Associate
- Joined
- 4 Jul 2006
- Posts
- 2,041
No clue, that was not my install just from a channel I follow.
Heat Pumps: anyone have one/thought about it?
- Thread starter fish
- Start date
You have to protect a heat pump from wind. Placement is a balance between being protected from wind but also not enclosing it in too much so the cold air it produces doesn’t recirculate back into itself.
Wall mounting helps an awful lot with the above.
Wall mounting helps an awful lot with the above.
We had ours mounted on the wall just below a back bedroom window as we have flooding issues in our garden and that was the only place to fit it. It does create abit more noise but no more than a washing machine on fast spin. Trouble is it's just to the side of the back door and is bloody cold in winter going out there when it's running, great in summer though
Associate
I have a very basic heat pump question, and apologies if this is just dumb, or has been answered before.
Heat pumps, I believe, provide lower temperatures than gas boilers so are ideally suited to the lower temperatures of underfloor heating, for instance.
I am gathering that to use them for radiator powered central heating can require a change of radiators. My question is: is there a situation where the heat pump can supply already warmed water to your existing combi-boiler, relying on the combi-boiler to heat the water to standard radiator (and standard hot water) supply temperatures.
Is this even logical? Genuine question.
Heat pumps, I believe, provide lower temperatures than gas boilers so are ideally suited to the lower temperatures of underfloor heating, for instance.
I am gathering that to use them for radiator powered central heating can require a change of radiators. My question is: is there a situation where the heat pump can supply already warmed water to your existing combi-boiler, relying on the combi-boiler to heat the water to standard radiator (and standard hot water) supply temperatures.
Is this even logical? Genuine question.
Jesus what an eye sore.
What sort of house. I've not gone over £3.91 with gas during last week's cold spell. House at 17c overnight, 20c during the day. 3 bed semi.
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These look absolutely fantastic, I liked them so much I put one in every room.
Flomasta 600mm x 1200mm 6998BTU White Type 22 Convector Radiator - Screwfix
Order online at Screwfix.com. Traffic white paint finish (RAL 9016). FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.
/s for those who didn't realise. Normal central heating systems are an eyesore and we put them inside our houses and don't even bat an eyelid, just saying.
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You don't necessarily need to change all the rads it depends on heat loss in the rooms and if the rads are over specced already.
Heat pumps are so much better than I thought they'd be. We had a separate gas boiler for the swimming pool, so we got an ASHP installed to take some of the load off. The idea was that we could use that to heat the pool in summer and part of spring/autumn, and then use the gas boiler as a top up in the colder parts of the year. Been running 4 years+ now, and we've never had to turn the gas boiler on a single time. The water is beautifully warm at 27-29 degrees, even when it's cold outside. Really impressive stuff.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Jan 2006
- Posts
- 4,613
The power needed for each extra degree in temperature is significant, so £4.39 for 22.5c for 6hrs and 18hrs at 20c isn't all that comparable to the temps you're at.
Nevertheless it's 3 bed bungalow, with lots of glass and no loft insulation!
External wall insulation is being applied in March, and so will loft insulation - it'll be much cheaper to run at that point in time, next winter I'm hoping for <£3 days in the depths of winter.
Definitely need to deal with the lost insulation I went from about 70mm of fluffy stuff to 140mm of celotex and the difference is amazing.
I don't have those in my house though.These look absolutely fantastic, I liked them so much I put one in every room.
Flomasta 600mm x 1200mm 6998BTU White Type 22 Convector Radiator - Screwfix
Order online at Screwfix.com. Traffic white paint finish (RAL 9016). FREE next day delivery available, free collection in 1 minute.www.screwfix.com
/s for those who didn't realise. Normal central heating systems are an eyesore and we put them inside our houses and don't even bat an eyelid, just saying.
So I am 4 and a half months in to this journey and still don’t have a quote. It has been an absolute shambles from start to finish. Constantly chasing and systems deleting data, it’s like a farcical comedy.
Are there any rules or regs about them being installed near drains or soil pipes ?
