Air source heat pump...

[Tangledfeet]

...has anyone had one installed?

I filled out an online questionnaire with Greener Energy Group and was called back by their sales department the next day The Scottish Government is offering various grants and loans that would contribute what sounds like a reasonable amount... but that all depends upon the installation cost, obviously.

We bought the bungalow eleven years ago and had a new oil central heating system installed amongst other things; as a result Mrs TF seems quite against the idea as it is so relatively new. We live quite rurally, end of a small village with a sizeable garden and south facing too... haven't a clue whether that's a good thing or not! We also had PV panels installed and they've paid for themselves already.

I'm tempted to commit to a no-commitment survey and take it from there.

Just curious if anyone has any experience!

 

[julianthegypsy]

They work best if you have underfloor heating and really good insulation. Our house is a sixties prefab with radiators. It costs a fortune and its rubbish.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Not fitted but I was looking at ground source...the ones with a vertical shaft. The ground source seems like a more sensible option as i'd expect it to be less affected by ambient air temperatures.

I know the air source ones "technically" work but they'd surely be affected by outside temperatures so I wondered how the efficiency might be impacted in colder weather. Having said that my new EV has a heat pump and that seems to work perfectly fine!

The ground sourced with the vertical shaft wasn't a cheap option thought!

 

[Blobber]

I think it sounds like the existing heating system has got quite a few years of life left in it yet but get a quote/survey for the new fangled stuff to see how the numbers stack up?
Im not convinced they are the answer but im sure someone will be along to put our hats on straight...

 

[Tangledfeet]

I think it sounds like the existing heating system has got quite a few years of life left in it yet but get a quote/survey for the new fangled stuff to see how the numbers stack up?
Im not convinced they are the answer but im sure someone will be along to put our hats on straight...

Yup, that is indeed my thinking too.

 

[Burdekin]

A mate put it in when totally renovating their house. They also fitted a lot of solar. The outlay to get the house insulated and solar was a very big outlay. It's effectively a very expensive system to install and run.

 

[Welderpaul]

We have a new house, heavily insulated, under floor heating and no mains gas. ASHP fitted by the builder.
We're just in the process of ripping it out and putting in a traditional boiler and an underground LPG tank.
ASHP costs a fortune on electric, totally useless when temps are circa 7 degrees and below and constantly breaks down.
May be fantastic for some, but not us. Not many with anything positive to say about ASHP i'm afraid.

Be very sure in your decision, and do your own research.

 

[Kayos]

I've installed hundreds, from 3kw to multi megawatt plant rooms

 

[Tangledfeet]

We have a new house, heavily insulated, under floor heating and no mains gas. ASHP fitted by the builder.
We're just in the process of ripping it out and putting in a traditional boiler and an underground LPG tank.
ASHP costs a fortune on electric, totally useless when temps are circa 7 degrees and below and constantly breaks down.
May be fantastic for some, but not us. Not many with anything positive to say about ASHP i'm afraid.

Be very sure in your decision, and do your own research.

Thanks @Welderpaul - that's interesting to hear. I'm not convinced myself, and more importantly nor is Mrs TF.

 

[brightspark]

I've installed hundreds, from 3kw to multi megawatt plant rooms

and

 

[rtcosic]

I've filled in the web forms for both EDF and Octopus.
If either actually responds and provide a specification, performance guarantee and a quote I'll let you know.

Edit. I have an Air to Air one installed last year for cooling. Today was the first day the Solar PV was flat out and ambient was low enough for the house to be below 21C in daylight so I put it in heating mode for the first time. It worked. No further comment.

 

[JimmyS]

Bit of a hard sell economically at the moment with the cost of electricity. We're on oil as well. At the moment I'm working though the house stripping to the bones, insulating and putting in wrt ufh getting ready for the day when I have to do it but at the moment I'm better off on oil than a heat pump.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I've installed hundreds, from 3kw

Did you mean 3kw?...or is that the input power....I know nothing about these things?

 

[rtcosic]

Bit of a hard sell economically at the moment with the cost of electricity. We're on oil as well. At the moment I'm working though the house stripping to the bones, insulating and putting in wrt ufh getting ready for the day when I have to do it but at the moment I'm better off on oil than a heat pump.

I'm still on a fixed tarriff until March next year, so sitting with a smug smile on my face for now.
As we only use gas for CH and a little DHW in winter the economics are massively improved by closing the gas account and the annual standing charge.

My arithmatic says if I can get a seasonal average CoP of > 3.5 then a heat pump wins.

 

[JimmyS]

I'm still on a fixed tarriff until March next year, so sitting with a smug smile on my face for now.
As we only use gas for CH and a little DHW in winter the economics are massively improved by closing the gas account and the annual standing charge.

My arithmatic says if I can get a seasonal average CoP of > 3.5 then a heat pump wins.

My son was on at me about installing one earlier this year, I can't remember what I reconed the Scop would need to be but it was something like 3.2 I think. Half our place is on radiators and not well insulatated and would need a heat pump with an output of 16kw. I recon I'm better off for now working on the basics and insulating/ improveing air tightness. I'm planning to install ground source myself, probably using horizontal ground loops but will be insulating etc for next couple of years first I recon.

 

[redlig]

Yup, that is indeed my thinking too.

If it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

[Rannsachair]

We got a Mitsubishi Ecodan system fitted 3 years ago replacing storage heaters in a 19 year old, reasonably insulated bungalow .So far we are delighted, way more control, warmer house and using about 30% less electricity than with the storage heaters.

 

[Kayos]

and

First line of the ops post, I replied

 

[Kayos]

Did you mean 3kw?...or is that the input power....I know nothing about these things?

3kw is the smallest I've seen, fitted to small flats. It's the nominal output power at design flow and outside temp

I have some 100kw units awaiting delivery for a decarbonisation project, looking to get the enabling works done this year and the units in by April

 

[Rannsachair]

Have to compare electricity prices between nighttime cheap rates and daytime peak rates, so not a simple comparison. Replacing resistive electric heating with a straight replacement with a heat pump will provide a saving (just compare the COP!!), but other forms of energy fuels will likely be more cost efficient - there are things to consider, maybe, like power outages? A fuel store can be a distinct advantage at times.

Electricity is an expensive form of energy. When/as fossil fuel generation is replaced with renewables (or nuclear) the carbon footprint of electric heating will reduce. Home battery storage may well alter the costings - electricity is currently far cheaper to produce during the night.

We have a woodburner too, though hardly use it, handy as a backup. Where we stay there is not a lot of choice: Bottled gas. oil deliveries, woodchip boiler, storage heaters were the most popular for most houses until recently, now mainly air source heat pump.