My house heat loss is probably around 5kw, so a single 28mm should be more than enough. I'm worried that UFH and radiators require different temperature of water and different flow - would it be possible to manage those with a single water pipe?
Heat Pumps: anyone have one/thought about it?
- Thread starter fish
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 2 May 2011
- Posts
- 12,321
- Location
- Woking
Bloody hell, 28 mm. On huge residential schemes, we recommend 28 mm on the risers - to apartments it's always 15 mm or less! Get a bigger dT 
Heat pumps don’t work in old un-insulated houses…
TLDW - the above is a grade 1 listed 500 year old ‘house’ (big estate, multiple buildings), fully moved over to electric with a mix of solar, batteries and various heat pumps (15!).
Sure, the guy that owns it is a mega baller but his gone from having an energy bill of £lol to £0 and The whole system will pay back in about 10 years.
Impressive project and good on him for having the impetus to press on with it.
TLDW - the above is a grade 1 listed 500 year old ‘house’ (big estate, multiple buildings), fully moved over to electric with a mix of solar, batteries and various heat pumps (15!).
Sure, the guy that owns it is a mega baller but his gone from having an energy bill of £lol to £0 and The whole system will pay back in about 10 years.
Impressive project and good on him for having the impetus to press on with it.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 7 Sep 2020
- Posts
- 4,241
- Location
- Gods Country
Is it you thats got a nissan leaf ev??
No, I do only have an EV but I’ve not owned a leaf although I have been in a few.
I'm sold on getting a heat pump. I'm expecting a quote from the Heat Geek guys for a Vaillant aroTHERM plus 5kW - one of their partners already came to my house and did measurements and a heat loss calculation.
I'm tempted to also get a quote for a GSHP with a vertical loop. For 5kW a single 100m deep loop should be enough. Any idea what is a good company that installs GSHPs?
I think a GSHP will need less maintenance and service and will be more efficient in the winter. If let's say the quote for an ASHP is £5000 after the government grant and the GSHP is £10000 - I think the GSHP may be worth the extra cash.
I'm tempted to also get a quote for a GSHP with a vertical loop. For 5kW a single 100m deep loop should be enough. Any idea what is a good company that installs GSHPs?
I think a GSHP will need less maintenance and service and will be more efficient in the winter. If let's say the quote for an ASHP is £5000 after the government grant and the GSHP is £10000 - I think the GSHP may be worth the extra cash.
The latest generation of ASHP are basically on par with GSHP when it comes to performance, GSHP is only slightly ahead.
Drilling a borehole is not cheap and comes with its own risks and issues, a GSHP will be a lot more, like £8-10k more.
The TLDR is a GSHP is not worth the extra for a regular dwelling, almost no one recomends it as a good idea. Definetly not worth it for £5k more, you'd be better off ploughing that into either the fabric of the building or system upgrades to get the flow temperature down further or something like retroftiing underfloor heating on the ground floor.
Alternatively, go on a nice holiday.
I’ve not read every post as there’s so many but have skimmed through and found the opinions on here to be very mixed.
We have a four bed detached house ( not massive) with a combi boiler in the kitchen. We’ve been here 8 years , I’ve no idea when this boiler was installed , there’s no installation date. I doubt it’s original, this house was built in 2000. So I’m guessing the boiler could be 12-15 years old.
I’ve been in touch with Octopus energy and they are sending someone over to do a survey in a few weeks. Price quoted is £4800, but this doesn’t take into account the extra 15% off offer.
Some people on here have solar panel and battery’s and all sorts of eco gadgets. We don’t . Just standard insulation from the regulations of 25 years ago.
Our boiler works but is fairly old and leaks. Quite a bit. Often we find pools of water underneath the boiler which lands straight onto our work top.It’s had a few repairs over the years keeping it ticking over.
Would it be idiotic to go fully electric and get a heat pump? Or just wait until the boiler packs in and replace with a gas boiler. You can get one for about £2300 fully fitted , even by British Gas.
I’ve heard horror stories of massive electric bills, some being £15 odd quid a day.
Advice anyone ?
We have a four bed detached house ( not massive) with a combi boiler in the kitchen. We’ve been here 8 years , I’ve no idea when this boiler was installed , there’s no installation date. I doubt it’s original, this house was built in 2000. So I’m guessing the boiler could be 12-15 years old.
I’ve been in touch with Octopus energy and they are sending someone over to do a survey in a few weeks. Price quoted is £4800, but this doesn’t take into account the extra 15% off offer.
Some people on here have solar panel and battery’s and all sorts of eco gadgets. We don’t . Just standard insulation from the regulations of 25 years ago.
Our boiler works but is fairly old and leaks. Quite a bit. Often we find pools of water underneath the boiler which lands straight onto our work top.It’s had a few repairs over the years keeping it ticking over.
Would it be idiotic to go fully electric and get a heat pump? Or just wait until the boiler packs in and replace with a gas boiler. You can get one for about £2300 fully fitted , even by British Gas.
I’ve heard horror stories of massive electric bills, some being £15 odd quid a day.
