Anyone else rethinking heat pump plans because of the heatwaves?

ed110220

Hi all, I was all set on completing the last major piece of our home decarbonisation puzzle with a quote from Octopus for a heat pump. It was about £3.5k after grant for HP, hot water cylinder, a new radiator and replacing an existing radiator with a larger one. We already have 4.8 kWp of PV, 2x 15 kWh batteries and an EV, on Octopus Go so we manage to get almost all our electricity imports at the off peak rate.

But after all the heatwaves this year I've been thinking it might be short-sighted choosing a system that doesn't offer cooling. Previous heatwaves have been pretty uncomfortable too. I've insulated our house fairly well which means it doesn't heat up as quickly as before, but it still gets very hot especially upstairs in a heatwave because it is very lightly constructed (it's noticeablely hotter than my parents masonry house in hot weather but also noticeably warmer in cold weather a little while after the heating goes off).

Is anyone else reconsidering their heatpump plans?

Jemma01

What are you thinking in place of it that would heat up/cool down the whole house?

Netexporter

Samsung and Daikin have brought out products that have both wet and refrigerant circuits, so do traditional heating via rads/UFH, cooling via A2A units and also DHW on a wet circuit. The really nice touch is that the "waste" heat from cooling goes to satisfy DHW demand, rather than just being dumped outside.

Not sure if they've got MCS approval, yest, or how they will be treated for grants.

Reed_Richards

An air-to-air heat pump (or multiples thereof) instead of an air-to-water heat pump? An air-to-air heat pump is usually called an Air Conditioner, but they will heat as well as cool.

Newbie_John

There is few differences.

Air to air HP doesnt heat hot water- so youl'll need another system for that.

Depends on house layout you will need a units in many places, it may be even not possible to cover the entire house.

In winter they run almost 24h so will you be happy with a hot air fan blowing all day/night? Theyr're quiet but there's some little noise.

Saying all that I heat my house with Air To Air 😅

Ectophile

I am definitely considering an A2A system as a replacement for my old gas central heating. It will probably require 3 units to cover the main parts of the house. But there is the question of how to heat the smaller rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom.

Martyn1981

Hi Ed. Been discussing recent news on A2A, on the G&E Energy news thread. Might be worth you asking if the A2W system is now allowed to cool too (whilst retaining the grant). Or you may already know, either way, reporting back on here would be useful for us all to learn. Googling seems to suggest it's now allowed, but I'm wary about misleading anyone.

The A2A route will probably cost more, as you have a good/cheap A2W quote. Very rough estimate, but perhaps ~£6k for 3 A2A units and a HW tank (depending opn your needs). If you get the £2.5k grant, then they pretty much balance out (in that example).

I've tried to research the grant to offer better info on here regarding A2A, and asked several companies at a recent Everything Electric show in Cheltenham. But it doesn't (or didn't) look like the necessary MCS training programme has been created yet. But I could be totally wrong by now. But as mentioned on the other thread, I suspect the additional work for grant certification, may absorb some of that grant.

If the A2W can adequately cool, then maybe that's better, but personally, being able to remove the rads (when re-decorating) is nice, and having more than one A2A means you have some cover in cold or hot times, if one unit fails.

Best of luck.

Reed_Richards

Two problems with cooling using an air-to-water heat pump

1. It was (and still is AFAIK) a condition of the planning permission waiver for an air-to-water heat pump that it isn't used for cooling.
2. There could be condensation on the cooled radiators or floor if these get too cold.

Screwdriva

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105275#Comment_82105275

Things have changed a bit - They do heat hot water

The limit for the above Daikin system is 6 bedrooms

Screwdriva

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105289#Comment_82105289

Bathrooms will need to be handled by oversized electric towel rails or electric UFH if . If the kitchen is a separate small room, a 4th smaller indoor unit can be installed there if the wall space exists. Multi Split units can have upto 6 ports for the same number of rooms.

Magnitio

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105326#Comment_82105326

1. There is no planning permission issue with using air-to-water for cooling.
2. They can be set up to take into account the temperature and humidity levels to prevent excess condensation on radiators and pipes.

I recently set our heat pump to allow cooling. It works well with underfloor heating, but not so great with radiators. Using radiator fans helps, but with most radiators being plumbed in with entry and exit pipes at the base of the radiator, the cold water will simply flow along the bottom and the rest of the radiator stays warm. Heat Geek has recently released a couple of videos about this if anyone is interested.