Heat pumps are a type of heating system that transfer heat between the interior and outside air. They work similarly to air conditioners, with an indoor coil and an outdoor coil. In cooling mode, heat pumps absorb heat from the interior of the house and move it outdoors. They share most of the same parts as air conditioners, such as an indoor coil and an outdoor coil.
In winter, heat pumps remove heat from the outside and dump it outside, making the outdoors the load side. In winter, they source heat from the outside and supply the home, making the house the load side. There are various types of heat pumps, including air-source heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps, and air-to-water heat pumps.
The most common type of heat pump is the air-source heat pump, which can reduce electricity use for heating by approximately 65 percent. In cold weather, heat pumps can move heat from the cool outdoors to warm a house, while in warm weather, they can move heat from the house to the warmer outdoors. In winter, the heat pump finds enough heat in the atmosphere to heat the home, even in sub-zero temperatures.
Heat pumps do not intake outside air but extract thermal energy from that air and move it inside via a compressor and refrigerant. In cooling mode, heat pumps absorb heat inside the home and release it outdoors. In heating mode, the heat pump absorbs heat from the ground or outside air.
Heat pumps are available in a wide range of options, including indoor unit types, sizes, outdoor unit types, mounts, and design options. The outdoor unit provides the heat to the home, and the outside heat pump compartment should be located near the interior one due to their connection through refrigerant lines.
📹 2 years living with a heat pump – any regrets?
In this video I think through the costs of living with a heat pump, give a real life example of a normal home with a low carbon …
What is an indoor heat pump?
Heat pumps are energy-efficient alternatives to furnaces and air conditioners, transferring heat from cool to warm spaces. Innovations like two-speed compressors are improving their performance, allowing heat pumps to operate close to the required capacity at any outdoor temperature, saving energy and reducing compressor wear. These pumps also work well with zone control systems, which use automatic dampers to maintain different room temperatures in larger homes. Overall, heat pumps offer a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional heating and cooling systems.
Do heat pumps bring outside air inside?
The air conditioner does not take in outside air, but rather moves unwanted heat out of the home. It operates through a heat pump, which pumps hot air outside in the summer and inside in the winter. The compressor, or compressor, captures and releases this heat using a special fluid, refrigerant, enclosed in a closed metal loop. The refrigeration cycle, which involves a series of changes in temperature, pressure, and state (liquid/vapor), helps keep the air cool. The process of the refrigeration cycle has four stages:
- The compressor sucks warm air out of the home, removing it outside with the help of a special fluid, refrigerant. This process helps maintain the temperature, pressure, and state of the air, ensuring the comfort of the home.
At what outside temperature does a heat pump stop working?
Heat pumps’ efficiency depends on the model and can only function at 100 percent efficiency until the outside temperature reaches 40° F. However, they become less effective at temperatures between 20° F to 30° F, using more energy and not heating your home as efficiently. Brands like Mitsubishi are working on improving efficiency below 30° F. Some heat pumps, like Mitsubishi H2i heat pumps, can work below freezing using Hyper-Heat INVERTER technology, which uses Hyper-Heat INVERTER technology. These systems are ideal for those looking for a new HVAC system installation quote.
Do heat pumps work indoors?
The choice of the ideal heat pump depends on the energy source and installation site options. While brine-to-water and water-to-water heat pumps must be installed outdoors, air-to-water heat pumps can be operated indoors. Heat pumps are efficient, environmentally friendly, and renewable energy sources that can use ambient air, groundwater, or geothermal heat. They are popular among consumers, with 45. 8% of new building owners in Germany choosing to install a heat pump in 2020 and over half of house builders in 2021 favoring them over other heating systems.
Heat pumps work on the same principle as a kitchen fridge, drawing thermal energy from one side and discharging it on the other side. In a heat pump, the thermal energy from the preferred source (air, water, or geothermal) is routed directly into the building’s heating system. A refrigerant circulates in the heat pump, absorbing the heat from the energy source and causing it to vaporize.
Can heat pumps be put indoors?
Modern heat pumps are highly efficient in both indoor and outdoor installation. Indoor installation is more cost-effective and is becoming increasingly popular in new buildings due to the flexibility it offers in planning. The installation of a heat pump in an outdoor setting is a more straightforward process when applied to existing buildings, as it does not necessitate the allocation of additional installation space. To identify a qualified WOLF heating engineer in your area, please contact the company directly.
What is the difference between indoor and outdoor AC units?
An air conditioner consists of two units: indoor and outdoor units, known as split units. The indoor unit is typically mounted on a wall, while the outdoor unit is either on an exterior wall or placed at ground level. The outdoor unit extracts or emits heat from or into the ambient air, while the indoor unit transfers the heat or cold into the room. Portable air conditioners, where one indoor unit houses all components, are available but are less efficient, bulkier, and noisier. The type of air conditioner needed depends on the space and existing equipment.
How does outside temperature affect a heat pump?
Atlanta winters are generally mild, allowing heat pumps to operate efficiently. However, when outdoor temperatures drop below 25-40 degrees Fahrenheit, heat pumps lose efficiency and consume more energy. They work best when temperatures are above 40 degrees. When temperatures drop to 25-30 degrees, heat pumps lose their spot as the most efficient heating option for Atlanta homes. Even at 25 degrees, heat pumps still run, but they require more energy due to insufficient heat energy in the outdoor air.
To heat when temperatures are low, many Atlanta homeowners turn to backup heating systems, which are installed to provide warmth during periods where heat pumps do not offer optimal energy efficiency.
Does a heat pump require an indoor unit?
A heat pump is an energy-efficient heating system that moves heat from one place to another, unlike furnaces and boilers that primarily burn fuel. They only require electricity to operate and consume no other fuel. The system operates through indoor and outdoor units connected by a conduit with power and refrigerant lines. The refrigerant line is connected to a coil in each unit, which is vital for the entire system’s operation. When the heat is turned on, the outdoor unit evaporates the refrigerant in its coil, turning it into a heat sink.
The refrigerant gas then carries the heat to the indoor unit, which converts the refrigerant back into a liquid, releasing the heat to warm the home’s air. The outdoor unit is responsible for providing the heat to the home, making the heat pump a fan rather than a traditional heating system.
Do heat pumps need to be installed outside?
The VBA has identified a compliance issue with the installation of heat pump water heaters below covered clearances. These heaters should be installed in well-ventilated areas, away from bedrooms, and in areas that won’t disturb neighbors. They should also be avoided near mineral oils, paints, flammables, high salt levels, and corrosive environments. Installers can use Solar Victoria’s hot water audit checklist and Australian Standards to improve their understanding of compliance standards.
