Heat Pumps and Solar

Munroast · 2026-01-21T09:48:29+0000

Milliband has just announce an eye watering expensive scheme to get heat pumps and solar into our homes to combat fuel poverty -

I have 20 panels on our roof and think they are excellent, but to power heat pumps they will be fairly useless, at the time of year we need to heat our houses, in Dec and Jan, you will need to buy electric at cost to run these heat pumps, and even though the heat pumps ae 300% efficient, electric atfull price is about 4x the cost of gas

in a full year my solar panels produce just over 8000 kwh , but n the 8 weeks that surround the shortest day, it only produced 280kwh

so to sum up - should be quite cheap to heat our homes in the summer.

SPLINE · 2026-01-21T10:10:50+0000

Just another tax.

motorbiking · 2026-01-21T10:35:00+0000

Munroast said:
Milliband has just announce an eye watering expensive scheme to get heat pumps and solar into our homes to combat fuel poverty -

I have 20 panels on our roof and think they are excellent, but to power heat pumps they will be fairly useless, at the time of year we need to heat our houses, in Dec and Jan, you will need to buy electric at cost to run these heat pumps, and even though the heat pumps ae 300% efficient, electric atfull price is about 4x the cost of gas

in a full year my solar panels produce just over 8000 kwh , but n the 8 weeks that surround the shortest day, it only produced 280kwh

so to sum up - should be quite cheap to heat our homes in the summer.

Air sourced reversible aircon, working alongside your gas boiler is the way to go with electric pre-heaters for hot water in the summer.

Then on sunny cold days the aircon can top up the heating and the pre-heaters will reduce or even eliminate gas hot water in the summer.

I assume you have a large capacity battery storage system, or are you just happy to provide free energy to your supplier?

Munroast · 2026-01-21T12:25:11+0000

Part of the deal with any grants is you have to get rid of the gas boiler. last year we done a lot of decorating downstairs, new carpts etc, I considered underfloor heating powered from air source - the prices are eye watering and no grant unless gas boiler taken out. I thought it would have been good having air source for 9 months then backed up by gas for the mid winter - but No, you have to go full air source, so heating would be poor and expensive in the winter

we have 10kwh of batteries, (7.5 in practice) , not sure if they are worth having, export prices are good. And charging from grid when prics are low is crap, huge wastage with 2 trips through the inverter

motorbiking · 2026-01-21T12:38:58+0000

Hence why I said reversible aircon, which can be added for a fraction of the cost. A pair of 5 heads would cost under 3k. Better brands available, but this sort of thing.

electriQ iQool Multi-Split 5 x 12000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included IQool-5MS12k12K12K12K12K | Appliances Direct

Buy electriQ iQool Multi-Split 5 x 12000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included IQool-5MS12k12K12K12K12K from Appliances Direct - the UK's leading online appliance specialist

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk

ReganAndCarter · 2026-01-21T12:49:54+0000

Sticking with gas. My 22 year old Vaillant started playing up. A brand new PCB from Ebay got it up and running again for £60. Even though it's not a condenser it's not that expensive to run.

All this green stuff sounds like ripping your house apart and spending thousands to save a few quid. If the Milliband boy is pushing it I definitely ain't buying.

Munroast · 2026-01-21T12:51:47+0000

motorbiking said:
Hence why I said reversible aircon, which can be added for a fraction of the cost. A pair of 5 heads would cost under 3k. Better brands available, but this sort of thing.

electriQ iQool Multi-Split 5 x 12000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included IQool-5MS12k12K12K12K12K | Appliances Direct

Buy electriQ iQool Multi-Split 5 x 12000 BTU Smart Wall Mounted Air Conditioner with Heat Pump - Pipe Kits Included IQool-5MS12k12K12K12K12K from Appliances Direct - the UK's leading online appliance specialist

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk

couldn't stand the noise of them things whirring away - I liked the idea of underfloor that would have made a nice gentle background warmth.

Munroast · 2026-01-21T12:54:23+0000

ReganAndCarter said:
Sticking with gas. My 22 year old Vaillant started playing up. A brand new PCB from Ebay got it up and running again for £60. Even though it's not a condenser it's not that expensive to run.

All this green stuff sounds like ripping your house apart and spending thousands to save a few quid. If the Milliband boy is pushing it I definitely ain't buying.

don't even think you save a few quid, 10 to 20k to semi rebild your house then have a system that is not as warm and costs the same

Solar Panels - YES
Air Source heating - NO

motorbiking · 2026-01-21T12:56:48+0000

Munroast said:
couldn't stand the noise of them things whirring away - I liked the idea of underfloor that would have made a nice gentle background warmth.

The noisy bit goes outside.

Munroast · 2026-01-21T13:04:55+0000

motorbiking said:
The noisy bit goes outside.

Jeez - I think everyone knows that

you can still hear the fan on the wall in the house blowing air, might be OK in an Office or workshop - but in your house ?

Rodders53 · 2026-01-21T13:05:54+0000

motorbiking said:
The noisy bit goes outside.

Noisiest bit outside.
Indoor units still have fan motors and vane motors than generate noise. (Plus the gasses can make noise, not dissimilar to CH water circulating, but different).

Warm air blown about ain't the same as radiator or underfloor heating either.

UFH is OK but not quick to respond. Overheats house if sun comes out as it keeps emitting additional heat into the room(s).

I have air to air heat pumps and oil-fired UFH in this home.

ReganAndCarter · 2026-01-21T13:08:07+0000

Nothing I'm hearing so far is selling this green malarkey to me.

diy_fun_uk · 2026-01-21T13:08:52+0000

ReganAndCarter said:
Sticking with gas. My 22 year old Vaillant started playing up. A brand new PCB from Ebay got it up and running again for £60. Even though it's not a condenser it's not that expensive to run.

All this green stuff sounds like ripping your house apart and spending thousands to save a few quid. If the Milliband boy is pushing it I definitely ain't buying.

I've got a Stelrad Ideal Mexico. It was here when I moved in and I'm assuming is original to the house, built in the 80s.

Servicing engineer said to me 'It's got about four moving parts. As long as parts are available, I'd keep it. Simple to service and repair. Built to last.'

Funnily enough years back a British Gas engineer tried to tell me parts were no longer available. Was obviously on commission for pushing new boiler installs. The next year, another British Gas engineer told me 'nah. you can get the parts no bother.'

These days I use a local trusted company to service it.

diy_fun_uk · 2026-01-21T13:13:40+0000

ReganAndCarter said:
Nothing I'm hearing so far is selling this green malarkey to me.

You get a signed pic of Milliband if you sign up. That sold it to you?

Heat Pumps and Solar

Similar threads