Having installed solar panels years ago and more recently getting a second hand electric car, I’m expanding my renewable energy journey with a heat pump.
The solar panels have been the best investment I ever made and I love my electric car too, so cheap to run and I will never go back to polluting fossil fuels. I appreciate it’s harder for people in flats without workplace charging but hopefully this will get resolved as charging infrastructure continues to increase.
So I’m excited to have a heat pump, despite people saying don’t do it! My combi boiler was old and noisy but I was slightly apprehensive with all the negativity in the press.
There was no need, I love it. It gives a comfortable temperature all day, no swings from hot to cold. Working out cheaper than gas overall too, especially without the gas standing charge (I had my gas meter removed). In Spring temperatures it’s cheaper than gas, about the same as gas in cold weather. Further savings can be made with a time of use electricity tariff.
Initially I was told I couldn’t have a heat pump, due to no appropriate outside wall space, being a 1930s terraced house with a conservatory. That is true for a Monoblock heat pump but there are also Split Air Source Heat Pumps, who knew!
1) Monoblock heat pumps, most common in the UK. – these have the compressor and all workings in the outside unit. It captures heat from the air, which is transferred in water to your house’s hot water pipes and needs to be close to the house to minimise heat loss.
2) Split Heat Pumps – comprise of an outdoor and indoor unit (about the size of a boiler). The outside unit extracts heat from the air into refrigerant gas. This gas is then compressed in the inside unit, heating up water to go to your pipes.
With no water travelling from the outside unit, it can be further away from the house, as Refrigerant does not freeze or lose heat. Mine is at the back of the patio garden, nicely out the way with plenty of air flow. It’s a better system for people with limited outside space and just as efficient as monoblocks.
Arty Bit!
There is of course new pipework and because my inside unit is downstairs (doesn’t have to be) and my water cylinder upstairs where the gas boiler was, I do have pipes along the kitchen wall.
If your heating system needs replacing I’d definitely recommend a heat pump. Ignore all the negativity but do get a few quotes. Big companies tend to only do Monoblock heat pumps, as an extra refrigerant qualification is needed for Split systems. Local independents often have this extra qualification, with experience in the air conditioning industry.
There are of course bad installs but you get that with any technology, including gas boilers. Once a heat pump is set up correctly you can leave it. Initially I was too hot but after lowering the flow, the temperature is now perfect.