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Boiler
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 2:04 pm
by Holley
Has anyone on here got an air-sourced heat pump for their home?
Thinking of replacing our 12kw electric boiler that's not very good at all (we rely quite heavily on using 2 log burners which whilst lovely, is a little annoying to do morning and night).
Looked at Oil but would rather go for a more greta approach if possible.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:46 pm
by Jobbo
If everyone went for an air-source heat pump, would that counter global warming?
If not, perhaps leaving the fridge door open would help.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 6:53 pm
by Simon
A friend of mine has one. You need to make sure of two things:
One - your house needs really good insulation. It doesn't work well under 'high load' IYKWIM.
Two - Your radiators needs to be correctly sized, because the flow temp isn't actually that high, so to get all the heat into the room needs a bigger rad.
Oh, and he found it better to leave his heating on most of the time, just lowering the temp at night, rather than going for periods of on/off like you might do with a timer setup. See 'One' for reasons.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2019 7:07 pm
by DeskJockey
My dad has one for the annex that he uses as a study. It is only one double height room, but it works really well and he can keep it at his preferred 21c easily.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am
by Holley
I think the fact that ASHP only run at 55c will mean we'll need larger rads (compared with 75c with an oil based boiler system) to make it work and thus further increase initial cost. Another concern here is that potentially the boiler would need to be 'on' for longer to maintain a good temperature (doesn't help we have 14ft high ceilings). If that is the case, the main selling point of being cheaper to run might not be true for us. I think I was more fascinated with the technology of ASHP and have been glossing over its flaws.
My wife has been saying to go oil for a while now and I so wanted her to be wrong. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for not helping me out
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:47 am
by Beany
Was there not a huge thread on the old forum about underfloor heating, or am I imagining that?
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:58 am
by V8Granite
Holley wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:43 am
I think the fact that ASHP only run at 55c will mean we'll need larger rads (compared with 75c with an oil based boiler system) to make it work and thus further increase initial cost. Another concern here is that potentially the boiler would need to be 'on' for longer to maintain a good temperature (doesn't help we have 14ft high ceilings). If that is the case, the main selling point of being cheaper to run might not be true for us. I think I was more fascinated with the technology of ASHP and have been glossing over its flaws.
My wife has been saying to go oil for a while now and I so wanted her to be wrong. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for not helping me out
There was an air ventilation system available about 10 years ago that was very clever. It ran removed the moist air from the kitchen and bathroom area and filtered it. Some people said they only had to dust once a month or so etc.
A secondary part of it was that the warm air was ducted through a heat exchanger so that any water you bring into the house has the chill taken off it and it improved boiler efficiency. It was also part of a 3 stage boiler where it heated a smaller amount up very high on an efficient burn and it then went to 2 other tanks with the bottom low temp tank being for underfloor heating.
All clever stuff.
Dave!
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:47 pm
by Mito Man
I saw something like that on grand designs - I always wonder about the longevity and if you’d ever make the money back through efficiency savings. There was another house on some other program which had no heating as it was supposedly so well insulated and sealed from the outside that the heat from electrical appliances and the people living in it was all that it needed to maintain a comfortable temp. Sounded horrible though.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:53 pm
by Carlos
Have you considered biomass ?
I know a couple of rurals with no mains gas go down this route as air/ground source looked inappropriate for a retro fit to an older property.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:12 pm
by Simon
I had oil in the last house I owned. It works surprisingly well, and if your tank is big enough you have the luxury of filling up in the year when it's cheaper.
Plus the boilers are usually so much simpler than a modern condensing gas boiler. We had a Worcestor Bosch and it was very reliable over 7 years. Only ever needed a new 'lighter' thingy, which was a service part anyway.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:36 pm
by Holley
Carlos wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 12:53 pm
Have you considered biomass ?
I know a couple of rurals with no mains gas go down this route as air/ground source looked inappropriate for a retro fit to an older property.
It would likely cost too much as we'd need to adapt our house to make it fit. Plus I'd like a system that just works without any further work on my behalf
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:48 pm
by Jackleg
I know it's not quite what you're asking for as it's a GSHP. But, I used to live in a house that was heated by one of these
https://www.kensaheatpumps.com/. It seemed to work very well, and I don't remember the heaters being much, if any, larger than normal. The house was an old cottage, but reasonably well insulated.
Mum has OFCH, it's fine and works well, but she's always acutely aware of the cost of filling the tank. And, it's not overly green, which given the way the tide is turning against fossil fuels, I'd be concerned about if I was going to the expense of installing a boiler, tank, etc.
Re: Boiler
Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 3:02 pm
by Holley
Jackleg wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:48 pm
I know it's not quite what you're asking for as it's a GSHP. But, I used to live in a house that was heated by one of these
https://www.kensaheatpumps.com/. It seemed to work very well, and I don't remember the heaters being much, if any, larger than normal. The house was an old cottage, but reasonably well insulated.
Mum has OFCH, it's fine and works well, but she's always acutely aware of the cost of filling the tank. And, it's not overly green, which given the way the tide is turning against fossil fuels, I'd be concerned about if I was going to the expense of installing a boiler, tank, etc.
Interesting, will have a read of that later
