Heat Pumps

[Canary42]

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/why-heat-pumps-never-britain-150000216.html

I need a new CH boiler and have been thinking of installing a heat pump system, but this article rather puts me off.  The snag seems to be lower radiator temperature, for which the average UK house is not well enough insulated.

 

Any Abers with experience of them like to comment? 

[Zacs-Master]

I would imagine that if they're popular, Labour would tax them heavily. 

[barry1010]

I don't know anyone with them but I do know they are a big investment.

Could you employ an independent expert to survey your home and advise on the best method heating for your home and circumstances?  Such a person must exist.  Might be the best few hundred pounds you've ever spent.

 

[barry1010]

I've just remembered my neighbour recently got a totally free new boiler and other bits and bobs through a government scheme.  They really didn't expect to get it as they have a lot of savings and a good income.

They phoned their council to see if they could recommend a company to replace their boiler and were told about the scheme.

They applied without expecting much.  A surveyor inspected the whole house from the roof down, took a lot of measurements, used a lot of equipment. He was there for at least three hours.

He recommended a new boiler, thermostats etc and within six weeks it was done.

They still don't understand how they qualified so it is worth asking.

If that is something you want to do contact your council first, not one of those dodgy companies advertising on Facebook and the like.

 

[The Builder]

I started reading that article but gave up halfway through. It's utter tosh. That sort of reporter is completely disingenuous. His editor probably asked him to write something against heat pumps just to stir things up. Next week he'll likely write about how wonderful they are.

As with everything, it depends. Lower flow temperatures (50C) certainly as opposed to 65-70C for traditional systems. Ideally suited to underfloor heating, but that can be expensive and disruptive to fit retrospectively.  On the other hand, I know of people who've upgraded their windows/cavity insulation/radiators/loft insulation in a standard bungalow and are well pleased with their heat pump.

I wrote on here only recently about Norway. They use woodburners/pellet boilers and heat pumps extensively. Much much more widely than direct fossil fuels. And that's a country whose massive Sovereign Wealth Fund is founded on oil & gas. That's even in the North, near the arctic circle.  The craic is that they build better. Huge levels of insulation. A one-off cost.

I have a heat pump, but then, I built from scratch with high insulation and triple glazing.  Our problem in this country is that we're stuck with ancient, largely decrepit housing stock. I don't like to be dismissive, but we do pay far too much for our housing considering its shortcomings.

Larger radiators aren't very costly. A certain amount of insulation upgrade is usually possible, but it might take more. It's all perfectly possible, but I do have to admit that in some houses, it may be impracticable. As I said... it all depends.

[Canary42]

Thank you very much all of you (especially Builder), some useful material there.