DISTRICT HEATING IN VICARAGES

DISTRICT HEATING IN VICARAGES

District heating

District heating is a common and cheap form of heating. Most vicarages, located in areas with district heating, are already connected. If district heating is new in an area, a vicarage might possibly not be connected yet. If the vicarage is heated by oil, it is not permitted to replace the oil-fired boiler with a new oil-fired boiler, when the old one is ready for replacement. In some areas, buildings are required to connect to district heating, elsewhere it is in principle allowed to install heat pumps or wood pellet boilers. If it is possible to connect to district heating, this should clearly be preferred. In the long run this will be the cheapest and most reliable option - and also the most socio-economic solution.

Changes to the heating system?

Normally, when converting from oil or natural gas to district heating, no major changes to the heating system are needed, except for replacing the boiler with a district heating unit and installing either a heat exchanger or a hot water tank for hot water. If a satisfactory cooling of the district heating water turns out difficult to obtain, it may be necessary to make some changes, i.e. replacing thermostat valves and, optionally, small radiators. In the case of an older one-pipe system, it will be advantageous to convert to a 2-pipe system from both a comfort and energy point of view, but it is rather costly.

 

Economy

The price of district heating varies from one district heating plant to another, but is typically between 0.50 to 1.00 kr. per kWh heat. In addition to this are fixed charges and maybe a penalty, if the cooling of the district heating water is not sufficient. The fixed charges are calculated in different ways, but will often be between 4,000 and 10,000 kr. annually.

When installing district heating, a connection fee is paid the price of which varies from one district heating plant to another, typically 20,000 to 35,000 kr.

  


Read more (in Danish):

Danish Energy Agency for district heating: http://sparenergi.dk/forbruger/varme/fjernvarme