Do you have an airsource heat pump?

[Heavyboom]

I'm looking at a new build house.

Plans show an air source heat pump, rather than a gas boiler, as you'd expect when gas boilers are to be banned in new builds after 2025.

The developer has lots of speil about how the technology isn't quite there and when it's very cold they're not "enough", especially for hot water. I suspect this is nonsense and it's all because a gas boiler is cheaper for them.

So questions. Is the pump noisy, would it bother you to share a small garden with one? The plans show it tucked out of sight, but it is a tiny garden.

What is inside the house? The place I'm looking at is small, I'd prefer not to give precious cupboard space to a boiler, if avoidable.

Do you find it's enough, or do you use other heating and hot water facilities in the coldest months?

Hey, I'm interested in air source heat pump so did a search on here and just saw this. Hope you don't mind me answering. I've read this article recently, which debunks and explains most misconceptions about them. Hope this helps: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/sep/28/heat-pumps-future-hot-air-labour-home-upgrade?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Only when DH and I lived overseas. Worked as a/c in hot weather and was supposed to heat the house in cold weather. Worked well as a/c, shit at heating and very expensive to run but houses there didn’t have insulation as winter effectively lasted 8 weeks. You got used to the noise as lots of neighbours left theirs running all night in summer.

We have one in an air tight 3-storey house with underfloor heating throughout. It's very quiet (ours is on the side of a first floor terrace that we use a lot for entertaining) and very efficient - we don't have any other heat source. Our cyclinder is inside our plant room (designed specifically to house this, MVHR unit etc). Our energy bills are tiny for the size of the house. For a well insulated, high quality build, I would highly recommend them. Heat pumps vary hugely in quality though so you need to do some research before deciding on the best one for your house.

Did you go with local installers? Did you change providers? Who advised you for size and type of pump? Sorry for all the questions, I feel like I'm stabbing in the dark atm

We used a local company. We did speak with a few but we liked them and they also installed a misting system for us and we were happy with the service from them for that. They did provide advice but ultimately we decided on a different make (Vaillant) and then they provided guidance on where to site the unit and what they needed in terms of trenching etc. They also applied for the grant for us. My advice would be to do your own research on the internet so you feel well informed enough to make a decision based on the house you're buying. Make sure you're happy that it will be insulated well enough and the finish is good in terms of minimising heat loss as much as possible. I forgot to mention that we have triple glazing with aluminum frames on all windows and doors which also helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask or PM me.

No, I don’t have an air source heat pump. However, if you’re considering installing one, you might be interested in air source heat pump grants, which can help reduce the upfront costs. Many government schemes and energy programs offer financial incentives to make renewable heating solutions more affordable. It’s worth researching the eligibility criteria and application process for these grants to take full advantage of the savings.

Sorry to go against the grain but we had an air source heat pump in our house which was a new build. We had it for 7 years in which we had many problems with it, especially as you say not working properly. When it was cold outside we ended up freezing which is ridiculous in a brand new house and heat source pumps are supposedly great. We ended up with no proper heating for the last 2 years because of the problems with it. We ended up adding our own gas tank into our garden and taking out the heat source pump. Finally, we actually have some heating. I cannot recommend the heat source pump and our neighbours say the same as they have had the same problems

That sounds disappointing...we like the idea of installing a air source heatpump. Do you remember the make of the heat pump?

This sounds great, but isn't this more of an endorsement of high levels of insulation rather than heat pumps? The reason that your house is warm is that it's (quite sensibly) super-insulated! The heat pump could actually be a bit shit, it wouldn't matter, because not much heat is needed because not much is lost.

My friend has just moved in to a property with one of these.

This is the second time in a few weeks it has stopped working. She is freezing. Her children's dad had to come and pick them up.

She certainly wouldn't recommend 🫣

Relatives in a detached new build in the south of England have one and they are freezing and say it is very expensive to run

This might be helpful:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/13/insulating-home-get-a-heat-pump-uk

It's likely that many people that have issues are buying pumps that are either poor quality or too small for the size of their home.

We have had one for two years

very quiet, literally never hear it

nice and toasty at all times. Particularly noticeable this past week which has probably been the coldest it’s been since we had it

however it all depends on having a decent installer that understands heatpump calculations and knows how to tweak it to make it work for your house (which may or may not be suitable). It’s not like a boiler which you can install and just leave it to it. So you need a specific recommendation (I got one on here and he’s been terrific)

you definitely need to be properly insulated. We are, and are spending less money on heating our house than we did with our gas boiler.

your developer is speaking bollocks they just don’t understand the tech and can’t be arsed with the hassle. They’ve been normal in Scandinavian (I.e. colder!) countries for decades

My friend had some installed. They sold and moved, partly as it didn't "work" heating the house sufficiently.

Yes, we installed one when we renovated our house 4 years ago, but had lots of input from a heating engineer about the calculations and have been very happy with it. We do have double glazing, and it's well-insulated since it's newly renovated, but it's an old house, so not completely air tight.

We have zoned underfloor heating and can get extra heat if needed through the vents, but have almost never used that except for cooling. It's a slightly different system in terms of efficiency - it's better to run it on a low heat for a longer period of time than to turn it on and off. Our system is zoned for each room, so we can just turn off parts we're not using, like guest rooms and haven't found it expensive or inefficient, but we're in London, so it might be different somewhere very cold.

We had an acoustic surround thing built around it and never hear it.

We have one, installed 5 years ago. We replaced an oil burner as we do not have gas in the village. House was built in 1998 to standards current at the time. It is absolutely fine, although in -4 this morning the bedroom is a bit cool, but then it always was!
it isn’t noisy, we have. Mitsubishi pump.
However, I’m a bit dubious about the builder who does not sound keen. So many of the problems seem to arise from poor installations.Also people want to run them like a gas boiler, they need to be on all the time, you can’t switch them on or off like an gas or oil boiler
we had a company do a presentation in the Village, and we started to investigate ASHP, we looked at the Energy Savings Trust and other sources. We had several quotes. We went to the original company in the end. If you are within a striking distance of Hertfordshire I would recommend them.
check out any company who offers to install, you want experience!

It was -10C one night last week up here - ASHP was working fine. The large open plan area was a toasty 21C.