What is the difference between an indoor heat pump and an outdoor heat pump?
The most prevalent types of heat pumps are ground-source and air-source models. Ground-source units utilize heat from the ground below the frost line, while air-source units draw heat from the indoor air.
Will a heat pump work without the outside unit?
ETHERMA has introduced the FIRE+ICE heat pump, which allows for heating and cooling without an outdoor unit. This model has a maximum efficiency of 3. 28, meaning that with 1 kW of power, it can produce 3. 28 COP values. The COP value, or Coefficient of Performance, indicates the efficiency of a heat pump. The FIRE+ICE heat pump is easy to install, as it only needs to be placed on the outside wall due to drilled holes. The device can be hung, connected, and used to heat or cool the room. This makes it a cost-effective and efficient solution for heating and cooling rooms without the need for an outdoor unit.
📹 Should I get a Gas Furnace or Heat Pump System? (…in about a minute)
If you’re asking yourself right now, Should I get a Gas Furnace or Heat Pump System, it will depend on a couple things. Watch this …
Those differences are so marginal. The payback time is the issue. Even with the grant, acquisition and conversion costs can be very expensive. It’s the same with solar panels because of the significant outlay initially. Not everyone can afford that. It’s the same forcing people into EVs. Not everyone can afford them. We need proper government policies to address these inequalities. Reducing your carbon footprint is a privilege many can’t afford. P.S. I still admire your principles and what you’ve done with your lovely Victorian property.
What temperature do you have in the house though? Due to an elderly family member’s health condition, we can’t turn down the thermostat in our house. It’s at a minimum of 22 Celsius. And my costs with a latest model efficient gas boiler were the same as yours in my 3 bed semi with solid walls (no cavity wall).
Hi I have a brand new gas boiler in old stone cottage I have been offered a 12kw samsung ashp plus insulation and 6 solar panels for free due to benefits, am wondering what to do? Gas boiler is LPG tanked due to living in the sticks I am on top of a hill I already have new radiators. I am really worried about costs of ashp as I have heard horror stories about cost to run. This is an energy scheme so i have no choice in brand etc.. advice needed pls
simple question, what kind of temperature do you get with your water and central heating when the weather was -3 degrees few months back? Did it heat your home to 21/22 degrees for as long as you needed it ? Because I read a few people saying theirs one struggled and was at 16/17 degrees. I am planning to get a heat pump and would like to hear some real life experiences.
How long will it take to recoup the cost of installation? Oh, you said it later on. I have a modern gas boiler very efficient. I just try to use it less and heat individual rooms with interesting vintage electric fires. They are probably not so efficient but they look fantastic (like space ships) and being fully electric I can subscribe to green energy and possibly solar panels. A heat pump works for you but I don’t have space for the tanks and pipework required, that’s why I got rid of my old boiler and water tank.
I have 12 solar panels and 6.5kw battery which when full my zappi car charger puts excess into the car that sits there most of the time However based in southern spain. Its ran 10 years without fault does all hot water and powers 4 Misubishi hot cold inverter air con units in the winter. Pretty much off grid. Why not the hot and cool aircon units popular in the u.k. indivually to replace £1000 and annual service £80
I’m getting my airex smart airbrick installed soon, and then will get quotes for a heat pump. Hopefully by reducing heat loss I won’t have to upgrade the pipes. Happy to get larger radiators to heat the house more effectively but don’t want to ruin my flooring by changing all the pipes. Might have to anyway 🤷 Looking forward to getting rid of gas. I suspect my usage might be similar to yours, similar property type in Whitley Bay with similar gas use per year, so hopefully get similarly great results.
My mates put one in 12 years ago he was very keen all going well for the first three years then air flow pump failed and he needed a new one 6 1/2 thousand pounds. That one also failed, just under three years old, but was still in warranty, so he had another new one. he and his wife are 75 years of age and they can take up to 5 to 6 weeks to replace his nervous about this one breaking down and is thinking about a back up gas boiler. to be honest, it’s put me right off!
The key words, conveniently omitted when stating gas boiler efficiency is ” when in condensing mode”. Just like heat pumps this figure is continually variable and dependent upon many factors. The stated efficiency of gas boilers is based upon the best performance parameters possible, WHEN THE BOILER IS IN CONDENSING MODE. The parameter that determines the maximum efficiency is that the return water temperature is required to be less than 54 degrees Celsius, as condensing will only occur when a change of state (of the exhaust flue gasses in this case) occur. The state of change for maximum effeciency is from a gas to a liquid when the flue gasses are at “dew point”, around 30 degrees centigrade (variable). At this state change, the latent heat contained within the exhaust flue gasses is extracted, thus increasing efficiency as more heat is extracted from the volume of gas burned. So, as this efficiency can only be achieved whilst these parameters are in place, the additional metric to consider on how efficient a gas boiler is, is the length of time that the boiler is in this actually operating in this magical “condensing mode”. This is extremely complex to accurately determine but what is certain, is that a gas boiler will NEVER be in condensing mode 100% of the time it is in use. Firstly, Combi boilers do not condense in hot water mode. They produce hot water “on demand” and will heat the incoming mains water to around 60 degrees centigrade, so will not be condensing. When providing heating via radiators the boiler will not be at its quoted efficiency for the whole time that it is providing heating.
A tip if you have the space: When you have electricity prices tied to time, like hourly prices (i have that here in Sweden), then you should install large water tanks. A bit depending of the size and heat need but think at least one cubic meter. Then a pump that is connected and knows the prices per time unit. This makes it possible to heat a lot of water when it is cheap, and then use that hot water to heat the home during the rest of the period. Often it is cheaper during night as an example, and then it will run like hell during that time, and then shut off during expensive day time. To refine even more, you could tie it to weather forecast and outside temperature to find the sweep spot where the outside temperature makes it more beneficial to run since is is more efficient in high temperatures compared to cheap electricity price. This is just basic math so really not difficult at all although manufacturer have not stepped into this game yet, so you have to build it yourself. Basing on electricity prices, here there are available solutions already.