My old man was a miner so kept his coal allowance which then passed onto my mum, so her house has always been heated a coal fire powered back boiler which was installed in the 90s.
It was getting pretty inefficient and a bit much for her to take care of when I wasnt here, so I was looking at replacing it with something more modern.
I started looking to see what grants were available for insulation and spoke to someone from a mineworkers chairty that sent me details of the Energy company obligation (eco & eco flex).
My local council work in partnership with Utilita to provide it, one of their assessors came out and I was still only expecting some insulation help.
But the guy said we can do the insulation and a new heating system, potentially a combi or a heat pump.
He spent a few hours going all around the house measuring the rooms etc. Then a few days later I recieved a call saying following our survery we recommend a heat pump, wall insulation and solar pannels which shocked me.
Sounds a bit too good to be true to be honest.
The process is ongoing so I will have to see where it goes, the issue I have it where to store the water cylinder, the old one is in the loft which isnt boarded so I dont think they will do any work up there.
but since this started the problems with the coal fire got to be too much, the back boiler was leaking so I had to get a plumber out to cut off the water to it.
So we dont have any central heating now just some electric oil rads to keep our bedrooms warm and a electric shower. Which isnt too bad for the short term but it depends how long it will take them to do the install.
My old man was a miner so kept his coal allowance which then passed onto my mum, so her house has always been heated a coal fire powered back boiler which was installed in the 90s.
It was getting pretty inefficient and a bit much for her to take care of when I wasnt here, so I was looking at replacing it with something more modern.
I started looking to see what grants were available for insulation and spoke to someone from a mineworkers chairty that sent me details of the Energy company obligation (eco & eco flex).
My local council work in partnership with Utilita to provide it, one of their assessors came out and I was still only expecting some insulation help.
But the guy said we can do the insulation and a new heating system, potentially a combi or a heat pump.
He spent a few hours going all around the house measuring the rooms etc. Then a few days later I recieved a call saying following our survery we recommend a heat pump, wall insulation and solar pannels which shocked me.
Sounds a bit too good to be true to be honest.
The process is ongoing so I will have to see where it goes, the issue I have it where to store the water cylinder, the old one is in the loft which isnt boarded so I dont think they will do any work up there.
but since this started the problems with the coal fire got to be too much, the back boiler was leaking so I had to get a plumber out to cut off the water to it.So we dont have any central heating now just some electric oil rads to keep our bedrooms warm and a electric shower. Which isnt too bad for the short term but it depends how long it will take them to do the install.
No. It just can’t be within a certain distance of your boundary or have direct line of sight to a neighbours window which is close by. It also can’t cause a public nuisance (e.g. have its fan blow out over a pavement).
Soldato
Are there any rules or regs about them being installed near drains or soil pipes ?
My old man was a miner so kept his coal allowance which then passed onto my mum, so her house has always been heated a coal fire powered back boiler which was installed in the 90s.
It was getting pretty inefficient and a bit much for her to take care of when I wasnt here, so I was looking at replacing it with something more modern.
I started looking to see what grants were available for insulation and spoke to someone from a mineworkers chairty that sent me details of the Energy company obligation (eco & eco flex).
My local council work in partnership with Utilita to provide it, one of their assessors came out and I was still only expecting some insulation help.
But the guy said we can do the insulation and a new heating system, potentially a combi or a heat pump.
He spent a few hours going all around the house measuring the rooms etc. Then a few days later I recieved a call saying following our survery we recommend a heat pump, wall insulation and solar pannels which shocked me.
Sounds a bit too good to be true to be honest.
The process is ongoing so I will have to see where it goes, the issue I have it where to store the water cylinder, the old one is in the loft which isnt boarded so I dont think they will do any work up there.
So we dont have any central heating now just some electric oil rads to keep our bedrooms warm and a electric shower. Which isnt too bad for the short term but it depends how long it will take them to do the install.
I would question whether it is a good idea to change to a wet system if one isn't there already. You may be better going for solar panels. Heat-pumps are fine, but they aren't the answer for everyone.
