We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

GSHP - terraced houses?

anon_ymous
anon_ymous Posts: 2,041
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
Forumite
edited 23 January 2024 at 2:40PM in Heat pumps
This is entirely hypothetical. Could you get GSHP for terraced houses? 

I can't see why you would, mind but could you do so? 
«1

Comments

  • Robin9
    Robin9 Posts: 13,165
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Forumite
    If you've got a big back garden possibly yes.

    There are a lot of possibilities being thrown into the mix   - most are possible for housing estate detached and semi's -  but think of blocks of flats or flats over shops -  how do you do GSHP, ASHP, solar or even how do fit an EV point ?
    Never pay on an estimated bill. Always read and understand your bill
  • tacpot12
    tacpot12 Posts: 9,593
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Forumite
    You could, but there is no real advantage to doing so. Access to drill boreholes is tricky, and the back gardens are rarely big enough to have enough space for horizontal loops. GSHP aren't much quieter than ASHPs, and ASHPs are already the more prevalent technology, so they will become quieter more quickly than GSHPs. 
    The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.
  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 36,589
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Forumite
    If they have a very long garden then yes for a horizontal system - or they may be able to drill 100m boreholes.

    Never associate with idiots on their own level, because, being an intelligent man, you'll try to deal with them on their level - and on their level they'll beat you every time.

    Being hated by idiots is the price you pay for not being one of them.

    Jean Cocteau 1889-1963

  • Flight3287462
    Flight3287462 Posts: 1,195
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Forumite
    Can you get the drilling rig in to the garden if so then possible but there would be a heck of a lot questions you need to ask about geology and soil and you would need to check with the coal board if necessary.
  • anon_ymous
    anon_ymous Posts: 2,041
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    edited 4 April 2022 at 8:49PM
    Robin9 said:
    If you've got a big back garden possibly yes.

    There are a lot of possibilities being thrown into the mix   - most are possible for housing estate detached and semi's -  but think of blocks of flats or flats over shops -  how do you do GSHP, ASHP, solar or even how do fit an EV point ?
    EV points are simpler than I thought. Green mole is one company I found that does that for terraced houses, but I think it's still an issue for flats

    I probably stool won't go for either an ASHP or GSHP purely because it's all good and well to be greener but from a cost pov, gas unfortunately is still cheaper 

    I guess terraced houses / flats would end up getting something like this?

    https://tepeo.com/thezeb

  • QrizB
    QrizB Posts: 25,164
    10,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Forumite
    Robin9 said:
    ... but think of blocks of flats or flats over shops -  how do you do GSHP, ASHP, solar or even how do fit an EV point ?
    Flats can do ASHPs pretty easily, so long as they have an outside wall.
    Might not be pretty though.
    Here's a stock photo; you can see the outdoor units for the heat pumps (most likely used for aircon in this case).

    N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec / Fuse gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Kirk Hill Co-op member.
    2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 37 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.
    Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Ecoflow Stream, Best kettle :-)
  • anon_ymous
    anon_ymous Posts: 2,041
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    QrizB said:
    Robin9 said:
    ... but think of blocks of flats or flats over shops -  how do you do GSHP, ASHP, solar or even how do fit an EV point ?
    Flats can do ASHPs pretty easily, so long as they have an outside wall.
    Might not be pretty though.
    Here's a stock photo; you can see the outdoor units for the heat pumps (most likely used for aircon in this case).

    Fully charged showed flats with GSHP too
  • Reed_Richards
    Reed_Richards Posts: 5,946
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Forumite
    It's very hard to believe that there are circumstances where a GSHP would be a better option than as ASHP for a terraced house.   For a GSHP you need either a paddock or one or more bore holes.  By a paddock I mean a large area of ground that can be dug-up to bury collector pipes but then not disturbed thereafter.  Bore holes are very expensive to drill and, as pointed out above, you would need to be able to get the drilling rig into the garden.    
    Reed
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,907
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Forumite
    Reed_Richards said: Bore holes are very expensive to drill and, as pointed out above, you would need to be able to get the drilling rig into the garden.    
    Dando do a dinky little drilling rig called the Terrier which can drill down 30-40m or they can do a Geotec X-3 which might get down 100m. On top of that, you'd still need space for pumps and a mud puppy (for separating water & soil from the drill).
    I had been doing a feasibility study to see if it were possible to put some bore holes in for a GSHP here. Got the space, but access is very restricted.. Didn't ask about costs.

    Any language construct that forces such insanity in this case should be abandoned without regrets. –
    Erik Aronesty, 2014

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • Mstty
    Mstty Posts: 4,209
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    Forumite

    I probably stool won't go for either an ASHP or GSHP purely because it's all good and well to be greener but from a cost pov, gas unfortunately is still cheaper 

    I would say the balance has finally tipped with the latest cap prices for energy. It all started getting very close with the Oct 21 rises but with the latest Apr 22 caps it's in favour of electricity.

    We couldn't heat our house as much for the money with gas central heating over electric ASHP.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 355.8K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 456.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 248.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 606K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 179K Life & Family
  • 263.8K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.