Heat Pump Central Heating

[bottler]

Has anyone running a Heat Pump Central Heating System?

I have a solid wall town house that I'm renovating... and i was going down the path of a woodburning stove for my Central Heating... until someone suggested that I'd be a fool not to install a Heat Pump Central Heating System.

Reading around the web i see that a woodburning stove with a back boiler can be docked to a Heat Pump also - so looks like i could have the best of both worlds.

Just wondering is the price tag worth it. I'm hearing figures of £5,000 to £10,000? I realise the automation will be a big plus over the manual woodburner system. But overall, is the significant inflated price tag worth it?

Anyone care to give their views on this system? Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[stem]

Heat pumps can't produce a very high temperature (around 45 to 50 degrees) so are only really suitable for buildings with high levels of insulation. They are normally used with either wet underfloor heating, or ducted air systems.

The insulation is essential, because in cold weather the heat loss must be minimal, or they won't be able to cope. It's also usual to leave them running 24/7 too, because they may not be able to catch up on their own if the fabric of the property is allowed to cool.

If you try to use them with traditional radiators, the radiators will only get lukewarm.

Heat pumps can provide some heat input into a system with traditional radiators, but an additional heat-source will need to operate with it, not only to achieve a satisfactory comfort level, but to make sure that the temperature gets up to above 60 degrees to prevent the risk of legionella if there is stored hot water.

Heat pumps also become less efficient as the temperature drops. This can be very significant with 'air source' because the outdoor units are prone to freezing when the ambient temperature drops below 5 degrees and continually have to defrost themselves. Less so with 'ground source'.

Personally if I had a very well insulated property with wet underfloor heating throughout and a big enough garden to accommodate the required underground pipework , I would consider a ground source heat pump. But I think it will cost a fair bit more than the figures you suggest, and then there's the installation of UFH to add if it's not there already.

 

[oilboffin]

Don't forget if it's cold and the pump can't make heat it reverts to electric heating very expensive

 

[bernardgreen]

Heat pumps can't produce a very high temperature

Over 100°C is possible albeit with a low COP

Don't forget if it's cold and the pump can't make heat

They can operate with air temperatures below 0°C provided the air is dry ( which it will be if below freezing point )

Ecodan units may not be the lowest price but they do work to provide hot water in cold country winters.

http://heating.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/downloads/Pages/Video_Ecodan_for_Homeowners.aspx

 

[bottler]

stem - thank you very VERY much for such a detailed review. Outstanding! truly wonderful aid.

oilboffin & bernardgreen - read that alright, cheers for reassuring me so.

The input really has made my mind up to opt for the Log Burner/ Boiler/ Radiator option for now.

Just need to discover what the is the latest and greatest Solid Fuel Burner.

Thanks for your help folks. Greatly appreciated!

 

[oilboffin]

Hey bernie babe there are loads of hp unit on our isle and there's probes all the time and the costs are out of this world £50-00 a week sometimes so me I'll give em a miss

 

[PullerGas]

Hey bernie babe there are loads of hp unit on our isle and there's probes all the time and the costs are out of this world £50-00 a week sometimes so me I'll give em a miss

It was just crazy, these massive RHI grants etc for appliances that couldn't/can't provide enough heat.
All these ex-used car salesmen that were suddenly heating experts & jumped on the greenwash bandwagon.
Thankfully most of these 'Renewables' companies have gone tits up.

It's far from rocket science; spend as much as you can afford on insulation & reducing air movement. But don't ignore the requirements for ventilation. Get a full heatloss calculation done considering these details.

As for heat pumps; air source generally have the poorest COP. Nothing wrong with a correctly designed ASHP, but my advice is have a small stove as supplementary heating.

 

[oilboffin]

Well said sir dick