Air source pump or oil boiler???

maelstrom

Hi toall, this is my first post here. Last winter we moved into a 200 year old cottage plus extension (about 110sqm in all). It has LPG which needs replacing. The cottage has been desccribed as “pretty well insulated” but does have some drafts. I am trying to decide between a Grant’s external oil boiler or an air source pump. A lot of people in my area seem to be installing airpumps but they have not had them through the bad winter weather yet. Oil is cheaper to install. I am worried that with the air source pump (which will heat radiators and hot water) we will struggle but most suppliers are saying that it will be ok , and teh oil guy said that it will be very expensive to run. They all want to sell so I cannot really rely on them. Any advice is greatly appreciated, as I have a toddler and a baby and have to be prepared for winter. I am in Scotland and last winter temperatures of -15 and colder were around for a long time! Please Help. Thanks.

albyota

Hi maelstrom, welcome to the forum, I am all for heat pumps, if, and only if, they are spec'd correctly in very well insulated houses, it pains me to advise that for Scotland in a 200 yr old cottage, you are between a rock and a hard place, LPG is expensive, Oil is worse, you will have to weigh up the cost of installing and the running cost of each over a five year period, unless you can stretch to £10K for the Daikin altherma HT....works down to minus 25 with water temps up to 80 degrees, steer clear of the 55 degree kit unless you are upgrading all radiators or fitting under floor heating. I fear you will be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, get loads of advice from reputable MCS installers if you are to go down the heat pump route.

good luck

maelstrom

Thanks for that albyota. I am under the impression that oil wil be cheaper than LPG - I am on BOTTLED LPG -they cost £55 + vat for a 47KG one, and I was using 2 in about 10 days over winter. This was very conservative use so house was never really warm anyway!