Best RHI technology (solar thermal, heat pumps etc)

celerity

Given that I am on oil (no mains gas here) and that the government's Renewable Heat Incentive (Initiative?) details are starting to trickle through; I'd be interested to hear some thoughts on whether any of the technologies are worthwhile.

MarketWire.com wrote:

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have announced that the following amounts are likely to be available:
- Solar Thermal - £300/unit
- Air Source Heat Pumps - £850/unit
- Biomass boilers - £950/unit
- Ground Source Heat Pumps - £1,250/unit

Source: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/renewable-heat-incentive-launch-july-with-phase-one-the-premium-payment-initiative-1528085.htm

I've already invested in Solar PV, and calculated my payback period would be approx 12 years. I probably wouldn't be interested in anything that took longer than that to payback.

I haven't really done as much research on the practicalities of these different systems as I'd like. GSHP is vaguely tempting to me as we have (I believe) a perfect area of land to lay it. But I'm not sure how it integrates with existing plumbing. I went to a council-run eco-house demo and they'd fitted "smart rads" connected to an ASHP which was marvellous - but even they admitted this would be cost-prohibitive for most people to retro-fit.

For solar thermal, I think I'd need a new water cylinder? I'm also not sure there is enough South-facing roof left now that my panels are up...

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RenovationMan

I believe GSHP are cost effective for people who are not on mains gas, especially if you can get onto an electricity tarrif that supports multiple 'economy 7' type periods during the day.

You can get Biomass boilers with hoppers that are filled on a daily basis instead of using a wood burning stove that needs filling every two or three hours.

Either of which (or both) can be attached to a heat bank cylinder which would supply your heating and hot water needs. You could even add in solar hot water panels if you were so inclined.

celerity

Cheers, your Heat bank link from the other post looks to have real potential for my property.
Depending on how many watts GSHPs draw I could possibly run one for free during the day thanks to my solar PV.
Edit: upon doing a bit more reading, this would seem to be unlikely - 4kW would seem to be quite normal consumption.

I just wish I didn't feel like a potential "early adopter" - it would be really good to hear some real world accounts from GSHP owners on how effective they are during the winter months, as that is obviously when I burn by far the majority of my oil. When I bought my panels it was based on months of research reading posts by owners, and contacting them privately. I haven't found anywhere near the amount of conversation about heat pumps, which in itself is a bit concerning.
Edit: although I have now found some interesting threads on the "Heating" forum of this site...

I have seen a lot of negativity about solar thermal though - not from owners but plenty of plumbers, builders etc stating it is a complete waste of time as if that were an established fact...

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RenovationMan

celerity wrote: »

Cheers, your Heat bank link from the other post looks to have real potential for my property.
Depending on how many watts GSHPs draw I could possibly run one for free during the day thanks to my solar PV.
Edit: upon doing a bit more reading, this would seem to be unlikely - 4kW would seem to be quite normal consumption.

I just wish I didn't feel like a potential "early adopter" - it would be really good to hear some real world accounts from GSHP owners on how effective they are during the winter months, as that is obviously when I burn by far the majority of my oil. When I bought my panels it was based on months of research reading posts by owners, and contacting them privately. I haven't found anywhere near the amount of conversation about heat pumps, which in itself is a bit concerning.
Edit: although I have now found some interesting threads on the "Heating" forum of this site...

I have seen a lot of negativity about solar thermal though - not from owners but plenty of plumbers, builders etc stating it is a complete waste of time as if that were an established fact...

/\dam

There are some GSHP users on www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk site with one user running a lengthy and informative blog about his installation in France.

celerity

I have to say, based on an about an hour of reading various forums, I'm going well off the idea of a GSHP. There seems to be lots of things that can go wrong - it makes the workings of a solar PV system look extremely simple by comparison.

/\dam