Hi there. I'm new to the forums and was looking for a little bit of advice.
In August 2011 I moved in to my new-build, ICF house. When I was deciding what I wanted my house to be like during the design phase I decided that I wanted it to be very well insulated, warm and energy efficient. Unfortunately, I only seem to have achieved one of those three goals and I feel a bit cheated to be honest.
My house has excellent insulation due to the ICF construction. It feels solid, quiet and at the right temperature is a very pleasant place to be indeed. That part of the build was incredibly successful.
The problems come with the heating system which was recommended to me. I have an air source heat pump (ASHP) which 'warms' the water for my underfloor heating downstairs and my radiators upstairs. It also 'warms' my hot water with an immersion taking it the rest of the way up. Last winter, I have to admit that we never really knew how to work the system as it was never fully explained to us and there were a few teething problems going on at the time. This winter, I'm just finding it to be really inefficient at heating my house. It also seems to be crazy expensive on electricity. I have an Economy 10 energy tariff which gives me 3 cheap periods per day. I make sure my heating only comes on during those periods. I'm worried it's not enough though. My thermostats for my underfloor heating are set to 21 degrees but are only achieving 18 at the moment. I don't want to put the heating on during the standard rate periods as my electricity would be even more expensive than it is now. I'm already paying a direct debit of £150/month which isn't even covering my bills. Looking at it over the last year and a half I think it's going to average out more like £200/month which is just insane for a new, well insulated house surely?
Anyway, I was looking for some advice. Am I being unrealistic in my expectations of the system? Should I be on a different electricity tariff? I would also quite like to know how easy it would be to take the system out and replace it with an oil based system? Would it just slot straight in to the water system I already have for the ASHP?
Also, it'd be nice to hear from anyone who has similar or different experiences with ASHPs.
Cheers,
Kev
In August 2011 I moved in to my new-build, ICF house. When I was deciding what I wanted my house to be like during the design phase I decided that I wanted it to be very well insulated, warm and energy efficient. Unfortunately, I only seem to have achieved one of those three goals and I feel a bit cheated to be honest.
My house has excellent insulation due to the ICF construction. It feels solid, quiet and at the right temperature is a very pleasant place to be indeed. That part of the build was incredibly successful.
The problems come with the heating system which was recommended to me. I have an air source heat pump (ASHP) which 'warms' the water for my underfloor heating downstairs and my radiators upstairs. It also 'warms' my hot water with an immersion taking it the rest of the way up. Last winter, I have to admit that we never really knew how to work the system as it was never fully explained to us and there were a few teething problems going on at the time. This winter, I'm just finding it to be really inefficient at heating my house. It also seems to be crazy expensive on electricity. I have an Economy 10 energy tariff which gives me 3 cheap periods per day. I make sure my heating only comes on during those periods. I'm worried it's not enough though. My thermostats for my underfloor heating are set to 21 degrees but are only achieving 18 at the moment. I don't want to put the heating on during the standard rate periods as my electricity would be even more expensive than it is now. I'm already paying a direct debit of £150/month which isn't even covering my bills. Looking at it over the last year and a half I think it's going to average out more like £200/month which is just insane for a new, well insulated house surely?
Anyway, I was looking for some advice. Am I being unrealistic in my expectations of the system? Should I be on a different electricity tariff? I would also quite like to know how easy it would be to take the system out and replace it with an oil based system? Would it just slot straight in to the water system I already have for the ASHP?
Also, it'd be nice to hear from anyone who has similar or different experiences with ASHPs.
Cheers,
Kev