Like many houses of this age, this 180m2 1970s house in West Cork had some basic upgrades such as a pumped cavity, attic insulation, and improved glazing, but no other significant measures. The primary heat source was a LPG boiler.
The owner was conscious of energy usage and their carbon footprint and had previously installed a solar water heating system. They wished to reduce their carbon footprint further and investigated a deep retrofit, but this would have cost them over €50,000.
Instead, they chose to install an Immergas Magis Combo Plus 9 heat pump, which allowed them to re-use their existing radiators and water heating cylinder. No deep retrofit was required. The capital cost was under €10,000 (2021 figures).
The Magis Combo Plus is a heat pump specially designed for older homes. It’s fast and easy to install as existing radiators and water heating cylinder may be re-used. A 9kW heat pump provides the vast majority of the heating (up to 94% in this case). A powerful 24kW gas boiler backup module supplements the heat pump with the balance of the heating.
The outdoor unit was mounted on flexi-feet and placed directly outside the existing boiler house. Two pre-insulated refrigeration pipes were run from the outdoor unit into the boiler house.
The old gas boiler was removed, and the indoor unit was installed in its place.
Calculations showed that the house’s existing radiators would comfortably run at 70°C when below freezing outside. When it is warmer, a much lower flow temperature is needed.
A built-in feature called Weather compensation automatically increases the flow temperature to the radiators when it is cold outside and reduces the flow temperature when it is warm outside. This technology is what allows the Magis Combo to work well with the existing steel panel radiators in this house.
Further information is in the case study below.
Download case study - Immergas Magis Combo in 1970s West Cork house
More information
Immergas are a major European manufacturer of heating products. Their headquarters and main manufacturing plant is located near Parma, Italy. They have manufactured over 8 million heating appliances since they were established in 1964.