If you don't mind the cost of a new central heating system, then I would still question whether a heat-pump is ideal. In my humble opinion, they are more about saving the planet (and ensuring the government don't need an energy policy) than saving you money. Although they are undoubtedly cheaper to run, they are hellish expensive to install and maintain. If you take their lifespan in to consideration, then, as I said, they are not the solution for everyone.
Wait till the new refrigerant is popular. It's almost there now. Dramatically increases your water temperature.
Whatever you choose, boarding the loft is a non-issue really. The cost of doing that would be trivial compared to the cost of everything else, especially if the loft requires more insulation and people already have to get up there to do work. It's also something you can do yourself.
Not sure I agree with your take above.
Higher water temperatures are just less efficient regardless of the source of heat and should be avoided if possible. The cost of slotting in a slightly larger radiator are lower than the running costs of going higher temperature.
There are also other benefits to lower temperatures such as having a more consistent temperature which is more comfortable. It is also safer for children and the elderly who may not realise their 70C radiator is scolding them. To reiterate, this applies to gas too.
Moving to heat pumps and away from fossil fueled boilers is a perfectly valid energy policy and is ultimately going to cut energy consumption by 2/3 and make us less reliant on expensive imported gas. How is that not an energy policy?
I’d presume they already have a wet system which was powered by the back boiler.
All of the cost associated with putting in a heat pump is all the labour with re-working the existing heating system, the heat pump itself is not actually that expensive. With the £7500 grant, you can get a heat pump retrofitted for as little as £500. If you are starting from scratch, the only real difference is the cost of the heat pump and a gas boiler as you should be designing it for low temperature anyway.
Combining insulation, solar and heat pump could significantly decrease your running costs if it’s installed correctly. This will in turn add a bit of value to the property if you own it.
There are some obvious synergies between solar and heat pumps. While you will not be producing enough energy to power your home and heating over winter, the excess you sell to the grid in the summer will pay for for some winter use. Between the end of March and October, all your space and water heating needs will probably be covered by the system assuming is of a decent size and not a token 4 panels.
Is this a council led initiative?
Higher water temperatures are just less efficient regardless of the source of heat and should be avoided if possible. The cost of slotting in a slightly larger radiator are lower than the running costs of going higher temperature.
There are also other benefits to lower temperatures such as having a more consistent temperature which is more comfortable. It is also safer for children and the elderly who may not realise their 70C radiator is scolding them. To reiterate, this applies to gas too.
Moving to heat pumps and away from fossil fueled boilers is a perfectly valid energy policy and is ultimately going to cut energy consumption by 2/3 and make us less reliant on expensive imported gas. How is that not an energy policy?
I’d presume they already have a wet system which was powered by the back boiler.
All of the cost associated with putting in a heat pump is all the labour with re-working the existing heating system, the heat pump itself is not actually that expensive. With the £7500 grant, you can get a heat pump retrofitted for as little as £500. If you are starting from scratch, the only real difference is the cost of the heat pump and a gas boiler as you should be designing it for low temperature anyway.
Combining insulation, solar and heat pump could significantly decrease your running costs if it’s installed correctly. This will in turn add a bit of value to the property if you own it.
There are some obvious synergies between solar and heat pumps. While you will not be producing enough energy to power your home and heating over winter, the excess you sell to the grid in the summer will pay for for some winter use. Between the end of March and October, all your space and water heating needs will probably be covered by the system assuming is of a decent size and not a token 4 panels.
Is this a council led initiative?
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The coal fire heated the radiators and hot water tank in the loft so there is existing pipework, although the rads all need replacing anyway regardless of the system I get.
Regardless of what she gets a new system is needed, cant get a like for like fire and back boiler to replace what is currently installed. There are a couple of companies that do what they call boiler stoves where it is like a log burner that heats either the rads or water. But companies I spoke to were reluctant to install them and they were costly.
Unfortunately as the fire is out of use we arent really in a position to wait, currently have a couple of electric oil filled rads to keep us going and hot water from electric shower.
I think its a bit of a mix between the government and energy companies who partner with the council.
Like I have been dealing with Utilita but my electric is supplied from Octapus and the gas is from british gas.
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