51–60 of 113 posts
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But demand is lower in the summer, so this shouldn't effect renewable energy requirements.
This is a good point, summer time could potentially use solar.
The headline doesn't match the article: of the three people interviewed, the first loved it, but taxpayers paid for hers. The second liked it, but doesn't know if he'll ever make the money back, and the third didn't like it.
Aren't they also inappropriate for showers, as in they can't heat the water fast enough for a hot shower? Feels like a poorly thought out panic solution here in the Netherlands, where they're saying they're going to shut off gas in n years (number keeps changing, because it's more of a scare tactic to get people moving).
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> Another sad mark in the "wish I didnt have to kill the planet but ..." column. The high cost of the hardware, installation and maintenance suggests that you would rather "kill the planet" with the system installed?
I'm not sure whether your question is some kind of flippant accusation, but in case you're being genuine: I think the poster you quoted is saying something like: if I could afford to do the right thing for the planet, I would - but I cannot afford to and am forced to do something which I know is detrimental.
No. I rather meant to indicate that it might have been a good decision. There are some studies here from Germany that suggest that heat pump systems can lead to higher total CO2 emissions than using alternative systems. (I think it was compared to an infrared heating system with solar installed.) A high price of the hardware itself and the associated costs of installing and maintaining such as system might be a good indicator of why that is (higher complexity).
Just because a solution appears "green", it doesn't necessarily have to keep its promises. Especially when people do panic installations as has happened here in Germany, they might get sold on an idea rather than a reality. Hardly a benefit for the planet.
Any system will do once your energy losses are miniscule, e.g. think of the passive homes.
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The climate in the UK may be too warm to see the real benefits. Heat pumps have been popular in the Finland for 15+ years. The calculations vary from situation to situation, but the rule of thumb is that the initial investment pays itself back in ~5 years, and you have to replace the heat pump after ~15 years.
5 years look for me highly unexpected. Can you please detail the pump type and whether you get subventions for it?
The only subsidy is the deduction for hiring household help. If you hire outside help for any purpose, you get a tax deduction based on the wages you pay.
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> Inappropriate for many (possibly most) dwellings in the UK Why ? UK is well above freezing (and even them, heat pumps _work_ below freezing, even with a COP > 1). So I'm curious about your assumption
The OP did a bad job but here are my guesses. Most traditional UK homes do not have central air, they use boiler/radiator systems for the winter. Retrofitting these homes do have central air with a heat pump probably does not make sense. I don't think the product the OP linked was a very good example either. It's just an electric boiler that somehow stores offpeak energy to be used during the day. Don't know a lot ab…
There is a huge education gap unfortunately, since there are grants to install them so you get dodgy installers doing crap jobs. Even with a high quality heat pump, if it's not set up correctly you can get COPs as low as 2.5 or so and pay more than having gas. There are some good channels on YouTube of people with the proper training making fairly minor changes to these systems and acheiving SCOPs around 4 which is cheaper than gas.
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> Inappropriate for many (possibly most) dwellings in the UK Why ? UK is well above freezing (and even them, heat pumps _work_ below freezing, even with a COP > 1). So I'm curious about your assumption
My understanding (and I'd love to be wrong here because it annoys me that I can't take advantage of high efficiency systems) is that: 1. Existing UK homes use radiators that would need to be replaced with larger radiators with an air-to-water heat pump, due to the water not being as hot as a traditional radiator system. Some of this is cost (replacing radiators), some of this is simply not having the space - many rad…
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This (at least the headline) reads like an advertisement for heat pump systems. I doubt that anyone has calculated the total cost of owning and operating such a system. It might pay off in a super modern highly insulated home. Otherwise, good luck with these systems. The high upfront and maintenance cost and the expected lifetime of about 15 years make this look like a very questionable proposition to me.
Wouldn't it take longer to pay off on a well-insulated home? That's the sort of home that doesn't use much gas to begin with.
2) Having that heat pump removes the need for a natural gas hookup - and fixed-rate monthly cost that comes with it regardless how much gas is used.
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But demand is lower in the summer, so this shouldn't effect renewable energy requirements.
This is regionally specific. The US south, for instance, sees higher usage in summer due to air conditioning demand.
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> Inappropriate for many (possibly most) dwellings in the UK Why ? UK is well above freezing (and even them, heat pumps _work_ below freezing, even with a COP > 1). So I'm curious about your assumption
Most boilers sit in peoples homes. An ASHP sits outside and you will need at least 5sq meters of space with excellent ventilation. That excludes many people (including me). But even then during winter the average ASHP makes too much noise. Planning regulations are starting to recognise the fact that they can be a nuisance in semi-rural areas, and your neighbours will hate you. This ignores all the problems around hav…
I don't see where you read that, but at least for Daikin ones, the front must be clear, but usage can be shared (eg. a driveway)