Octopus launches its own Heat Pump

[spread-tee]

I think for true mass adoption, a lot of UK housing likely to be not suitable.

Reality for ASHP is they work best in super insulated houses with under floor heating, the vast majority of UK houses simply wont have this.

I am sure many can be made better, additional insulation and possibly ground floor under floor.

But if you do a cost exercise against say £5K for replacement boiler, versus ASHP retrofit with everything to make it economic I suspect most would choose boiler.

All new builds must have south facing aspect, ASHP, up to 5kW solar and battery storage. Got to start somewhere

This is not true and is only because of the whacky market we have. A heat pump doesn't even have to be run "well" to be the most efficient use of energy to heat a space regardless of the source of the base energy. It literally can provide more energy than gas used itself contains even in very "leaky" properties.

Big companies are by far the best placed for heat pump rollouts, individual traders and small outfits obviously were never going to cut it.

The issue is not so much the efficiency or otherwise of a HP in a leaky old house, but the fact that if a customer cant live comfortably after spending a lot of money on a HP they will be pissed off. A new boiler for 3 grand with 30kW to play that overcomes the heat leaks =happy customer.

Desp

[Mr Gus]

Yeah, agreed desp.

I also like the relative simplicity of doing away with badly placed rads, potential for leaks, old, unsuitable rads etc etc & sticking a few air units where they will not heat the outside, cleaner air virus / mould spore removal etc, a wet system, flushes, bleeding re-siting, furred up pipes, additives (blah blah)

[marshman]

Yeah, agreed desp.

I also like the relative simplicity of doing away with badly placed rads, potential for leaks, old, unsuitable rads etc etc & sticking a few air units where they will not heat the outside, cleaner air virus / mould spore removal etc, a wet system, flushes, bleeding re-siting, furred up pipes, additives (blah blah)

Nowt wrong with a properly installed (ah! there I see an issue !) wet system.

[Swwils]

Heat pumps aren't expensive things. Take a trip over the water and you can pick one up at the super market.

But yeah the situation is bad imagine tasking the current gas engineer fleet to install heat pumps...

[spread-tee]

Thanks, gas engineer here.............as you know though it's about a lot more than just buying the unit. Buying them overseas?? that's gonna work

Desp

[Mr Gus]

Hi MM,

Lucky bar steward 1980's UFH (grrr)
Bad rads on outer walls here, oil fired boiler, 1970's thus the hatred of em & why I fitted the WBS

& I can pee at greater pressure than our tap dribbles, so it's an area I avoid, pressure washers nigh on unusable too.

Plumber came out years ago & was so scathing of the water pressure he said he'd refuse to pay for it altogether if it was him.

[Yuff]

My experience of heat pumps, since November, hasn’t been too bad.
Firstly I put ufh in on the ground floor 3 years ago because the boiler heated rads were inefficient. It was a fairly big job which started out as a kitchen re-fit and turned into a full scale demolition of the ground floor, however when I started looking into solar, batteries etc the ufh installed was ideal.
I’ve also upgraded our radiators( 90% less water content), which haven’t been fitted yet, trying to tie the plumber down to an install
My initial motivation was the ridiculous cost of peak electric plus the way the market was going.
But I also have an inate mindset to be more efficient, or perhaps I’m just tight
I have to say the currents rads haven’t been too bad.
Waiting for cavity insulation to be be fitted in the least insulated area of our house. Our house is 90 years old so not originally that efficient.
I have to say the pumps work better than the boiler even though they are set to 50°c as opposed to 70°c

[Mr Gus]

Yuff, Im surprised your house has cavity walls at all ( modern extension)!?
Many will be more hesitant than you by the amount of work done for ashp in your older property, can I suggest a project summary in a thread of its own for those that come seeking info down the line? ..it would doubtless shore up a lot in the minds of those contemplating a refit that is on the cusp of an unprecedented demand, & a few horror stories to boot.

[nowty]

Yuff, Im surprised your house has cavity walls at all ( modern extension)!?
Many will be more hesitant than you by the amount of work done for ashp in your older property, can I suggest a project summary in a thread of its own for those that come seeking info down the line? ..it would doubtless shore up a lot in the minds of those contemplating a refit that is on the cusp of an unprecedented demand, & a few horror stories to boot.

The cavity wall became widespread in the 1920's, so maybe not so surprising on a 90 year old house.
https://www.londondampcompany.co.uk/the ... f-history/

[Mr Gus]

Yeah I realised that our own then 90 year old house was actually from my 1980's reference point ..so I was way out, though many ex council houses round this way are solid brick stock ( sparky mate used to moan like hell at the way they chewed through drill bits, differences in age borough councils & building styles I guess.