Hydronic heating retrofit, 1960s brick veneer

The brief

“The house was freezing every winter and the ducted system was ancient and noisy. We wanted something quiet and even, but we did not want the whole house pulled apart to get it.”

What we found

Every renovation has surprises. Publishing ours is the point — this is what a variation actually looks like, and how it got handled.

• Subfloor clearance was better than expected at the rear of the house, which let us run most of the flow and return under the floor rather than through walls.
• The hallway had a concrete section poured at some point that we could not run through — panels at that end were fed from the opposite direction instead.
• The existing gas meter was undersized for a boiler on top of the cooktop and hot water. We arranged the meter upgrade with the distributor before starting.

Scope of works

• Heat loss calculation and panel sizing per room
• Gas meter upgrade coordination
• Boiler installation and flue
• Flow and return pipework, mostly subfloor
• Eleven panels across seven rooms
• Zoning and controls, commissioning and balancing