Nice, but the cost of installation far outstrips the savings to be made a couple of hundred quid a year will take 15 years to recoup £3000 assuming the installation is £8000 and the government grant of £5000 is used. We have solar and a small 5Kw battery (no grants, no government help) making most of our power during the summer months here in Halifax, enough to run our home washing machine, dryer, ninja (we rarely use the oven now) plus top off the car and house battery. Both battery and car are charged again on Octopus cheap rate at night assuming they need any power top-up. I wish we could afford a heat pump to get rid of the gas supply but the savings are not good enough to justify this and being retired means a fixed income with nothing left over to invest in the equipment. It would make more sense to increase our battery storage from 5Kw to 10 Kw so we don’t need to top up overnight in the summer months. If governments were really interested in decarbonising the UK they would offer 70% grants and 30% low cost loans to cover both solar and heat pump installations for homes and offices but as we all know political parties of most colours are funded primarily by the oil and big business so we will continue to see lavish grants for oil exploration and power plants which no-one wants with a few lip service offerings towards going green. We live at a time when political manoeuvring and point scoring is more important than doing the right thing. It’s all about staying in power rather than doing the jobs we pay our political masters in parliament to do.
The take away for me is how badly do you want to jump onto this global warming bandwagon. Initial capital outlay is considerable, even if you can afford it, you are not saving money Tom, that’s disingenuous, it’s cost you (net) about £6k to save £200 a year on your bill 🤷♂. That makes no sense financially. Fundamentally in the UK we contribute next to nothing towards the global emissions (less than 1%). The CO2 saving is again almost irrelevant. If you fly or take a holiday abroad annually especially more than once that ‘saving’ will be as good as wiped out anyway. ‘Green’ electricity is misleading, it’s a con, wind turbines cannot be recycled (landfill), solar panels (landfill). If this does become mandatory I do fear cowboy installers will pop up like weeds and wreak havoc up & down the country with badly installed systems that just don’t work. This happened before with the cavity wall scammers some 10 years or so ago. Caveat emptor.
It’s well worth spending the money or having grants from the government to install more efficient insulation than this. If you live in a smaller house or flat, there’s no way there’s gonna be enough space to install all that stuff. Maybe when all the large components are reduced in size similar to how gas boilers did, then it’s likely off the table for many. I’ve seen some of the tanks that air source heat pumps use and they’re as big as the old airing cupboard tank we once had, it’s ridiculous…
Wow…please tell me that I have misunderstood you. “A simple pay-back just doen’t make sense”? “investing in our homes for more than money”? How do you think that lands with the vast majority of people who can’t afford the outlay for an EV, heat pump/radiator conversion or solar panels? You are very enthustiastic about fractional annual savings…which obviously aren’t ‘net savings’ – Are you making money from presenting this point of view (in any shape or form)? I think that all but a tiny % of everyday people buy a house to be a home, rather than being driven by greed. To know whether you may need to move within the next twenty or even ten years can be incredibly hard to predcit, particularly for young familes and it’s impossible for pretty much everyone over 60. For those affluent enough to draw comfort that they are making the right kind of gesture to the world, even if that comes with financial self-sacrifice, good on them, but in reality, in the tension between ideolgically driven heating solutions v personal/family financial survival, there is only one winner. I was looking for a ‘reality check’ vid but this feels more ‘sales’. Sorry.
Don’t forget the cost associated with installing a heat pump vs gas boiler. Same with solar and batteries, the energy isn’t ‘free’. You pay for it when you pay for the installation and should calculate the payback period or cost/kWh over the lifespan for it. I don’t know which subsidies are in place where you are at but it would be interesting to me to know the payback period for the installation. Nonetheless good explanation and heat pumps are the way to go.
Terraced house… 50% less external walls! 3 of our neighbours across the road jumped on the heat pump bandwagon (detached, 1930, no insulation) and are now fuming after freezing their behinds off last 2 winters. They are all now insulating their houses. Insulate your house first, external walls, underfloor, loft! Effectiveness before efficiency. The most efficient energy tarrif is the one you don’t have to pay.
The average heat pump installation after subsidy is £10,000. You say you are saving £200 per year on your heating costs, which means the payback time on your investment is 50 years! Unfortunately over that 50 years you will need 1.5 more heat pumps (they last up to 20 years). So now your capital outlay is 25,000 which means your payback time is 125 years. Can you see where this is going? I presume you had a new pressurised hot water boiler installed, well you have to don’t you? Your air pump can only heat water to around 55 degrees! I estimate the cost of that including pipework & fitting to be £5000. Now being generous, lets say you need two of these over the 50 years then that’s £10,000, another 50 years of payback time. Which means a total of 175 years of savings to pay back your capitol costs, Oh dear! In those 175 years your going to need another 8.75 heat pumps and 7 boilers. Now, you should of course have upgraded your radiators & pipework, you should have installed comprehensive insulation which would have cost another 10,000 minimum, which means your payback time is now 225 years !!!!! By the way, what room temperatures are you achieving ? I suspect around 19 degrees, no good for the older end, young children or even most people in mid winter. I could of course calculate the cost of 4 boilers over 50 years at £1500 each plus the extra £200 extra running costs – 6000 + 10,000 = 16,000. If I take that away that reduces your payback time by 80 years, down to 145 years which means you’ve spent £29,000 more than you needed to.
My view is. Even if they were fantastic. The national grid is factually totally incapable of supplying the Gigawatts to run every house on electricty. You Can’t do away with gas boilers to lower the national carbon footprint unless you cook electric and drive an EV. The BBC estimated with the current take up rate to convert every house will take 400 years.
Well done. I’m just waiting for Radiators to be delivered, and then the ASHP will be installed by Octopus. It’s Phase 4 of our personal decarbonisation journey – 1. Solar PV, 2. EV, 3. Home Battery – and I’m really looking forward to pulling the plug on Gas… Yes, in pure financial ROI, it’s marginal, but there’s a better picture and a moral obligation on these that can, and should.
It looks like solar panels are better than a heat pump. I would wait for the battery technology until it gets safer (newer technology FPS battery). There will be much less chance of a fire with the new ferrous batteries that will soon come out. They will also last about twice as long and be a little cheaper. They will take up a little extra space though.
I’ve just been on a podcast with a very experienced plumber who has just given out his experience with these heat pumps and he pretty much given them a roasting regarding pretty much in every aspect,he says that heat that is generated isn’t giving the warmth inside the house as a modern gas boiler and as for solar panels it takes a minimum of 16 years to get a return on a household financial outlay and after their guarantee runs out how expensive they are to repair that they try and persuade people to install new panels so the costs are never ending as for moving away from coal that’s a falicy,just because the coal mines are shut doesn’t mean that we aren’t consuming coal we are just importing it and in the transport of bringing that coal to Britain means you are emailing more co2 into the air not less
Solar panels are useless during the winter. In sept I get 2kw per day from a 4kw array with a 10kw battery, I am able to charge at night rates and use during the day. Heat pump would be useless in my house, it is a 1960’s house, it has underfloor ventilation and the house is like a wind tunnel. It would never be able to warm the house up.
