Heatpumps

TheLodger said:
I think the current subsidies are about £7,500 per system. This makes it a very similar cost of installing a new gas combi system.
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My dad paid £3000 to get his tank system swapped out to a combi

That octopus quote above covered the subsidy already so was 5-8k on top of the subsidy, excluding insulation activities and rad swaps
 
We've had one for coming up two years and we love it. Plenty of hot water and house always warm enough, no matter how cold outside. We got in just before the end of the old scheme, where total price, including new radiators, is paid back over 7 years. I get that not every home is suitable, but if yours is then the Octopus deal looks good to me,
 
I think they're probably the future but right now we are in early adopter territory. Ideally younger rid of gas and save yourself the standing charges but many will want gas for cooking anyway
 
They are being pushed as being greener but that is only the case if your existing method of heating your house needs replacing. If there is nothing wrong with it then the green savings are offset by the unnecessary waste of a perfectly functioning existing system. Same for the costs. You won't save any money by replacing a working system but if you have to change your existing system anyway then you are comparing a like for like new install of a gas system plus lifetime running/usage costs vs install of a heat pump and lifetime running/usage costs and that is where they can be financially favourable.

It strikes me as an industry where the only logical place to install them would be new builds but there is an additional cost to doing so, which the developers won't pay for unless they have to, so they are marketing retro-fitting to older people with more money available to install them into unsuitable properties.

Every new build should be required to have heat pumps (and they can do ground source while they already have everything dug up which are better than air source anyway). They should all have EV chargers, solar panels and batteries as standard as well.

Leave all of the old houses alone. It doesn't make sense financially or environmentally.
 
Out of interest with 1000's of pounds of equipment just down the side of your house. How easy are they for scumbags to turn up and nick them ?
 
Blf said:
Out of interest with 1000's of pounds of equipment just down the side of your house. How easy are they for scumbags to turn up and nick them ?
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Not very, will be usually fixed to the wall and powered, I mean it's possible but how many solar panels are being lifted away? It's only one part of the system they'd be getting and limited resale value compared to new cost for just that part of a system. There will be much easier things to nick
 
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Decent_Left said:
The wife is nagging on about looking into this to (eventually save money) and as Octopus seem to have a remarkably decent deal on am tempted to book a call with them. - I know its liked to their own brand pump.

Just wondered if anyone has any experience and if in general heatpumps are worth it. For info the boiler is almost 10 years old now and I know they will be banned in the ner future along with carbon fuels being increasingly taxed,
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What's the Octopus deal?

If you're going to get it done, just absolutely make sure that the guys installing it are competent, have a lot of experience and are extremely thorough with the survey and heat loss calcs. If they don't do a good job it's just one big guess, with little chance of guessing corectly.

It's not like a boiler where a cowboy plumber could install it and it all be ok(ish), heat pumps are very technical.

Basically the installer needs to be like the guy on this video, he's a wizard

I've not considered it, as the house is practically brand new and really efficient anyway, but if I did I would only entertain getting one done if the installer had the same knowledge as the YouTube guy.
 
I got my quote off octopus of £6800 - that was on top of £7500 help from Government - just for installation of heat pump. Read somewhere it uses about 4000 kwh electricity to run a year.
Have opted for a log burner £2500 all in (cant wait).
 
Muttley said:
Remember the "Insulate Britain" campaign, people didn't like them protesting (bit like the Stop Oil) but it is inarguable that the first thing we should be doing is addressing insulation and thermal efficiency in existing properties whether it is through grants or subsidies to CUT our energy use.
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Yup, the greenest energy is the energy you don't use in the first place.
 
We were very close to getting a heat pump but had second thoughts because of the space needed for the tank and the compressor. We have an old house that we have spent a small fortune on insulating but I still dont think it is enough. New houses are being built to accommodate heat pumps from the start and I am sure those will work well.
 
TheLodger said:
maybe when we get a Labour government and the race to net zero really starts with home subsidies will be the time for that!?
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Sounds like you didn't do too badly with the current subsidies to be fair. Are similar deals available to everyone or only if you meet specific criteria?
£2k for a whole new system including radiators sounds good.
Will Labour do it for free? 👍
 
Insulate the person , not the room. We just need some high tech but easily wearable NASA style space suit clothing tech- yes including helmet if you want your ears and forehead to be toasty too. The other night ALIEN was on and I'd not seen it in ages ( unlike ALENS that's on all the time ) and in the end sequence , Ripley nipped into a spacesuit in the escape pod system and opened the external doors to nothingness and -270 degree kelvin. The alien eventually got sucked out but she was totally protected from the absolute zero temps by the suit and in reality was quite hot and sweaty due to the absolute scariness of the situation. So , wear a space suit, insulate the person. The domestic dog and the cat have got their own fur suits and they do rather fine with it too.
 
Boro_Interlinked said:
Insulate the person , not the room. We just need some high tech but easily wearable NASA style space suit clothing tech- yes including helmet if you want your ears and forehead to be toasty too. The other night ALIEN was on and I'd not seen it in ages ( unlike ALENS that's on all the time ) and in the end sequence , Ripley nipped into a spacesuit in the escape pod system and opened the external doors to nothingness and -270 degree kelvin. The alien eventually got sucked out but she was totally protected from the absolute zero temps by the suit and in reality was quite hot and sweaty due to the absolute scariness of the situation. So , wear a space suit, insulate the person. The domestic dog and the cat have got their own fur suits and they do rather fine with it too.
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What about my goldfish?

Mind you, in saying that, global water temperatures are rising so they might need high tech waterproof cooling suits instead.
 
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