Joined: Apr 2018 Posts: 505 Threads: 129
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Location: Staffordshire
Car type: Ruby mk 2
I know that there’s a lot of common sense and knowledge on this forum.
So I hope you will excuse this topic
Considering having a heat pump installed for our bungalow heating and hot water.
The company I am considering is Greener Living.
Any comments appreciated.
One of the attractions is the possibility of a grant of £7500
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 926 Threads: 52
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Location: The delightful town of Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
I'm not an expert but from what I hear...
You will need bigger radiators or underfloor heating. The heat pump produced cooler hot water.
You will use a lot of electricity powering the pump so it really works best in conjunction with solar panels to produce your own electricity.
in the coldest weather you might need an additional form of heat as well. Maybe electric heaters or a log burner.
Joined: May 2018 Posts: 2,802 Threads: 533
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Location: Peak District, Derbyshire
Car type: 1929 Chummy, 1930 Chummy, 1930 Ulster Replica, 1934 Ruby
11-10-2023, 06:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2023, 07:00 PM by Tony Griffiths.)
From what I've read, the price of electricity to run the pump is three times that of gas for the same energy output. You'll also need a very well-insulated house, controlled ventilation, solar panels and a host of other things to consider.
I can't see any advantage at all in replacing a perfectly functional gas boiler with a heat pump. If you're on a south-facing slope in the South of England, in a new-build house with the highest standard of insulation possible - it might work. Perhaps.
In addition, if your house is all-electric and there's a lengthy power cut, with a small petrol generator the gas central heating can be maintained. Of course, one could always sit in one's car with the engine running and dinner cooking on the exhaust - unless your car's electric, in which case you'll freeze.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 904 Threads: 107
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Location: Melton Mowbray.
11-10-2023, 07:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2023, 07:54 PM by Chris Garner.
Edit Reason: spelling
)
...unless your car's electric, in which case you'll freeze.
No Tony, the car's likely to burst into flames as several Porsches are now doing!
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 1,397 Threads: 25
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Location: North Yorkshire
Having been involved in trials in the days I worked for a living, fine for new build where the full spec can be in conjunction with a heat pump. Retro fitting didn't work because the rest of the property couldn't be raised to the required spec at anything like a reasonable cost. Recall a local authority OAP bungalow that went from comfortabe to a fridge despite a very high spec heat pump installation that cost silly money.
Steve
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It is very hard to find independent information about heat pumps as most people are trying to sell you one. This view from a company that doesn't want you to buy one may not be impartial is worth a read.
https://www.calor.co.uk/-/media/sites/gr...report.pdf
If you have mains gas the cost per kWh today is capped at 7p for gas and 27p for electricity so for a heat pump to be cost effective it will need an SCOP of just under 4 - ask Greener Living to confirm in writing what the SCOP of the system they are proposing is.
As already mentioned how well the house is insulated and radiator size need to be considered as well as the need for a hot water cylinder and immersion heater.
Solar panels don't really help as when you need heat in the winter months it will probably be dark.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 2,249 Threads: 33
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Location: Deepest Frogland 30960
Car type: 1933 RP Standard Saloon
If it's of any use, we have two air/air heat pumps servicing our house here in France, which produce conditioned air in the summer or heated air in the winter. There are no radiators, just blown air from either a wall mounted unit or ducted via a unit in the loft space. Our electricity bills are quite normal which even with recent price rises amount to no more than just over 200€ per month, and that includes powering a swimming pool pump, two fridge freezers, a 300 litre water heater and all the other domestic white goods (we are all electric - no gas here).
Whilst solar panels work well down here, they are expensive, and ugly and at my age I doubt that any installation would be a worthwhile investment. The air-con, however has been working faultlessly and efficiently for the past 15 years.
We do also have a wood burner in the main living room, but the heat given out by the reversible air conditioning (which is everywhere) is more than adequate.
Joined: Aug 2017 Posts: 848 Threads: 22
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Location: Near Cambridge, UK
Car type: 1928 tourer (mag type), short chassis Gould Ulster
One of my sons has an air to water heat pump installed. The job was fully subsidised and the house is in a rural village with only electricity, but it is also a centre terrace house so the side walls (the larger ones) lose no heat to the neighbours. I understand that they find the system very satisfactory in conjunction with an off-peak tariff for domestic water. I had solar panels installed 11 years ago when costs were higher than they are now. The feed-in tariff recovered the cost in 8 years, and I heat the water for nothing by using the generated electricity for which I am also paid.
I think solar and heat pumps have their place, but there are many houses for which they do not make economic sense.
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(11-10-2023, 07:53 PM)Chris Garner Wrote: ...unless your car's electric, in which case you'll freeze.
No Tony, the car's likely to burst into flames as several Porsches are now doing!
I must admit I suppressed a chuckle when reading about the fire at Luton Airport, as the authorities have wasted no time in declaring that they "think a diesel powered car started it" way in advance of any conclusive findings!
Joined: Mar 2015 Posts: 5,196 Threads: 223
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Location: Scotchland
We had an air source heat pump fitted to our 1950s bungalow about 15 years ago.
The house was, and is, extensively well insulated.
We were early uptake and benefitted from a grant, interest free loan and a heat production feed in tariff. Even with this, the system was expensive to buy and run. In all honesty it did not really keep the house warm.
Each winter the system caused trouble and broke down, this caused an immerser to kick in which only really showed up when the quarterly bill arrived!
After 13 years I ditched the system in favour of very efficient gas boiler which keeps house very warm indeed and costs 1/3 of what the air source heat pump did, to run.
We had early technology, which will have certainly improved. Our retirement project is a system that draws from solar, wood fired back boiler, heat pump, photovoltaic and oil. They all work gently together to feed a large hot water tank - no system is strained and one failure wil not lead to a cold home.
Our parents fitted photovoltaic panels to their home around 20 years ago, in stark contrast the early uptake tariff they benefitted from has been a total success.
In summary, do not expect the heat pump to be a direct and sole replacement for your old heating system, particularly if you live in a house that was built more than 10 years ago.
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