Alot of rumours about Scotland getting forced to buy a heat pump for new builds and houses for sale. Under a new legislation So expect alot of site traffic from up north, Im also curious about how you heat your water for baths and general cleaning of dishes. Is the heat pump similar to a combi both open for hot water & closed for heating Or is this only for heating and you have an alternative gas/ electric boiler or even a quooker Just asking for curiosity sake My flat is so small and airtight, I dont need heating over the winter. (My old plasma tv is pretty warm) And I only use Gas for showers, but pay more for pipe rental than cubic flow of gas ???
Great real time economic data! Thank you! Here in Canada some spend $2,500 for natural gas per winter. We invested in 3″ going to 4.5″ foam in the perimeter walls and 2″ in the basement and floor. We then used our tiny wood stove daily so our electricity was $224 in Jan and $194 in Feb 2024. Next year we are getting a $15,000 air sourced heat pump and year after solar PV along the fence.
Great article and it’s good to see numbers on a more typical potentially less insulated house. You’re right, it’s not all about cost it’s mainly about carbon. Although I still do see the cost argument. If I spend 10k on solar panels and that saves say £500year I do not fully agree with the payback period of say 20Years as it does not consider that even the simple interest on £10k of savings would save around £450/year, so the “additional” saving above this £450 is quite negligible. . . . something always conveniently omitted from “payback time” calculations unfortunately.
And the cost of installing a gas boiler v heat pump ? this must be taken into account when calculating your overall costs over a two year period ! it’s fine if you can afford to buy such an expensive system, but to exclude that extra cost from your calculations is disingenuous and clearly shows you are determined to show that your expense is justified, for the ordinary worker that cost of £6,000 means taking out a loan or increasing the mortgage, either way this has to be calculated into the final costings !
The moral of the story is keep your Gas boiler and save money over very expensive heat pump, after all most electricity is generated with Gas in the first place, Coal, Oil etc. So heat pump makes no sense from an environmental view, unless you got an expensive solar array but then again in Winter that’s not much use unless you can export a lot of excess in Summer to the Grid and buy back. I chose another route, Klover pellet boiler stove, delighted with it. I live in an inefficient bungalow and it was by far the cheapest option compared to spending a fortune on insulation and air tightness necessary to justify a heat pump. I get the pellets from a local saw mill here in Ireland which tell me the U.K is their largest market for pellets. The greatest thing about the pellet stove is that the house is much warmer than you’d find the average house with a heat pump.
Well done, you’ve pretty much done the largest domestic carbon reduction in one hit. Next big £ saving you’ll make is with a battery; add solar at the same time and you’ll prob save on VAT. We’ve got a similar system to @evmanuk Started with EV 1st, then solar and battery naturally thinking free miles 😅, after that it was full external insulation & an ASHP. Got rid of the gas meter and the battery covers about 70% of our peak winter heating. We only draw a small amount during the day for a few weeks of the year once the battery has been used. All charged from off peak GO. Well under 3p/kWh of heat in the past winter.
i am moving into a new bungalow that has a heat pump, with this large thing outside and a hug boiler like thing inside, the large boiler thing seems to have a screen which says 30. I have turned all the radiators to frost as not moved in yet, and turned the therostat down yet the screen on this boiler still says 30 in fact it has gone up from 22 to 30. the housing association told me it was better to keep it running and there was no need to alter anything apart from the thermostat, but i am concerned about this 30 degrees or whatever it is. I wonder if i should switch it off but concerned i might break it or it doesnt come back on?? I am nearly 77 and just concerned that the heat on is going to cost a fortune.
There are plenty of heat pump installations in the UK that don’t work well. That’s because they have been installed by clowns so they will probably never work correctly and produce a reasonable COP. When my current gas boiler is out of warranty I plan to have it replaced with a heat pump and I will make sure that I use a Heat Geek trained installer. In my 25 year old house I should get a pretty good COP and be able to do my bit to try and reduce our carbon footprint.
I’ve just been quoted £1100 by octopus to install ASHP system, in 4bed/4storey semi detached house. We have an EV, currently on the octupus intelligent tariff. no solar or battery storage… Work from home most of the time. Is it worth making the switch at this price? House is 4 yrs old, well built as part of a small development of 6 houses and well insulated. Is it likely to add to the value of the house of put off prospective buyers?
DUDE!!! I didn’t know your hometown was Southport? Mike Simon commissioned our Heat pump installation. I live in Crosby now, but are used to live in Southport near the football ground on Forest Road. I am more than happy with our heat pump. I ended up installing all my own solar PV and home battery, saves me an absolute fortune!!
They are too expensive…… £7899 pounds to save you £186 a year thats over 12 years before it pays for itself… I will stick with my Aga Cooker that runs on wood and Wood chip blocks, It heats my 6 bedroom home and Water with a Back boiler, We buy wood from a tree surgeon and waste wood and wood chips and sawdust from a Lumber yard, It costs us £145 a Year in wood that way, also we go out and collect waste and dead wood from woodland etc, DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE AROUND HEAT PUMPS … Most heat pump manufacturers are owned by electricity companies… Also the parts and Labour to make one of these pumps in a factory works out at £80 a Pump, Thats a massive profit margin….
Hi Tom, my son installs solar systems and batteries, I know it will work! You can have an electric boiler to heat a cylinder and heating system I installed one. Our atmosphere contains 0.04% Co2 up from 0.03%. I don’t believe it’s all about CO2 with global warming, I am going all electric for me not for reducing emissions! We (uk) contribute 1% of the global emissions!! China can’t be stopped and I believe it could be a natural warming of the earth is at least part of the problem. And possibly weather manipulation if that could be believed??
You have not made a complete comparison in terms of total energy including the cost in money and emissions because you must calculate the cost in carbon and money of manufacture. I have electrorad heaters……much greater efficiency and CO2 efficiency than your system…use edf as supplier because they are carbon free power producers.
So easy to say what is. What the cost is… Now imagine, When everyone gets an electric car, heat pumps, and large trucks hauling everything as diesel trucks do now. Yes imagine the whole country is electrified. Now imaging the enormity of how much the electric grid will need to be expanded, how many solar panels will be needed and how many wind farms will have to be installed. The cost for that increase will be in the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS. who is going to pay for that? Does anyone who has any sence could they possibly think that electricity cost will remain that low. You will be find the biggest surprise in all the years you have been alive. The next problem: In Canada There 8760 Hours in a year. There are: 13,708 total hrs of sunshine. This equals: 9.42 average of full sunlight hrs per day. We know a day has 24 hours. But solar panels don’t produce electricity without the sunshine. 1,214 watts is needed per average home per day. That mean for 13 hours of your day you get no heat. you don’t run your heat pump, you don’t charge your EV. No television, cooking, air conditioning, No lights after 4 pm in the day. Unless you also have a giant battery that you can convert it’s power to AC power. It will also take another 3 to 5 hours of your solar panels to recharge that gian’t battery. This is just a fraction of what is coming. Good luck with that.
