Buying a housing with an air source heat pump

DrSpendLittle

We're going to view a house we're interesting in buying but it has an air source heat pump system for heating / hot water.

I'm nervous about these as I've heard quite a few horror stories about how much they cost to run if they are not installed / used effectively.

I think the owners put it in instead of oil (there is no gas in that area). I wonder whether they used the Renewable Heat Incentive to make it the cheaper option. I know oil heating is expensive to run. All other houses seem to run on oil (I can see their tanks)

Has anyone had any experience of buying a house with one?

Was it a nightmare? What should I look out for? What questions should I ask?

Thanks in advance!

datlex

Chat with the current owner and ask them about running costs, maintenance arrangements etc. Ask if you can feel the temp of the water from a hot tap. If it feels warm in the house, ask them if it is running at present.

Davesnave

I know of people who had one installed and it was a nightmare. They sued, won the case and then found that there were no assets. In the early days, there were fly-by-nights installing stuff they had no ability to assess or alter effectively once it was in.

However, these people went on to have a second installation using a Daikin system which they were happy with.

I'd suggest you get an engineer with experience in the field to assess the system if you get to the stage of surveys etc. It wouldn't necessarily be a deal-breaker if shortcomings were found,or if you wanted it changed in some way. Meanwhile, ask about matters like RHI payments and current energy bills. You could get a pleasant surprise.

Country properties are about so much more than just what heating system's installed. Most of us are on oil or LPG, but we know that isn't going to be the case for the longer term.

Bacon_Sandwich

A lot depends on the house that its installed in.

ASHPs are great for low temperature applications, like underfloor heating, and in really, really, really well insulated houses that do not require a lot of heating.
If its running radiators, check that the radiators have been sized according to the operating temperatures of the ASHP system: the radiators should be markedly bigger than you'd expect in a typical heating installation running at 80/60deg C. If the house isn't well insulated, and the radiators aren't adequately sized, then you're likely to be disappointed.

AnotherJoe

As long as it works, it ought to be substantially cheaper than oil to run, so I'd do some checking on the make because if thats OK and there's maintenance available, you will be better off than having to buy a whacking big costly delivery of oil a few times a year (and no one can steal it either which can be a problem in rural areas with oil tanks)

DrSpendLittle

Thanks very much for all your replies - lots of great advice! Will come back with an update as and when.

Rodders53

AnotherJoe wrote: »

As long as it works, it ought to be substantially cheaper than oil to run,

How?

https://nottenergy.com/our-services/resources/energy-cost-comparison/
Suggests kerosene is 5.68 pence per kWh (after boiler inefficiency) and ASHP is 7.77 p per kWh (with COP efficiency of 2.7). That COP may be higher at times but not always. These heat pumps are less efficient when temperatures drop and many will use immersion heaters to top up in the coldest times (unless switched off). Additionally, hot water storage will need regular 'sterilisation' to 60C to ward of legionella.

Running costs are likely to be on a par with oil and even with natural gas fired @ 5.65 p...

Not, though, cheaper.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=78 has a specific thread on ASHPs and would be worth the OP taking time to read.

DrSpendLittle

Thanks Rodders53 - will check out the thread for ASHP's.

brianposter

Tell the sellers that you are worried about the ASHP and would like to see their recent electricity bills,

macca-girl

I have heating & hot water from an air source heat pump and love it.

Lived here for 5 years and not had an issue with it (system is now 10 years old). The hot water is usually around 47 degrees, which is absolutely fine for baths / showers. It does have an immersion heater too, that runs automatically once a week to heat the water up to 60 to prevent legionella. We can turn this on manually too if we have a house full of guests and want the hot water to last longer.

We have underfloor heating upstairs & downstairs and the house is always the right temperature. I’ve not touched the thermostat since we moved in!

Our all up electricity bill is around £90 p/m for a 3 bed house. It’s a barn conversion too, so living area is all double height. I don’t think it really saves us money over oil or gas (not that these are an option for us anyway), but I do like the convenience that it just does it’s job in the background.

DrSpendLittle

Thanks macca-girl, it sounds like your system is set up 'properly'.

The sales particulars of this house we are interested in does not mention underfloor heating or an immersion. It seems only to have one really big radiator in the kitchen - the others are tucked away behind radiator covers. Hmmm. And, it has what seems to be single pane windows / rear door and a draughty front door (you can see daylight through it in the pics). Argh. There is secondary glazing to only two downstairs windows.

All sounds a bit iffy to me compared to your system!