiation ceremony...
A shop vac with a long hose is the best way to get rid of those spider eggs. Can't wait to watch the transformation! I'm sure the place isn't haunted.
First thing I'd do is get some EPS sheets and place them between your floor joists - to stop heat loss through your floor. Also do the same in the attic.
Good luck guys, I think you will need it!
This is exciting. Both for the landscape photography and the renovation. Being so close to the coast I would think there is ample wind so maybe you should consider some wind generated electricity as a supplemental source of power.
Here is Michigan, we've got a propane run furnace and a wood stove. Propane is not cheap, but I believe it's less expensive than oil. With our wood stove the furnace comes on much less often, and since we can get the wood off our property it's basically free. Just a little labor intensive. Another recommendation would be to install some ceiling fans. Most of your heat is going to end up in that beautiful ceiling. The fans will circulate The heat back down. Good luck!!!
I like this plan. Fans are already in ;)
@@HardcastleTowers Good choice!! Have a great time working on this dream.
good luck to you and Amanda in your new life, I can wait to see how is going to look.can wait until you are going out to photograph around Nova Scotia, good luck and stay safe you guys....
Mate love it can not wait until it finished pal good luck mate 👍 📸📸📸📸🇬🇧👍😁
Gavin I love the new channel. Totally right up my alley, I’m a plumber in Oregon, got into photography because of you and absolutely love it.
You can totally install radiant heat flooring in this building they have radiant heat that you put on top of the flooring instead of underneath. I don’t know maybe something to look into.
I put a ductless minisplit ac/heatpump on my van, on the back bumper/door. The one I bought says it goes down to -13 F for heat. I can say it works great for AC and then you have the heat pump for temps that aren't too cold. They are relatively easy to install oneself and are energy efficient compared to the rising prices of oil and straight electric baseboard. I live in PA so we don't get super cold here.
I put a 3 ton heat pump in at my cottage in Ontario. Great results so far. We had a propane furnace before and kept it as a back-up. The heat pump works down to -15 C. At that point, the thermostat kicks over to the propane furnace. Here in Ontario, our power is based on hydro and nuclear, so the price won't go up as oil goes up. Not sure about Nova Scotia. Heat pumps are 200% to 300% efficient (they don't turn electricity into heat, they us electricity to pump heat from outdoor air into the indoors) versus 90% for my high efficiency propane furnace. It's a really good system that excels during the shoulder months. In January and February, the propane back-up kicks in quite often. As a bonus, you also get air conditioning in the summer.
I've always loved old churches. Can't wait to see how it goes!!!
The ceiling 😍😍😍😍😍 thanks for taking us on this crazy new adventure
I've recently moved into an 1820s cottage in Snowdonia, and we share a number of problems - including oil heating, no insulation and creatures in the attic! We do have water though! 😂 Will be making sure to tune into every video. All the best!
Install some solar panels and an air source heat pump but you will have to get the place well insulated. Have some mixed heating systems some under floor, some wall heaters to give flexibility. Full height ceilings are nice but put in a second floor for at least some of the length of the building then you can have under a small kitchen diner with sofa and solid fuel stove- to keep a small part of the building toasty warm 😀
Have you thought about a geothermal system for the church ? Heat is extracted from and rejected to the ground.. so no fuel source.. same heating and cooling as a regular refrigerant based system.. it’s a bit higher first cost but pays off over time..you can do your domestic hot water with it was well..
Wow, interesting project for sure! Regarding heating, I think you need to think in the long run, that's a lot of space to heat, depending on what energy sources can you tap in. Personally, I would do something like this:
- start insulating the building to lower the escaping heat.
- AC and other heat pump-based solutions are pretty energy efficient nowadays, so that would be my main source of heating. Although the efficiency of AC is dropping when it's cold, so need to research the lowest temperature days and their lengths on average, and choose accordingly.
- Would clean up/replace the oil tank to accommodate petrol or diesel and buy a generator in case the regular power line is severed.
- Maybe would add some additional heating options if AC/HP can't keep up
Solar panels wouldn't cut the cost if it's lots of cloudy days with the current efficiency, although a few years later new types could be efficient for your use case, worth investigating. Nowadays, not necessarily think of Lithium-based power storage, since they are pricey and you may need a lot of them, depending on your base energy needs and their longevity not necessary cuts. Would wait for much cheaper battery alternatives like sodium-based or nanowire-based ones, which last longer and will be cheaper. If it will be available, then first I would install a battery backup system, then extend it with solar or wind-based if it's feasible.
Welcome to beautiful Nova Scotia!! I look forward to this channel and I hope to see you out in the zillions of gorgeous spots in NS when I am out shooting sometime.
I’m a heating engineer. As you’re pretty isolated why not get heating with radiators and a hot water cylinder system like we have in the uk. A combi boiler is an option that would do away with the cylinder. Natural gas won’t be an option but another fuel source such as LPG (liquid gas) or oil surely would be.
In Canada, propane is the gas of choice when a natural gas hook-up is not available. Propane is readily available via delivery trucks, you can rent tanks and purchase high efficiency furnaces.
You're so close to my hometown now! I grew up on PEI.
For your heat, you were asking for suggestions, given that you already have ductwork installed, a heat pump might make the most sense.
Heat pumps are generally fully electric, so if you have the funds to do so, you might also want to explore solar on the roof or a wind turbine, so you could offset your heating and electricity costs. Although, I would worry any kind of wind turbine would freeze in winter, which obviously wouldn't be an issue with solar.
We get a crazy amount of wind out here so a turbine might work bit yeah not if it freezes up.
This will be interesting Gavin and Amanda. Can't wait to see more of your endeavors in converting a church to a Hardcastle sanctuary :)
What an exciting trip!!!
All the best!!!
have you seen the money pit?
🤣
#1 recommendation for heating system: Insulate all as best you can! Insulate the main walls if you can blow it in. Spray foam insulation on the basement/crawlspace walls (most important, not under floors. Keep the lower level as a conditioned area). Then you will have a good option to heat with heat pump or oil, depending on your local fuel costs. I live in a 100 year old house in Indianapolis and use a geothermal heat pump.
What to do with the huge roof area? Once you start to insulate an old building things like condensation will become an issue, unless a lot of care is taken.
After doing a similar project with my wife and enjoying the adventure I have two tips for you. 1. Do not get rid of anything for at least two years. 2. And this is the most important, make sure that your apprentice knows that you’re in charge. Bon chance Gavin and Amanda
She has established her dominance...
Quite a venture taken and it looks like an exciting project in your future. I look forward to watching the progress and wish you and Amanda all the best. Cheers!
Heat pump and oil as backup... I had that in my last home... worked well exept for expensive reverse valve repair on heat pump after 10 years. Now we have natural gas for heating and ac for cooling. A good powerful shop vac works well for spider removal! Enjoy your new adventure.