Dear Tom, thanks for your presentation, very well argued. I have a three four, four-bed mid terrace, Victorian. Can I ask your opinion, please? I have been offered (free to me) the following: solar roof panels, all new rads, inner wall and loft insulation, air source heat pump (and giant water tank). The current gas heating is very effective and can warm the place from cold in ten minutes. Do you think there is any reason not to accept this grant-offer? Thanks for any thought. Best wishes, John D. I am not influenced by the ‘decarbonising’ argument in any way.
Sorry like..but I can think of waaaay better things to spend tens of thousands of pounds…mortgage, new car, food..it must be lovely to have so much disposable income to waste on saving a poxy 1-200 quid a year..could’ve made a hell of a lot more than that by investing it. Playing along with this CO2 reduction bullshit is a prime example of being brainwashed into compliance.
I understand your comparison between a gas boiler and a heat pump but to save only 53 pence per day is certainly not a good return for the heat pump installation which must have cost about £12,000 so all the talk of COP efficiency is pointless. You did not mention the inflexibility of a heat pump in Autumn when the days are comfortably warm but at night you need heat. Not possible with a HP but easy to turn on at 70 degrees for a couple of hours. Having a gas boiler AND a heat pump makes sense but to qualify for a grant the boiler MUST be removed. Sheer madness.
To run the heat pump tales 12000kwhrs, if you have no solar panels, that is exactly the same price as your gas bill would be for the same heat output. As of today a heat pumps are a big investment but with no financial return. But we save tons of CO2! you say. Only if you disregard the CO2 created when a gas fired power station produces your 12000kwhrs of electricity. According to government sites and Heat Pump sites, there is no financial advantage or green advantage today, you are doing it in the hope that in the future electricity will come from CO2 free sources.
What I don’t understand is, what is the average temperature in the rooms, are they too warm, slightly warm or is there a chill in the room. Also, do these heat pumps run 24 hours because your figures make no sense to me if you are only running the pump for let’s say 12 hours a day. We live in a 1930 detached property, the roof and walls are insulated, we have double glazing, a modern gas boiler and 17 radiators with individual control valves. In the depths of winter we run the boiler for 1 hour in the morning and and about 5 hours in the evening. Of course the temperature drops throughout the day but not to an unbearable level, nothing a knitted jumper can’t resolve. We want to consider installing a heat pump but I would hate it if it left the room barely warm and costing more to run than our current setup. The interest for me is having heat 24 hours but at what cost. So many questions….
For me its not about immediate outlay of cost. Its about purchasing things that when i retire means my pension money goes further and i am not held to ransome by world events. For me its a toss up between investing in the market and getting some extra income or investing in my home so i have less to spend out a month so my ok pension goes further.
I understand about global warming problem but I have a relatively small gas combi boiler and do not have room not only for a water tank but also the huge external air source heat pump. Also my son takes a 20 minute shower after that i can also take a long shower and so can I and my other son. From what i understand and i admit i could be wrong but this would not be possible with a heat pump as it only heat up water in the tank. Once that has gone water has to be heated up using an immersion heater. If i am wrong please tell me.
Environment: If people are really wanting to contribute to reducing CO2 emissions, please leave to warmer place to avoid unnecessary artifical heating that consumes so much energy. Gas and burning wood is for poor to survive and it should be permitted at subsidy for poor people with family income of less than 50k.
If you’re with Octopus Energy they use renewable energy so no need to include emission costs. If you add the cost of the heat pump,the solar and battery pack it’ll cost around £15000 in comparison to a replacement gas boiler. Sounds like the government is making a he’ll of a profit somewhere. Thatcher should have done what Norway did, get the oil industry to drill out the oil but keep overall control thereby keeping the country’s heating and fuel costs down to a minimum instead of dumping it all on the people like this Tory government has done. This government has got its cronies to buy ppe and paid them millions for contaminated products from China which was burnt. Next came furlough payments that cost billions which Boris claimed was too difficult to get back, really!!!! Greed and how the rich get richer whilst the rest of us pay them for our poverty!
While you are getting some saving over a gas boiler you forget the higher capital cost of a installing a HP (even with a grant). So presuming both the boiler and a heat pump cost was paid via a (fixed term low cost green loan if thats possible) then the cost of the HP was a higher overall cost (yes over a set payback term). You can’t save on gas prices as its same cost 24/7 but there is potential as noted via tariffs for power use. There is some even more potential if you could use your EV car as the battery storage to feed back in peak power price times. I don’t know what you invested in putting in the HP outside the HP unit itself but I doubt all the rads would have needed to be changed in a (now standard) “high efficiency” gas boiler. I would also be very hesitant to presume even a modern combi boiler (the most bought type in the UK now) is operating at such high 95% efficiency. In most cases rads are not changed, rads are not flushed out, few add TRVs and many use the existing thermostat (presuming its not the dark ages one). Few are condensing well due to weak installs (not bad but weaker than possible potential). Even less get weather compensation (more common if not standard in HP installs). Your best bet now is to see what can be done to boost the heat retention in such a home without changing its classic design. External insulation, cavity insulation, attic insulation, triple-E windows and doors, heat retention air extractors, hot water tape aerators, higher efficiency water pumps, pipe insulation, draft excluders and as noted HP refinement.
I recently installed a heat pump and new high efficiency gas furnace in my Canadian home. This is the most efficient way to heat and cool a house. My cold weather heat pump can heat until -30 Celsius but I’ve read that the efficiency is greatly degraded. I am also getting solar panels installed so that will help as well. I should get a 0% interest loan from the government to finance my solar panels so, while it may cost me slightly more during the first five-ten years, once they are paid off in ten years I will save money on electricity!
One of the problems with rising fuel prices is the tendency of companies, of whatever size, to just put up prices and let the consumer pay more. The big companies that start out thinking of the share price and the dividends will look at the cost of savings and say “Oooh, that’s a lot of money and the shareholders won’t stand it” while your “white van men” will just say “it’s me overheads goin’ up, innit?” while thinking of their next holiday in Benidorm. Yeah, stereotypes, live with them. There’s a reason why stereotypes persist and it isn’t that they are inaccurate.
