Octopus Energy Launches the Cosy 6 Heat Pump

Screwdriva

https://www.current-news.co.uk/octopus-energy-announces-the-launch-of-its-cosy-6-heat-pump/

Fascinating development - wonder how it will stack up against the Arotherm+?

QrizB

Interesting.

You can buy a 5kW monobloc heat pump for about £2500, so Octopus are launching into a quite competitive section of the market.

1961Nick

I'm not so sure that it's as pretty as Greg Jackson thinks it is - one of those bins that you feed plastic bottles into at the household recycling centre came to mind.

However, a flow rate of 75C would be a game changer in terms of cost for a retrofit application. if Cosy can achieve an SCOP of at least 3, then coupled with smart tariffs it should more or less be on a par with gas.

Reed_Richards

1961Nick said:

I'm not so sure that it's as pretty as Greg Jackson thinks it is - one of those bins that you feed plastic bottles into at the household recycling centre came to mind.

However, a flow rate of 75C would be a game changer in terms of cost for a retrofit application. if Cosy can achieve an SCOP of at least 3, then coupled with smart tariffs it should more or less be on a par with gas.

But it's NEVER going to achieve both at the same time (75 C flow rate and SCOP of at least 3).  The 75 C flow rate might mean that you could keep your existing hot water tank and heat it more cheaply than with an immersion heater - but by no means as cheaply as with gas.  If you're lucky enough to find yourself with large enough radiators and your property is really small and/or super-well insulated you might get away with a 5 kW heat pump but I would have thought the reality is that this is a publicity stunt and only a tiny number of these will ever be fitted and in the majority of those cases you'll still have to pay for some upgrades on top of the free heat pump. 

DougMLancs

They are rolling out larger models as well, they’re just starting with the 6kW. My take on the HT aspect is that they want one product line in three common sizes that can be whatever the customer’s available upfront investment needs it to be. 

Customer A: No money/desire to change rads or an emergency purchase- LWT might end up around 60C (realistically how many houses NEED a LWT of 75C?). Down the line, Customer A may insulate/upgrade rads piecemeal as funds allow or when redecorating to allow max LWT to be reduced.

Customer B: has the money/inclination to make some rad/insulation improvements during installation - great, their max LWT could be 35-45C, SCOP improves and they actually make a saving vs. gas.

Something like 40-50% of boiler purchases are made under stress. If Octopus can get a foothold into this market by offering an affordable drop in replacement with a tariff that gives cost comparability to gas then it’s got an ASHP in where there wouldn’t have been otherwise. This is then a gateway to future system efficiency improvements through piecemeal rad/fabric upgrades.

NigeWick

The way I see this announcement, is that I can keep my heating system as is and have a heat pump for "free." This will mean I can stop burning gas. I readily accept that my energy bill may not go down. We need to stop burning stuff to produce our energy or climate breakdown will just get even worse. 

Reed_Richards

NigeWick said:

The way I see this announcement, is that I can keep my heating system as is and have a heat pump for "free." This will mean I can stop burning gas. I readily accept that my energy bill may not go down. We need to stop burning stuff to produce our energy or climate breakdown will just get even worse. 

Yes, that's the impression I feel is meant to be given, but if you keep your heating system as is it is very probable your energy bill will go up.

I think the truth is that we will all have to spend money to combat climate change.  Or I suppose will will face massive increases in our insurance bills if we fail to.  But not keeping your heating system as is may be the option that saves you money in the longer term.