To absolutely hate heat pumps?!

[Rosesandstars]

We moved into a house with a heat pump already set up. It is awful- it takes ages for the heating to get to any reasonable temperature and the hot water runs out after a 15 minute shower, it then takes over an hour to heat up again. Does anyone else find the same or AIBU?

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Updated by MNHQ
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Your hot water running out suggests that you need a larger hot water cylinder. What size is the one you have?

Was the house suitable for heat pump?

Heat pumps basically need:
Very well insulated houses
Underfloor heating works best

It isnt a system well suited to rapidly changing weather like we get in england, as it takes a long time to heat up.

You are supposed to run heat pumps differently to boilers.

Basically on all the time rather than switch them on and off.

In general they can't deliver large changes in temperature quickly because they are lower power than gas boilers.

Who has a 15 minute shower?

Jovack loads of people? Or two adults each having a 7/8 min shower back to back

Me.

DH and I prefer to shower face to face 😁🤭

@Jovacknockowitch Me. I have a physical disability which makes it all quite difficult. Especially on hair wash days.

@Rosesandstars no they're useless ugly bastard things. I stayed with my mum, it drove me insane, could wait to be home with my combi & rads.

I'm hoping By the time I have to replace my combi & rads there's something far better.

not to mention I couldn't actually have one here as there's nowhere the huge fuck off unit could go outside

We have an air source heat pump which works fine. We leave the thermostat set to the temperature we want, and always have plenty of hot water. We do have a large hot water tank.

Is that a heat pump where they drill a bore hole? My friend has one, house is always freezing and they won't ever talk about how much it costs to run...which is frustrating as I am considering options for my next house.

I loved ours. Leave it on 20 and goes off when needed. The hot water issue is to do with the size of your water tank.

We have a heat pump and love it but it is a very different way of heating the house to a normal boiler. You need to keep the house warm all the time as it takes a long time to get the house warm again if it gets cold. We keep it at 18 overnight and 20 during the day when we're at home. The house is always lovely and cosy and it costs less to keep it warm than it used to with the gas boiler.

We don't have any issue with the hot water, all 4 of us can have a shower without a problem, you might need someone who is familiar with setting them up to come and help you get the settings right for you.

Honestly love ours,house is always warm and it’s cheaper to run then oil or gas.
again you need a bigger hot water tank and to set the temperature x

We have only ever had great experiences- sounds like yours isn’t working properly. Our last house had unlimited hot water-it literally never ran out and I have very long showers.

Current house gets heat pump at the end of the month, can’t bloody wait! Fecking hate the oil boiler with a passion. Currently running the oil down with free abandon and still there’s never any hot water.

I've stayed in holiday cottages with them. Absolutely fucking useless shite, I was very pro- them for eco reasons but I wouldn't have one now. If they can't be turned on and off often that does explain why one holiday cottage in particular was rotten cold, as the owner turned it on when we arrived for a 2 night stay in January! She went on and on and on about how cozy it make the place- like hell it did!

Do any of the posters above have any experience of them in old Victorian properties? They use heat pumps Down Under and despite superficially warmer weather, the houses there are generally freezing in winter compared to our crumbling old house which is toasty thanks to a big F off Vallaint and Megaflo water tank. But I’m open to change if someone can convince me a heat pump will work on an older property.

Recently replaced our gas boiler with an air source heat pump. As has been said, we keep it on 24/7. The house is toasty and it's costing us less to run than the gas boiler did.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Heat pumps may be cheaper than gas to run for some people, but only marginally so. It will take forever to recover your installation costs

The only time I would consider them is if the install was free, which amazingly it is for some people and I was not on mains gas.

This a 15 minute shower is very long

So you are saying you should not expect to have 15 minutes of continuous hot water?

You spend 15 minutes in the shower? What a waste of water.

Morning time, people have back to back showers, 2 x people easily 15 mins

Or to have a 4 minute shower?

@MsGrinchtoyou If you live in a Victorian property, your first step should be a retrofit assessment, rather than a leap straight to a heat pump.

This is the second thread I've read recently about how terrible heat pumps are, which is rather worrying given the Government push for them. I wonder if the issue is poor advice/installation rather than the technology itself?

Are you running it all the time at 18 or similar? If you're switching it on for a few hours morning and evening like a gas boiler that will be why it's useless. People I know have them and like them, their houses are warm and no hot water issues.