Last two years it’s been pretty warm. If you guys start getting colder that heat pump is gonna work a lot harder. As you start to move away from fossil fuels, then the price of renewable electricity is going to cost a whole lot more. The demand is going to be outrageous. Now you’re using electricity to heat your home to run appliances and to charge your car. Supply and demand there will be brown outs. So far you’ve been lucky with warm winters. All good things must come to an end. Or if you believe in global warming, then your air-conditioning demands are gonna be through the roof. You’re also looking at solar panels that we have a 15 to 20 year life span and need to be replaced. Wind turbines have a 20 year life expectancy. You need to put that in your calculations as well electricities coming from solar and wind you got a calculate how much concrete goes into the base of a turbine how much copper is smelted how much energy it takes to make turbine blades the steel nut bolt. Lots of moving parts. Were steam generated electricity is actually pretty efficient, newer technology, solar panels you got calculate how much it takes to melt quarts. How much silver how much copper all have to go into calculation of carbon footprint. And just remember the lifespan is only 20 years for most of these so in 20 years they need to be replaced.
Cost of electricity per unit has shot up. Better off sticking to a gas boiler. These heat pumps are expensive. Why do people want to fork out thousands of pounds? How long to get that money back? How much did this guy pay for an electric car? He’s got money for these things. He doesn’t seem to calculate the initial costs of purchasing these appliances into the equation.
Hi Tom, Love this article this is great to dispel the naysayers and FUD we are experiencing atm. I am a year behind you but to backup what you have found I did not freeze in Dec 22 !! Our stats were were Heating 2667kwh ==> 9682 kWh (sCOP = 3.64) DHW 532kWh==> 1270KWh(sCOP = 2.39). We also have solar but no battery so we used further 867kWh using Eddi diverter 68% of which was free ! Our average cost of electricity was 24.5 p/kWh as we used roughly 50% at night rate on GO Faster. One thing you could have factored into your article is not paying the gas standing charge so saving a further £129 on top of the usage charges . WE are now looking forward to Ripple 2 savings like you and considering the final step of a battery. Keep the articles coming . Thank you
Good informatove article, however, joe public is not interested in cost benefit calculations the bottom line is they are way too expensive and not suitable for the vast majority of UK housing stock. A new gas boiler costs a third of a new heat pump installation and thats without changing pipework and radiators! Yes they may be cheaper to run and more efficient-so what if they are still way over the cost of a new gas boiler!
Is the heating as good and fast as a boiler. What you haven’t mentioned is the installation cost which of course you have to regain. We have solar panels and we’ve had them 10 years and balancing the feed in tariff and the reduced electricity cost we have almost paid for them. The jury is out with the people two doors away because of the slowness of the response. Also they’ve had to add the cost of much larger radiators. We went from oil central heating (no gas in rural areas) to electricity and we are paying less. We did seriously consider a heat pump but the reviews were mixed especially around slow response in heating radiators whereas the electric is pretty instant. Bizarrely our aim has never been climate related because we aren’t convinced by the arguments and we will never be free of oil because of the vast number of derivatives from refined oil in terms of plastics etc. we will need to wait a while to replace all the huge number of old derivatives in our homes, clothes, gadgets, cars, etc.
reality check its a complex technology which in theory works but variable brit weather means efficiency varies better to stick what you have and insulate more .These systems are as reliable as a dodgy fridge which is how they work factor in grants and the scrappage of good infrastructure do not go there you have been warned it ends in tears 😢😢😢😢😢
I glad your pump is working for you – but just hearing that continual humming would drive me nuts if I was your neighbour – my neighbour is having one of these awful pumps fitted – and I think he’s got it facing our fence and house which is not one meter away as it should be – and if it continually makes that humming – it’s going to spoil me sitting in that shaded area of my garden – awful things – and mii in at people’s I see on here are even louder than your humming one – really inconsiderate to your neighbours I feel
Its not based exclusively on the technology. You’re not comparing apples with apples. The insulation of the structure determines the amount of heat loss and this determines the amount of power your heat pump needs to consume to combat heat loss. So the whole articles is comparing archetypal heating systems if all things are equal.
For ever since I can remember, electricity has been 3x the price of gas; with a CoP of 3 heat pumps usually break even if you not on a special tariff. Then SUDDENLY in July gas prices fell much more than electricity (at least here in E Mids), making electricity 4x gas prices. Any one know why? It makes heat pumps not so great, however we are still very likely to take the plunge.
The best is the same as running a gas boiler…..but that means you have to have faith in politicised pseudonclimate science and ignore the dabate about a so called “climate emergency”. Zealots currently have the ear if government but as we decline people will no longer accept zealotry over living standards
Have you taken into account the standing charge? Plus the installation costs of the air heat source pump? Excellent presentation but it’s clear to me you are pro electric just by your stats and the way you presented this. And the carbon stats pro electric people talk about are created by the government and anything the government says is a lie.
Your wrong about solar, the reason being panels generate most of their power during the warmer summer months. They will help but in the winter, but even when the suns out the panels produce about a quarter of their summer output, when clouds are about almost nothing. Much more important is to install a good sized battery 20 kWh that way you can avail of octopus’s cheap night rate electricity. Trust me I know as I’ve had solar and one Powerwall for the last 4 years. Now just had fitted a second Powerwall and soon a heatpump. Good luck on your journey 👍
I live near an old wallpaper factory and have heated my home by burning their old reject stuff for the past 7 years and it hasn’t cost me anything. I’ve also been generating about 4kWh of electricity daily using vinegar (bought in bulk), potato peelings and ferro-magnesium shavings that you can pick up for free at any iron mongers – it’s worth the effort if you have a bit of space and don’t mind the acidic smell.
This is all very interesting, however, is CO2 killing us? If so how? I need facts NOT projections. If, as a country we expend 1.2/1.4% of CO2, your contribution to that is ….well my computer is unable to find such a low number. If on the other hand, if you are doing it to reduce your cost, which has a direct effect on your life, then you MUST add in the cost of purchase, conversion and installation. Yes I understand that me, the tax payer, gives you that sub, but how long will it take you to recover that outlay against the savings. Your presentation is useless without this comparison! My estimate is 17 years?
I wouldn’t recommend them, they are the possibly the worst systems ever to be designed and to install, high maintenance, high cost, and will wear out and broke down periodically. My brother-in-Law is a licensed plumber and a lot of people call him to remove these dead systems and install an element electric water system instead which is quick and efficient. Also their efficiency level goes down day by day every time its used.
