Air Source Heat Pumps

[skalexander]

We live in a 70s bungalow with an oil boiler which is believed to be around 30 years old.

Between 6th Jan and 27th April we used 900 litres of oil, with fairly low heating usage (plus 3 of the 11 rads turned right down). We do like baths though.

We’ve been giving thought to replacing the boiler in due course. We do try to be green where possible, so I would like a more sustainable replacement, and if we save money as well then even better!

Does anyone have an Air Source Heat Pump? What’s your feedback? What type of house do you have?

We can get one through our electricity provider for 0% finance over 10 years (same price as the other quote we’ve had from elsewhere). We would also be installing underfloor heating in the main rooms (we’re doing this whatever our heat source is), and improving insulation.

I’m not convinced ASHP is right for our property, but I really want it to be as I don’t know what the alternative is.

[parisdisneyfan]

When we looked at independent new builds they had them, large scale estates they didn't, I'm guessing due to costs involved. DH wanted one here when we replaced the 46 year old boiler however, due to it breaking down suddenly 6 weeks after moving in we had to stick with oil. We had started to look into it, but it wasn't looking good for retro fitting into an older property. My niece works in energy and said that new builds it is very good but older houses need a lot of work to make them work well and efficiently. You would have to have a lot of money to throw at it and not expect to ever make it back. There are lots of other issues such as having it checked for legionnaires due to the water temperature not being high enough and needing to be boosted by electric, although these could well be scare stories as we stopping looking into it once we had no real choice due to the breakdown!

Hope you get it sorted, although 900litres over that time period is only 8litres a day which doesn't seem too bad. We use about 12litres a day the last 3 months, 3 showers at least, washing machine approx a load a day and been at home all the time so wanted it warm, and builders leaving doors etc open!

[florida addict]

I think your home needs to be airtight for this system to work
Very difficult to retro fit air tightness on an older home we were told

[Floridarules]

Originally Posted by florida addict

I think your home needs to be airtight for this system to work
Very difficult to retro fit air tightness on an older home we were told

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I have heard this too, the system works with fans/extractors in each room and the pipe linking it all together I think? 🤔
I would say not possible with an older house unfortunately.

[tspill]

My friend was building his own house a couple of years ago and looked into this. When you take into account maintenance and replacement costs, it worked out more expensive that oil heating (he cant get gas).

[skalexander]

Originally Posted by tspill

My friend was building his own house a couple of years ago and looked into this. When you take into account maintenance and replacement costs, it worked out more expensive that oil heating (he cant get gas).

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To be honest, I’m not that worried about the cost. I’m surprised by how much oil we’ve used more because I’m never toasty warm, but my parents have a similar consumption and their house is lovely and warm (I suspect that’s at least in part because they have underfloor heating).

In the near future, oil and gas boilers are going to cease to be fitted to new builds, and presumably older homes will follow in however many years time. I have read that significant insulating works on required to make ASHPs work in older properties. So what’s the eco-friendly option for heating an older property? Or do we not have one yet?

[traceylou1972]

Hi. We have one, our house was a one off build by an independent builder and is now 5 years old. We didn’t have any say in the installation as it was already in before we purchased. It’s a Mitsubishi one and apart from getting it serviced every year we are finding our bill costs very low. The problem we had was finding a company that was confident in servicing and maintaining and we have only just found one this year. (We didn’t have much faith in the original supplier).
The only drawback is if you want to take radiators off the wall when you are decorating you have to get your maintenance company to put them back as the system would need a top up of the fluid. ( It’s like an antifreeze solution - sorry I can’t remember the technical name). But apart from that I would definitely recommend.

Tracey

[florida addict]

I think for older homes insulation is the key to warmer temp

[Mr Tom Morrow]

There is a price to pay with older properties and we have that issue as well - Cold!

Pre 1965 and insulation just wasn't a big thing in houses so they tend to be cold but at least they aren't damp. Go back another 50 years more and the situation is compounded.

There is some tinkering you can do to improve matters but with free flow cavities and well aired roof spaces the house will always need more spent on heating than a new build. Finally the floor itself can be problematic and add to the cold feeling.

Personally I would fit a Gas boiler all day long. No way will the Govt be able to phase them out in the next 30 years. New builds yes but not retro fits.

[daisymae]

My friend has just had this installed in her home last week so I couldn’t say how it works for her but she was quite shocked at the size of the unit outside in her garden. She didn’t get a say on the size of radiators and her bedroom one she says is huge. They also put in a towel rail that was about 6 ft high far too big for her small bathroom but she felt they were just trying it on and had a spare saving the company money so she made them take it back out and fit one of appropriate size. It cost about £12k up front with a grant from the govt for about £6k being paid back over a certain time. Her house is about 30 years old.