Modern oil boiler vs ground source heat pump?

[Mkc]

Hi,

Just looking to get some opinions on this. My house is still running the original oil boiler (myson velaire) from 1998 when it was built and with the costs at the moment i think it makes sense to change it for better efficiency. The house is about 4500 square feet, in the middle of nowhere and plenty of room for a ground source heat pump install if thats a sensible idea. There’s wet ufh downstairs and radiators in 2 bedrooms upstairs, it’s fairly well insulated also yet we’re using over 5000 litres of oil a year just keeping things around 18 degrees. I’ve got a solar install booked for the summer which might also influence things.

Should i just go for a new boiler for the extra 30% efficiency or is a heat pump capable of heating a larger house and worthwhile? I feel like the first option is the right one but is there any argument at all for the heat pump? It seems like there’s a lot of horror stories where it’s not capable of heating homes in the winter.

Thanks

[aeromech3]

You are talking ground source? My daughter lives in Switzerland, close to Lake Leman, they had a large house built and had a deep bore hole drilled which I think might have been mandatory; they have a small solar panel which I told them was too small at about 2sq mtr; the basement looks like a ships boiler room, I looked at the temperature gained by the bore well pumping, it was less than 1*C, there also must be losses to transfer this to the under floor circulation system, but unlike air pumps, the ground temperature should be constant and enough to warm a house in winter.
There must be a lot of geological info to justify such a costly system (local hot water springs being one).

[Neelix]

Are you talking about water solar or electric solar?

I have a cousin in Scotland who has ground source and they also have a boiler to boost the temperature when its too cold for the GS pump to heat the house

[Someone-Else]

I don't know about ground source heat pumps, but I have seen a bloke who seems to know what he is talking about in respect of air source heat pumps,

[dewaltdisney]

Have you considered an LPG fired boiler?

DWD

[Mkc]

You are talking ground source? My daughter lives in Switzerland, close to Lake Leman, they had a large house built and had a deep bore hole drilled which I think might have been mandatory; they have a small solar panel which I told them was too small at about 2sq mtr; the basement looks like a ships boiler room, I looked at the temperature gained by the bore well pumping, it was less than 1*C, there also must be losses to transfer this to the under floor circulation system, but unlike air pumps, the ground temperature should be constant and enough to warm a house in winter.
There must be a lot of geological info to justify such a costly system (local hot water springs being one).

Yea ground source. Unfortunately i think there’s a few feet of earth around me followed by a lot of solid rock so i think it would have to be horizontal ground source. But that raises another question, if that is deep enough and is rock a problem with efficiency. What you’ve described sounds great but possible very expensive. I guess it’sa more mature technology in mainland Europe, I’m not seeing a lot of specialists near me.

[Mkc]

Are you talking about water solar or electric solar?

I have a cousin in Scotland who has ground source and they also have a boiler to boost the temperature when its too cold for the GS pump to heat the house

Electric solar. This sounds like a good overall solution, any idea what the installation costs / savings look like for them?

[Mkc]

I don't know about ground source heat pumps, but I have seen a bloke who seems to know what he is talking about in respect of air source heat pumps,

[youtube]<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEH_P7b4ICo</span>[/youtube]

I actually do watch this guy and i think I’ve seen this video. Also think I’ve seen him fixing frozen air source heat pumps recently. He’s obviously very bright but i get the impression he under engineers things at times when I’ve seen him discuss larger homes. Maybe under engineer isn’t the right term but he’s critical of systems that seem over the top.

[Mkc]

Have you considered an LPG fired boiler?

DWD

I have not, I’ll check this out. Thanks for the suggestion

[dewaltdisney]

This is worth a look https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/oil-verses-lpg LPG is not a panacea for your problem but I think that it might suit on balance.

DWD

[Someone-Else]

Electric solar. This sounds like a good overall solution

Doesn't matter what another person saves with solar, they don't live where you are.

Things to consider with solar:
What direction does your roof face?
How much actual roof space have you got? (Dips, curves, etc can't have solar panels) A perfectly pitched roof facing the right direction is best
How much electricity do you use/day
Are you aware solar does not work too well in winter (Doesn't work at all at night, some folk genuinely forget)
Do you have any trees or neighbours near by (Shadows from trees/other buildings must also be considered)
Have you space to mount everything else? Inverter, isolators, battery? cables
Scaffolding will need to be used.

[Neelix]

I doubt you’ll get enough generation in the winter to make a dent in your electric heating bills. In the summer things will be very different, but you won’t need heating