It looks as though we might be building another house..........🤷🏻♂️ We are being pushed towards an air source heat pump over a gas boiler. I know the green argument is that we must for the sake of the planet, but I don't really think that my little house will have a great deal of impact on the fate of the planet. I'm much more concerned about cost and the heat they produce. Gas is cheaper than electric, boilers are cheaper than ASHP's. PV's and batteries are expensive. It looks as though under floor heating is the way forward, but I'm not really a big fan of that either, but it'll probably have to be the solution for down stairs.
So.... Has anyone got an ASHP and if you have, what do you think..........? 🤯
I have not fitted a heat pump yet. I have, however researched them. Here are some of the things I have found out: 1) They work well in a new-build - you will be able to design the house, its insulation and radiators / underfloor heating to suit the lower flow temperature of a heat pump. 2) Before selecting a system, do some due diligence on repairability and parts supply. They have one at the stables where we keep our horses in one of their rental houses that has been offline for nearly a year waiting parts making the house unlettable. They are seriously considering ripping it out and fitting a new replacement - at substantial expense - because they cannot get parts for the broken one. 3) There are high flow temperature heat pumps available now - but I haven't found one that quotes efficiency at the higher flow temperature. 4) You will have to get used to a different way of working compared to gas boilers. Most people run the gas boiler when they want heat and have it turned off for big chunks of the day/ night when not needed. Heat Pumps are more effective when run almost continuously. 5) People I have spoken to who have fitted them as part of a planned upgrade including insulation and other elements won't go back to gas. 6) My brother has researched heat pumps as a replacement for an elderly oil fired boiler and concluded that the cost of upgrading insulation and pipework in his 60 year old house combined with the cost of a heat pump makes it untenable for him. 7) When I did my research, ASHPs were 300% to 500% efficient compared to 90% for a typical gas boiler. At our current rates (Octopus), we pay 22.6p/kWh for Electricity and 5.62p/kWh for gas. That means that an ASHP needs to be at least 360% efficient to break even on our tariffs. 8) Average flow temperature ups 37.5oC compared with 70oC for a gas boiler.
I have never seen an ASHP system in real life though watched a few vids, and there seems to be quite a lot more to it, and takes up a lot more space than the various systems I have self installed in my house over the years. I suspect my combi gas boiler fed UFH piped water system with zones stats and valved manifold is simpler and takes up less space than the hot water storage and control systems related to ASHP, but perhaps not.. ?
If interested in possible issues related to AHP you could beam up Skilled Builder as he has done quite a few vids on the subject, though they are padded out to some degree.
