Air Source Heat Pumps

[Deleted User]

matelodave wrote: »

On another subject - we have changed our kitchen lighting to LED, so instead of 10 x 50watt GU10s we've now got 10x4watt GU10s. Saving 460 watts for every hour that they are on. They actually give a better spread of light and I'm hoping to save at least £50 a year just in the kitchen.

Certainly the warm white LED MR16s I've been putting in to replace the original halogens are superb. Much better spread and quality of light. Purchased them from LED hut. Obviously replacing the old transformers with LED drivers as I go.

The plan is to save where I can before making a decision on the ImmerSUN.

Ilan

Looking to build a new home of 400sqm with 2 x 14kw air source pumps, underfloor heating. Gas supply is no problem but we thought was best to use air pump. Prob cost about 10-12k including hot water cylinder. Any thoughts? We were told gas prob best but feels like the wrong thing to do.

lovesgshp

Ilan wrote: »

Looking to build a new home of 400sqm with 2 x 14kw air source pumps, underfloor heating. Gas supply is no problem but we thought was best to use air pump. Prob cost about 10-12k including hot water cylinder. Any thoughts? We were told gas prob best but feels like the wrong thing to do.

If normal gas supply, then I would suggest you stay with it. It will take far longer to recoup the investment in the heat pumps, than with lpg.

TiredGeek

Ilan wrote: »

Looking to build a new home of 400sqm with 2 x 14kw air source pumps, underfloor heating. Gas supply is no problem but we thought was best to use air pump. Prob cost about 10-12k including hot water cylinder. Any thoughts? We were told gas prob best but feels like the wrong thing to do.

I'd say your a couple of grand low on the estimate there, £14-£16k would be more like it I would think when it's all finished.

I have no regrets getting ASHP, and I'd recommend them to anyone off grid, but if you have mains gas then I'd think long and hard about the mathematics. Gas is probably gonna be half the price of a decent ASHP system.
It'll take you a long time to make up the extra cost if your ASHP system was cheaper to run than gas, but it's in no way certain that it would be, it may be dearer.
Don't count on the mythical RHI to help the costs of ASHP either, if you have mains gas to hand then it won't be paid to you....

matelodave

I've got a heatpump and I'm very pleased with it, but I would have fitted a gas combi if we'd had mains gas available.

Potentially it's saving me £250-£500 a year (its hard to know as we had a completely new system installed when we moved in to replace old storage heaters on E7 which we never used) so if you work it out it will take 2-4 years per£1000 to pay back the increased cost over a mains gas combi.

Heat Pumps arent very responsive so it takes a long time for the building to get up to temperature, so they are better suited to all-day occupation and they are also a bit slow when heating hot water. I've no doubt that a brand new properly designed system in a brand new home could be very economical to run, but you do need a very good understanding of how it works and to get it optimised

As said above, you wont get the RHI if you've got mains gas available and even if you hadn't I wouldn't hold my breath for it to be implemented (I've been waiting for two years already and its been put back another 12 months). I'd also suggest that there'll be so many hoops to jump through that it won't be worth it anyway

If you've mains gas available then stay with it - the extra cost of a heatpump will pay for an awful lot of gas

karter

I have just had a system installed but I am not happy with the kit provided as it is not the equipment that was discussed at the time of sale. I was quoted on a CTC system that included an intelligent thermal store as well as CTC ASHP.

The have installed 2 eco warrior heat pumps 12Kw & 9Kw. This has the 2 outside units plus 2 indoor inverters. The tank that has been installed is a Powerflow 210 litre tank that has no expansion options for heating a pool or wood pellet heating.

They have also replace 15 of my radiators but to be honest it looks like most of them are the same size as the ones taken out. There are a few that are bigger but not many. the construction of the new radiators looks identical to the ones replaced. The single vane radiators that have been replaced with double vane ones I am fine with.

I have only paid £5300 of the quoted price of £19300
My suspicion is they have installed cheaper inferior products to maximise profit and I am dreading the electricity bills that I presume I am going to be hit with.
They have also promised savings and RHI payments from the govt totalling £50k over 7 years based on the lowest payout figure. They have also confirmed that payments will be backdated to the date of my installation.

Any advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

Do you have a written specification for the £19,300 quote?

Also is their promised savings(over what??) and RHI payments in writing. To save £50k in 7 years(over £7,000 a year!) is just a joke.

Why are you dreading electricity bills? Surely the whole purpose of getting a heat pump was to reduce electricity bills.

lovesgshp

karter wrote: »

I have just had a system installed but I am not happy with the kit provided as it is not the equipment that was discussed at the time of sale. I was quoted on a CTC system that included an intelligent thermal store as well as CTC ASHP.

The have installed 2 eco warrior heat pumps 12Kw & 9Kw. This has the 2 outside units plus 2 indoor inverters. The tank that has been installed is a Powerflow 210 litre tank that has no expansion options for heating a pool or wood pellet heating.

They have also replace 15 of my radiators but to be honest it looks like most of them are the same size as the ones taken out. There are a few that are bigger but not many. the construction of the new radiators looks identical to the ones replaced. The single vane radiators that have been replaced with double vane ones I am fine with.

I have only paid £5300 of the quoted price of £19300
My suspicion is they have installed cheaper inferior products to maximise profit and I am dreading the electricity bills that I presume I am going to be hit with.
They have also promised savings and RHI payments from the govt totalling £50k over 7 years based on the lowest payout figure. They have also confirmed that payments will be backdated to the date of my installation.

Any advice on how to deal with this would be greatly appreciated.

The prices seem very high for the units, but that could be the radiator costs . My view would have been to see how the existing rads coped with the pump and then have made an informed decision on the performance over the cooler months.
The 210 ltr tank looks to be more like a buffer tank size, but I may be wrong. Is the heat pump supplying the hot water as well through this tank?

dullnote

I too have a ASHP and happy, but as other here if you can get mains gas go for it, I think running my ASHP is just about as cheap but costs a lot more to purchase.

Mains gas if available is a must, remember government talking about no grant if you have access to mains gas, this tells you something

M.Tucker

TiredGeek wrote: »

I'd say your a couple of grand low on the estimate there, £14-£16k would be more like it I would think when it's all finished.

I have no regrets getting ASHP, and I'd recommend them to anyone off grid, but if you have mains gas then I'd think long and hard about the mathematics. Gas is probably gonna be half the price of a decent ASHP system.
It'll take you a long time to make up the extra cost if your ASHP system was cheaper to run than gas, but it's in no way certain that it would be, it may be dearer.
Don't count on the mythical RHI to help the costs of ASHP either, if you have mains gas to hand then it won't be paid to you....

Actually, only the RHPP [Renewable Heating Premium Payment] has been stipulated to not being paid to those on gas mains. It is ALREADY in play to be paid an RHI on installing an MCS registered product, it's nothing to do with what it is replacing, the amount is what is in question and the payback period. There's nothing mythical about something that has been said IS going to happen, what is unsure is, is it a 7 year compressed payment of 20years deemed usage? Where will it lie between 6.9-11.5? Ensuring you qualify is the key, the return alone is worth it.