Advice anyone ?
No, it’s not idiotic and it’s not going to get any cheaper.
If you don’t have any solar or batteries, running costs are on par with a gas boiler based on price cap prices.
If you have a smart meter you can use Ocotpus Cosy tariff which will probably save you 20% on gas.
Stick some solar panels on your roof and a modest battery and you’ll see your bills drop by 80% or more.
I’ve got an octopus installed heat pump and it’s a key enabler of my zero bill house. Yes, I have zero fuel bills.
As for people spending £15 a day, there are cowboys out there that simply don’t know what they are doing. That’s the result. Pick a reputable installer and you’ll be fine.
P.s. if you have not already, top up your standard 100mm loft insulation to 300-400mm, that will drop your heating bill by 15% instantly and it only takes a couple of hours.
If you don’t have any solar or batteries, running costs are on par with a gas boiler based on price cap prices.
If you have a smart meter you can use Ocotpus Cosy tariff which will probably save you 20% on gas.
Stick some solar panels on your roof and a modest battery and you’ll see your bills drop by 80% or more.
I’ve got an octopus installed heat pump and it’s a key enabler of my zero bill house. Yes, I have zero fuel bills.
As for people spending £15 a day, there are cowboys out there that simply don’t know what they are doing. That’s the result. Pick a reputable installer and you’ll be fine.
P.s. if you have not already, top up your standard 100mm loft insulation to 300-400mm, that will drop your heating bill by 15% instantly and it only takes a couple of hours.
Many thanks but I don’t have the money for solar panels or batteries. I also plan on living here for the next 5 maybe 10 years but not much longer than that.
Solar panel out the question for financial reasons. In that case is it pointless getting a heat pump without solar panels
So you think the Octopus survey guy will be honest and if I use them they’ll do a professional job ?
Last edited:
Most banks are very happy to lend extra money on a mortgage for green improvements (as the government is putting pressure on them to improve the EPC ratings on their portfolios).
E.g. Nationwide offers 0% interest rate 5 year loan.
If you borrow enough money to improve the insulation, get solar panels, a battery and a heat pump - this will drastically lower your bills. And probably increase the price of the house, if you sell it in 5 or 10 years.
Octopus are a good heat pump installer and if they think your house is not suitable for a heat pump will tell you so.
Did you pay Octopus the 200 quid for the survey already? If yes, just wait for the results.
Without solar and battery, for 5 or 10 years a heat pump doesn't make financial sense. It makes sense if you want to decrease your carbon footprint. You can buy a new gas boiler on eBay and have it installed for say £1600 total. In a poorly isolated detached house a heat pump will be barely cheaper to run than a gas boiler in the best case - in 10 years it's unlikely to save you the £2500 difference in installation cost. That is unless the government does something to address the huge difference between gas and electricity prices in UK.
E.g. Nationwide offers 0% interest rate 5 year loan.
If you borrow enough money to improve the insulation, get solar panels, a battery and a heat pump - this will drastically lower your bills. And probably increase the price of the house, if you sell it in 5 or 10 years.
Octopus are a good heat pump installer and if they think your house is not suitable for a heat pump will tell you so.
Did you pay Octopus the 200 quid for the survey already? If yes, just wait for the results.
Without solar and battery, for 5 or 10 years a heat pump doesn't make financial sense. It makes sense if you want to decrease your carbon footprint. You can buy a new gas boiler on eBay and have it installed for say £1600 total. In a poorly isolated detached house a heat pump will be barely cheaper to run than a gas boiler in the best case - in 10 years it's unlikely to save you the £2500 difference in installation cost. That is unless the government does something to address the huge difference between gas and electricity prices in UK.
Last edited:
Yes I paid the £200 for Octopus to do a survey. It’s in a few weeks. It’s refundable until the day before the work is carried out.
It’s good if Octopus are honest with people if they don’t think a heat pump is suitable for their property. I suppose they have to work to a budget too.
It’s good if Octopus are honest with people if they don’t think a heat pump is suitable for their property. I suppose they have to work to a budget too.
I would also suggest exploring how you can find a way to finance solar and battery into the mix. The heat pump really comes into its own when you can always feed it off peak electricity. I have an interest free loan for mine from home energy Scotland.
My house is from the 1960s with retrofitted loft and allegedly cavity insulation, 6kW heat survey demand (around 4.5-5kW at -5C in practice). I'm currently paying £10 a month still anyway but I think my summer solar + batt export balance might just about cover me for winter anyway.
My house is from the 1960s with retrofitted loft and allegedly cavity insulation, 6kW heat survey demand (around 4.5-5kW at -5C in practice). I'm currently paying £10 a month still anyway but I think my summer solar + batt export balance might just about cover me for winter anyway.
I don’t intend on making my property fully carbon neutral though due to the cost.
I don’t plan on being in this house forever , more like maybe 5/ 6 years.
Is it worth making the change if I don’t plan living in my property long term?
I don’t plan on being in this house forever , more like maybe 5/ 6 years.
Is it worth making the change if I don’t plan living in my property long term?