Sadly most people are still not aware of how much the CO2 narrative has burnt a hole in their brain. Do you know all the food and trees consume CO2. They even pump co2 into greenhouses to enhance the growth of the plants. While you have your heads tattooed in co2 to charge you more for everything they are laughing at you all the way to the bank. The batteries and windmills are a total farce. Wake up people the lies about co2 will go full circle and it being exposed daily. Crude oil is a natural resource. Carbon fiber blades are not. Do some critical thinking rather than just following their narrative
Hi Tom, thanks for your article, I have been reading and hearing conflicting views on heat pumps. I have been given a govt grant of heat pump and a radiator in every room. Ideally I would like to go ‘off grid’ with solar panels and a battery. Do you know what the cost of a battery would be? And do you know if there are any differences in battery type or solar panels please?
you should of got solar and stuck with an immersion tank or boiler lol . £194 pound saving !!! how much was pump and install. sorry tom,3800 kwh a yr !!!!!!!!!! which is why they package them with solar/ battery and insulation. u cant polish a turd but u can roll it in glitter. my 3 bed lge semi 3 adults £1400 yr gas and lecy which is virtually cancelled out via fit payments from solar installed 2011 . u could of spent 2k on wall insulation and saved £200 a year!. do the cheap stuff first. and where do you think your lecy comes from. embodied energy! 19 degrees is cold. 22 in my gaff.
Thank you for your article. We are just catching up in California. I’m looking at all the options. For a small house, I’m looking at window units. Reversible heat pumps that act as air conditioners in summer and bring in heat in winter. About twice the price of an air conditioner but would quickly recoup the cost in electric savings. My cousin is a green specialist, city planner, in Shropshire. She’d be impressed with your scheme.
Devils advocate here. 🙂 1. What cost was the installation of the heat pump? 2. Can a heat pump setup be suitable for apartment buildings or flats? 3. What evidence is there of Climate changes that are not cyclical? 4. What price would gas be if we hadn’t self-imposed restrictions on ourselves from global suppliers?
A great informative article, but it would be helpful to understand what average temperature do you have your Victorian house at during the Winter? How many hours do you have your heat pump heating your house during the winter? Instead of comparing the costs over the entire year… (you don’t have heating on during the Summer) what would your costs be over the Winter – Oct to April ? As we all know that this timescale is when the Electricity prices are at their most expensive… this I feel would be a more accurate reflection of a heat pump compared to gas boiler…
Tom still believes that CO2 is a bad thing. It isn’t. Find out what trees and plants require. CO2. They convert CO2 and sunlight to oxygen and growth. The higher the CO2, the faster and more substantial the growth. Therefore, we must conclude that reducing CO2 emission will only cause harm to trees and plants through slower growth. The Whole industry is designed to make money for investors at the cost to the consumer. It’s that simple.
Hi Tom great post, but I would like to see more about what temperature you keep you home at and how quickly you can heat a cold house to say 21deg C, same for the hot water, I use lots of hot water and would need a system that could heat a tank of water in 20 to 30 minutes. Is your system capable to do that 👍
We have a bill of £100 per month for electric only that gives us two rooms of LED lights and some iPads and a TV with a modem, Gas is only for the cooker rings and some instant hot water. We have NO heating from gas or electric only wood stoves that I cut dead trees into logs from my property. Without it we would freeze as we do not have enough money. This article is a propaganda exercise and does not cover the capital and interest cost it cost him to put the system in. We must keep paying the energy the profits the City demands, the extremely false wholesale prices are made up by the same companies to pay their dividends.
Hi Tom, a very interesting article and great to hear your getting on with your heat pump. I have pushed for the full setup of heat pump, solar PV and battery and I am getting very significant savings as you have mentioned. As I also have a electric car I am using the Octopus intelligent tariff and have been optimizing my energy use on appliances and when the heat pump heats the water tank i.e. timing the cheaper energy tariff over night and using solar during the day. What is also worth mentioning is that we don’t use gas for cooking so the gas was previously only for the boiler, so once we got a heat pump the house is gas free and I no longer needed a gas meter so I don’t get charged the standing fee for having a gas meter so that’s another saving there.
Hi Tom. Interested in how you actually run the heat pump. I’m out for most of the day so I would probably not have the heating on and therefore I would want to know how long it takes to heat the house from cold. The time this takes will likely to be longer with a heat pump vs a boiler due to the delta T.
£194 (I assume per year) cheaper to run…so how long will it take to break even between the extra cost of a heat pump install and a gas boiler? A brand new replacement gas voiler can come in as low as £1500 and is a days work, or usually less. The upfront costs for heat pumps are huge – even when the tax payer is picking up half the bill, it’s still much higher than a gas boiler and a lot of that is the labour involved. A heat pump means rerouting pipes to the outdoor unit, maybe upgrading radiators, installing a hot water tank (which lot sof peopel do not have, it;s why combi boilers are popular). And that’s an airsource – a ground source, which is more efficient, costs a heck of a lot more. I’d be VERY surprised if the lower heating bills break even with the higher install costs before the heat pump reaches the end of it;s service life and has to be replaced.
Tom you are a star, already an Octopus customer and loved there green package. Wife is just about to move in to a detached bungalow and asked me about heat pump – so you have helped me as I agree very mixed views. Normally when government scheme it’s not really good idea. Only thing I am trying to work out is summers are getting hotter and thinking air to air heat pump. Going to research
Hi Tom, Good to hear that your getting on well with your pump. We finally have ours installed, at the moment its only really being used to heat water, the engineer returns on Friday to finish commissioning the heating side of it. Ive learned loads since i last commented on one of your articles (legionella) and ive scrapped my cycle and dropped the water temp to 45… so im on your page now. (however im not recommending anyone else to do this… ;)) Ive installed 30KWh of batteries and a 8Kva inverter and solar comes next month. Im trying to work out if my battery bank is big enough or if i need more. What is your heat loss? our house sounds very similar to yours. And do you by any chance know what your highest daily use for the pump was. Im on Go charging up at night so all of my elastic trickery is at 9p for the entire day.
Hi, nice article. Unless I missed it you do not address the fact that heat pumps don’t last forever (Szymon of Urban Plumbers replaced a Danfoss HP that was only 13 years old (and I think of Danfoss as a good make); the YouTube article is `Unlocking Super Efficiency: Air Source Heat Pump Swap With Vaillant Arotherm’, life of the original HP is mentioned shortly after the beginning of the article). I was under the impression that Heat Pumps were more expensive than oil or gas boilers, am I incorrect? Of course boilers need replacing from time to time as well. My condensing gas boiler is 19 years old although it may well be on it’s last legs of course.
