Saw a recent article on radio/TV the other day whereby a Scottish air source heat pump company owner said, outright, that such devices were 'effectively useless' for Scottish locations due to the inherently cold weather we get.
Only goes to enhance my distrust of the situation regarding the Governments insistence that gas boilers be 'outlawed' over time.
Is there anyone other than me actually purchasing a gas boiler to keep in storage for use AFTER the ban?
(for when the existing one wears out).
These users thanked the author kellys_eye for the post:
well as we all know its not the location its the efficiency on average over several years that decide the suitability
on average you need a temperature above zero in the colder months to have any chance off matching the cost off gas
often efficiencies[cheaper to run over gas ] is because off other measures like insulation and draught reduction measures more than the new heating so better results would apply to the gas boiler set up
These users thanked the author big-all for the post:
I think most people know that the UKs aged housing stock and colder climate makes heat pumps a bit of a farce for existing units …. But obviously new builds should make the numbers add up
In 1980 I went to work in Algeria, and we used heat pumps a lot to remove the heat from our accomodation.
In the main they were a box on the side of the cabins, so if one failed one could slide one out and another in reasonably easy.
So could reverse the motor so used the heat pump for cooling and heating, others used a simple element when used for heating.
The main cause of failure was icing up. Yes sharia desert and freezing up, we would put on heat for a short time to de-ice.
This is easy enough when you can see the unit, but when the bit which freezes is not in plain view, one is often unaware of why not working.
There is no reason why a heat pump needs to be electric, we had the on trucks run on 35 sec gas oil, but these do not seem to be sold for domestic.
The main problem is the cool side will extract mosture out of the air, so needs to have some drain, and method to stop freezing. Once air is below freezing point it becomes dry, so the problem is when near to freezing point, so mainland Europe where it is below freezing for a long time it can work OK, but in the UK we are in that in between so there will always be a freezing problem.
Clearly we have frost free freezers, where it cycles on a regular basis on to heat to de-frost, but there is a limit.
I do fancy a heat pump, as this time of year the house can get too warm, but that means fan assisted radiators, and condensate pumps, most the heat pumps only work one way, so not really suitable if we have global warming, it would be rather short sighted not to have them also cool the home if designed ready for global warming.
But oil boilers typically last around 25 years, or more, so likely I will be dead and gone before we need to replace the boiler.
I heard a British Gas advert today - banging on about how wonderful heat pumps are, how they'll keep you at a comfortable temperature (and they even had the gall to guarantee that statement - or your money back!).....
BUT..... they claimed energy savings of (up to) £358 a year.... errrrr..... wow?
I've seen quotes for installation of those things that range from £8k to upwards of £15k and I suspect that those figures are conservative for most people. So your £358/year savings will mean a cost recuperation time of between 22 and 42 years.
And that doesn't take into account the prospect of further energy price increases - said to be happening this winter.
Lots of instant heat pump experts all over the net. Very few either have real world experience or know what they ae talking about.
Heat pumps can be made to work in any building. How well they work depends on many factors.
If you have access to mains gas the real world saving with an ASHP are small.
If off grid there is a decent saving to be made against oil and a bigger saving to make vs LPG
If you throw solar PV and batteries into the mix it totally changes things but for a large initial investment.
Solar thermal is out of fashion but works really well for hot water.
One of the most interesting areas is in hybrids but sadly the English gov doesn't allow them to qualify for the current 5K grant although Scotland does
Razor wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 6:14 pm
Solar thermal is out of fashion but works really well for hot water.
Severely under-rated imho. There are a few properties around me that have a couple of panels although I don't know the owners so can't get first hand feedback from them. A closer neighbour - someone we know well - has just had a hybrid system installed in place of an oil fired heating system. ASHP and solar plus home insulation.
I'm a bit suspicious of the circumstance surrounding this install though as she's a vulnerable pensioner and, I reckon, might have been 'talked into it'. Time will tell and I can only hope she had the opportunity to take advantage of all the subsidies such vulnerable people are entitled to.
Razor wrote: ↑Fri Aug 18, 2023 6:14 pm
Lots of instant heat pump experts all over the net. Very few either have real world experience or know what they ae talking about.
Yep, difficult to get the whole picture but there are a couple on the tube that seem legit. Reckon it boils down to either very modern or new builds that can properly benefit but it's going to be a difficult 'sell' for most properties. With the ever-increasing cost of 'lecky too it's got to be one of the most difficult sales pitches out there!
