UPDATED: Air Source Heat Pumps/Air Con - Full Info & Guide, is it cheaper to run than mains gas?

Quiet_Life

richardc1983 wrote: »

There are heat exchangers involved. Its likely that your friend is referring to a heat pump.

Go to page one of this thread to learn more...

Thanks for replying.
Yes I did read page one, a bit complex for me TBH.

The relative made it soung very simple and very effective in cold temperatures e.g. -20 amd is very keen for me to find out about it and get it installed as I spend a fortune on oil heating,

I will have another read of page one, Thanks Again.:)

bushyh

I have mains gas as there is a gas fire and hob but it was planning regs that one house out of the five on the estate had to have a heat pump and I drew the short straw. It is outside, heating radiators and hot water and is sited at ground level but directly below my bedroom, I can hear the pump if it is on both in my bedroom and the kitchen, not loud inside but in the quiet of the night if it is on and/or when it switches on in the morning it disrupts my sleep. The £10 ish a day cost is for all electric assuming heat is on from 5am -9pm that's without the booster which I have now turned off. The calorex technical director after visiting me was off to another estate of houses which Wimpey have built, they installed asp's and are now adding gas boilers to resolve the same problem as I have.

richardc1983

Quiet_Life wrote: »

Thanks for replying.
Yes I did read page one, a bit complex for me TBH.

The relative made it soung very simple and very effective in cold temperatures e.g. -20 amd is very keen for me to find out about it and get it installed as I spend a fortune on oil heating,

I will have another read of page one, Thanks Again.:)

I think most systems in the uk are rated down to -10C or -15C, I dont think there is a system available in this country that is rated down to -20C.

richardc1983

bushyh wrote: »

I have mains gas as there is a gas fire and hob but it was planning regs that one house out of the five on the estate had to have a heat pump and I drew the short straw. It is outside, heating radiators and hot water and is sited at ground level but directly below my bedroom, I can hear the pump if it is on both in my bedroom and the kitchen, not loud inside but in the quiet of the night if it is on and/or when it switches on in the morning it disrupts my sleep. The £10 ish a day cost is for all electric assuming heat is on from 5am -9pm that's without the booster which I have now turned off. The calorex technical director after visiting me was off to another estate of houses which Wimpey have built, they installed asp's and are now adding gas boilers to resolve the same problem as I have.

Your luck may be in then if they decide to change it however if they installed a proper sized system by a decent manufacturer you would be better off all round.

Cardew

rhubarbe wrote: »

I'm wondering if Cardew is an Internet name for Ned Ludd. I'm sure he doesn't have a heat-pump. I expect he lives in an area where you can get mains gas and an ivory tower from which to pur scorn on those of us less fortunate than he in terms of heat source choices.

Yes I have gas and no I don't have a heat pump and with gas I wouldn't contemplate a heat pump.

My intervention was in reply, and in context, to this post from 'bushyh'.

At 4.30pm it was 16C having been on since 5am (I switched the booster on about 6.30am) it costs an arm and a leg to run - £10 a day if it comes on at 5 and goes off at 9pm and to be honest at the moment I cannot see any advantages (other than environmental ones) over a gas boiler. The suggestion that I would need two pumps if this isn't big enough feels me with horror as already I find the noise irritating. So I guess come next week I will be speaking with the builder again.

If you haven't understood it is the part in bold!!!!!

I ended my post with this quote:

Obviously if no gas is available then heat pumps become more viable but the installation costs are still huge.

My general point is that the tone of much of this thread is simply an enthusiastic endorsement of Heat pumps with little balance pointing out the disadvantages and my posts was simply to redress that imbalance.

Richard for instance might 'prefer' air to air, however it unsuitable for those of us who want to keep our bedroom and bathroom doors shut!!!

Your Ecodan 8.5kW output for instance is but a third of an average gas boiler. Fine if you are in all day and get the house up to temperature and keep it there; but wasted heat if you are at work all day.

A gas boiler can be set to come on 30 mins before you get home - 25kW heating water to 80C works wonders.

The cost of a decent heat pump system is frankly horrendus.

Why do you get seem to get upset if disadvantages of heat pumps are pointed out?

I am not knocking heat pumps as such -if I didn't have gas I would doubtless consider getting a system - just seeking some balance in posts and the 'cons' to be pointed out as well as the 'pros'!!!!!.

albyota

richardc1983 wrote: »

I think most systems in the uk are rated down to -10C or -15C, I dont think there is a system available in this country that is rated down to -20C.

Richard1983, the Mitsubishi Ecodan documents their range with 5kW @ -15, 8.5kw @ - 20, and the 14kW @ - 25

bushyh

and of course my problem as far as I can see is that the 14KW calorex pump which was installed a) only works at -3 and b)doesn't have enough wattage for 14 radiators and 3 towel rails.

Of course the plus side is the problem means I've found this sight which is very interesting reading.

richardc1983

albyota wrote: »

Richard1983, the Mitsubishi Ecodan documents their range with 5kW @ -15, 8.5kw @ - 20, and the 14kW @ - 25

Sorry my mistake Albyota.

richardc1983

bushyh wrote: »

and of course my problem as far as I can see is that the 14KW calorex pump which was installed a) only works at -3 and b)doesn't have enough wattage for 14 radiators and 3 towel rails.

Of course the plus side is the problem means I've found this sight which is very interesting reading.

I would say that there is enough wattage at milder temps. You say it works ok at milder temperatures so the problem I am seeing is that below 5C the duty drops off too quick so you are not getting enough KWs at colder temperatures.

rhubarbe

Our house is about 900ft2 bungalow, Richard. The pump goes off at 11:30pm and comes back on again at 6:00am weekdays and 7:00am weekends. It gets down to about 15C when it's as cold as it is right now and maybe 16.5C when it's milder.

I'm not expecting electicity usage to go beyond 440kWh/week which is what it was two weeks ago when we had the last cold spell. We use 70-80kWh/week for uses other than heating. Hot water is included in my heating total of course.

It's -11C now outside and it's still 22C in here...

Quiet Life - soinds like it might be.