Thank you Tom. I am 18months in my heat pumps. We fully renovated a Georgian Iron Stone home with wall, roof insulation and new fenestrations replacing the old oil boiler with 2 x Stiebel Eltron 14kW air source heat pumps. Love it now I am comfortable with how they work and even though electricity bills are steep they still cost less than if I was using Oil like we used to do and we are warm. More importantly we are well into double digit Carbon tonnage reduction…
Assuming 2/3rd from Solar PV is over estimating by quite some margin, imho. The time that you require heating – October – March are the least performant in Solar PV Electricity generation and depending on you house occupancy can potentially further reduce any potential benefit. If you are a standard household at work during the day then you are likely only to use 1/6 (2 hours from 24) of any solar to heat your property. You will see some benefit using this to generate your hot water. Typically it is assumed that you use 80% Heating 20% Hot Water. So lets make some assumptions that you can generate all 20% of your annual hot water from Solar. That’s for certain a bankable saving. Depending on your Hot Water production Temp ‘C you may also have to consider the immersion element use – which is not typically included in the equation PLUS any Anti-Legionalla cycling necessary. The formula for this is X = (4.2 × Litres (in cylinder) × Temp Increase) ÷ 3600 x Energy Cost (£/kwh) x Weeks (or whatever). So for example 200litres need to be raised from 50’C to 60’C once per week for Anti-Legionella @ £0.35/kWh. Would give 4.2 x 200 x 10’C=8400÷ 3600=2.33kWh x £0.35=£0.82x52weeks=£42.47 per year. That’s to run an Anti-Legionella cycle one day per week. If your HW temp is lower than this and you need to boost it every cycle then you work this out for each time you would use your immersion heater.
Hey Tom, thank you for this article. I am about to start our heat pump journey. We have a 1900s stone house. We are having external wall insulation and bigger radiator and solar panels. Long term plan looks like trying to buy a battery to store energy to offset electric aswell. Thanks for giving me the confidence im making the right choice
Thank you. Really good info! 👍 Would you be willing to say what city you reside in? Your historic weather data could be useful in evaluating heat pump applications in other parts of the world. We’re considering an air source or possibly a ground source heat pump. We live in the Midwestern US 🇺🇸 on the Illinois-Iowa border.
Great article Tom. I got my ASHP in September 2022 and my experiences are similar to yours. I have no regrets, the house is warm even through some very cold snaps and it’s amazing how it works. There’s so much nonsense printed about green technologies whereas those of us who have made the switch are proving them all wrong. Good luck with your future plans! Andy
Hi Tom. Great article. You can only really look at this as a carbon saving. I have thought about this from a cost saving side of things, and with the heat pump batteries and solar panels, it is roughly a 20k outlay. With the solar installed since April I’ve saved 1.08T to date of c02 based on what the apps telling me. So still a substantial carbon saving. But unfortunately the heat pump cost is just not viable right now
Hi Tom, we’re also in Durham and have bought a house with a recently installed gas and heat pump combi system. We’re getting some building work done so I’m going to have the boiler removed and go full heat pump. The original installer put bigger radiators in but left the old 8mm pipe work so I’ll get that upgraded to 20mm. Apart from that it’s a early 80s house with UPVC, recent cavity insulation and loft insulation. Judging by the window condensation on a morning, it’s well insulated. The new extension will have underfloor heating. Did you do anything else fancy to upgrade your heating and insulation systems when you installed the heat pump? My wife is concerned she will be cold but I’m confident!
Hi Tom, good vid, thanks. We have 3.5KWP solar and I modelled our solar production against heat demand by week in KWH. We’re still on gas at the moment. Solar already mostly heats our hot water anyway, at least most of the year. Basically for Dec, Jan and Feb solar comes nowhere close to meeting the electricity demand if we had a heat pump. Solar production in Dec and Jan can be <100KWH for the whole month. So electricity production in our case met <10% of what a heat pump would need - even if all the electricity produced went into the heat pump. Solar is great and totally cost effective, but not a good match for winter heat demand. So, my learning was to invest some funds in a wind farm!
Excellent result,Tom! If the reassessments fall my way on pension, I will be going for the full 4-way switch (if you count my Aptera) so hopefully by late decade this already pretty efficient 5-bed detached can switch over to ASHP/PV/storage. If things don’t go my way, it’ll take a bit longer. I already see downward movement in the prices of heat pumps, though it’s more than just the one item when redesigning the system – thermal storage has to be put back in, either HW cylinder, phase change, I’ve even seen a swimming pool as a heat buffer (but not that last one for us…😅). Running our combi at high-40s flow temp has shown us that we need to replace 4 rads (could get away with 3), though actually this place is a mess of different pipe sizes, so I’d put the whole thing back to 15mm. This year’s usage is looking similar to last year’s, so perhaps we’ve gone as far as we can with boiler tweaks – next winter will be the interesting point, after lowering the boiler output to something more realistic than 35kW!
Intending on retrofitting my ex pit house with underfloor heating and a heat pump next year as part of the full renovation of the property. The property was fitted with some leasehold solar panels so hopefully we’ll get more use out of the energy it produces. Currently the property is well insulated but the old back boiler just is too inefficient. My goal is to make the house as efficient as possible to make future living costs lower
Great article Tom, thank you. In June 2023, at our home in Kingston Ontario Canada, we installed an inverter-based air source heat pump and 20.25kW solar panels a month later (max feed to grid is only 10kW, but 20.25kW helps capture more solar when sun at unfavorable angle, cloudy days, etc.). We are now on net-metering with the electricity company, so we store our unused solar energy in our local grid, for consumption during late Fall, Winter and early Spring. As such, we don’t have batteries to maintain. We’ll see how it all works out, but after just 49 days we’ve generated over 3.01MWh of electricity, and 1,245kg CO2 emissions reduction. Of note is that our new heat pump will generate heat at down to -30C ambient. As such, I don’t think we’ll be using much propane this winter.
Hi Tom, thanks for the update and very interesting and looks like it is working very well for you. I have solar and battery and have Airconditioning units throughout the house as they do heat and have a slightly higher SCOP as a air to water solution (ASHP) Airconditioning units being Air to Air. they get installed next week. The main issue with Solar while it is absolutely is the way to go and absolutely get battery with it as that maximises the full potential, the winter sun is not good at a time when you have the most heat demand so while it is still great value you might not see as great a saving from solar in winter to meet the peak demand for your heating. Having said that if you match it with a battery it will give you the option to offset the time you charge the batteries with cheap Cosy rates and then use them in the evening for your heat demand. Sounds like you are on a great journey and thank you for sharing.