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BUS Scheme likely to extend to Air to Air Heat Pumps :)
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The_Green_Hornet said: The problem is, even with the current £7,500 BUS grant, the current upfront cost of installing a heat pump far outweighs any possible savings made through cheaper running costs, and one would suspect that the grant is going to be withdrawn at some point.When Octopus first started pushing heat pumps, a lot of their prices were less than the cost of replacing a gas boiler. When I was looking at a new gas boiler, I was getting quotes in the £3K to £8K range. Heat pumps at between £4K and £12K. At the time, the BUS grant was only £5K and came with a bunch of requirements that I was unable to meet..In the end, I did all the plumbing work on my central heating system (including replacing most of the radiators), and got a BOXT type outfit to just install a boiler. Total price was just under £3K. Six months later, the BUS grant went from £5K up to the current £7500, and then a little later, EPC recommended insulation upgrades were dropped as a BUS requirement. At that point, Octopus were quoting £2800 for an ASHP, and that would have included new radiators and a hot water tank. Even now, heat pump quotes are probably only 30-40% more than a replacement gas boiler.If your gas (or oil) boiler is on its last legs or has failed completely, a heat pump may not be as expensive as you'd think.Her courage will change the world.
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.1 -
FreeBear said:If your gas (or oil) boiler is on its last legs or has failed completely, a heat pump may not be as expensive as you'd think.
Several of them have had mortgages with certain banks (eg. Barclays, Halifax ) which offer £2K mortgage credit towards a heat pump replacement, which reduces the total price to < £1000 in some instances. And that includes a new hot water cylinder, radiators and plumbing.
I only recommend Heat Geek Elite or Octopus Energy as heat pump installers as they offer a guaranteed SCOP of 3.8/ 3.4 or higher respectively. Real world SCOP almost always exceeds this rather substantially.
- 10 x 400w LG + 6 x 550W SHARP BiFacial Panels + SE 3680 HD Wave Inverter + SE Optimizers. SE London.
- Triple aspect. (22% ENE/ 33% SSE/ 45% WSW)
- Viessmann 200-W on Advanced Weather Comp. (the most efficient gas boiler sold)Feel free to DM me if I can help with any energy saving!1 -
Nobody ever claims a return on investment for a gas boiler, so why would you do so for a heat pump? Its just a source of heat.
If you are replacing an old boiler, it makes perfect sense to consider a heat pump. It may not currently be a sensible choice for everyone, but there is more than just money to consider (although that is a significant variable!).
There is less of a case currently for replacing a new or serviceable boiler, but for some people, the ability to remove an oil tank and its associated potential for pollution, or the option to get rid of a gas supply and yes, to be greener, may well be motivators that tip the equation. £7500 off the price may also motivate, especially as the grant might not be there for ever.
As it happens, for me it was a no brainer. The oil service technician kept telling me my boiler was on its last legs and the tank would need replacing. I think he was wanting to sell and fit a new boiler and tank. Octopus at the time were offering very good deals and then the grant increased to £7500, and then Dakin offered another £300 discount.
Result was a new heating system, installed at a sensible time before the old system fell over (planned maintenance!), no more smelly oil at a crazily cheap price from a reputable supplier.
It is actually costing less than the oil system it replaced so its a win on that score as well.
I suppose the moral of the story is that opportunities are always coming along and when a good one is there, you should take it!3 -
silverwhistle said:shinytop said:It depends whether you want to pursue an evangelical approach to replacing gas with electric heating or look for practical solutions to reduce emissions.I outlined the practical steps I have taken or will take, for eminently practical and financial reasons, and you bring up the term evangelical.I agree it's going to take baby steps for some people, but to label a more direct approach as 'evangelical' is not helpful and just aids those who, adverse to any change, like to paint people in a negative way for actually doing something.0
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The critical word there is 'encouraging'. If people want one they will get a hybrid car or A2A in addition to gas CH. My point is that they are less than optimal solutions for most people, although for some they may be the correct solution.If A2A or a full EV meets their needs why encourage a half way house? There's a lot of fear and lack of a real appreciation of the issues (range anxiety with EVs for example) around the change. I'm not dismissing those fears but pointing out that they are often not valid in practice. I'm off to Italy again next week in my full EV, which isn't one of the longer range ones. We did Channel to Italy in a day last year, just like in an ICE, but to listen to some people you'd think that was impossible.0
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FreeBear said:The_Green_Hornet said: The problem is, even with the current £7,500 BUS grant, the current upfront cost of installing a heat pump far outweighs any possible savings made through cheaper running costs, and one would suspect that the grant is going to be withdrawn at some point.If your gas (or oil) boiler is on its last legs or has failed completely, a heat pump may not be as expensive as you'd think.
So yes, it is as expensive as I think.0 -
At my my previous bungalow I had A2A heatpumps I used for primary heating and didn't use them as aircon at all. I didn't see the point of wasting electricity when I could just open the windows and patio doors and enjoy the breeze. I'd kill for 24C internal temps in winter so why would summer be any different?1
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