No air source heat pump- what now??

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

Our oil boiler is on the blink, and I’m really keen to replace with a greener system.
we have just had a survey from Octopus and they can’t provide us with an air source heat pump, apparently our house is too big! It’s not that big!
they have sad we would need a 13kw heat pump which they don’t manufacture, as it would cost too much to run.
don’t know what to do now. I had a quote for biomass but it was just so much money for so much hassle.
ill look again at LPG…
we will probably move in the next few years so don’t want to invest too much or get solar etc.

We are putting in reverse heat & AC units as the planet isn’t getting any cooler.

@Twoshoesnewshoes, try Aira. They did our heat pump and can manage more complex jobs / bigger houses than Octopus. Excellent service and their app is brilliant.

If you’re moving I would just put a new oil boiler in.
Ashp have to be well installed to work efficiently and cheaply. I have an ancient one. It’s efficient at heating water but not doing the heating (I have another heating system). I’ve only just managed to get on a heat pump tariff so hopefully that will reduce the cost. Very cold months are very expensive

I'm not sure of the kW I'd have to look it up its a large Stiebel one. It's a bit difficult to say what the winter running costs are as you still get a bit of solar power in the winter to offset it. Probably around £250 for a cold dull January as the most expensive month. We did have oil but a heat pump gives a more even comfortable warmth.

I’ve just remembered that the County Council are running a group buying exercise for ASHP so that they vet the suppliers.

@TightsWeather ill have a look, thank you!
im really reluctant to put another oil boiler in as it is so carbon heavy

Its not just the ASHP costs you need to consider. If your house isn’t a fairly recent build you may well need to fund more insulation, replace all your radiators and make other changes. You need to work out the total cost not just the cost of the heat pump and guestimated running costs.

I went through all this twice and each time the total cost was massively more than just the ASHP - in the end I just replaced the dying boiler with a newer, more efficient model on the same fuel.

I’m assuming with an oil boiler you are in a rural area? If this gives you more space and more flex for solar panels that can help with run costs (but adds to up front costs). Honestly if moving in a couple of years it makes more sense to get a newer, more efficient oil boiler but ensure its built to work with both standard mineral oil and bio oil, then you can switch easily as bio oil comes on stream.

Yes good point about the bio oil when it becomes feasible- I requested a quote last month. £450 for 1000 lites of heating oil, £2400 for 1000 litres of bio oil! So I think we’re a way off.
ugh it’s so annoying this is happening now.
im so loathe to buy a new oil tank etc.
the whole repair will cost around £3.5k

I have just replaced my 20+ year old oil boiler, looked at the alternative's and decided to stay with oil, a Worcester Bosch heatslave supply and fit £5,550.

Its not been on as much but already I can notice a difference in efficiency.

If I was moving and the house had a air source pump it would put me off after knowing people who have changed from oil and regretted it.

@Twoshoesnewshoes Of course you can have heat pumps! We have around 4,500 sq ft and have 2 x Mitsubishi. If we replaced (they are 15 years old) one might suffice. We now have 24 roof panels and 4 batteries to store what we generate. You must have an efficiently insulated house and very generously sized rads and/or underfloor heating. Of course you can get heat pumps! Shop around.

I have a sun amp battery for water heating. Provides 140 litres on one charge, but ours is a medium sized one, you can buy larger ones that have higher capacity. Ours replaced our oil water heating and doesn’t cost any more to run, around £1 a day. Instantly heats the mains cold feed to a high temperature. We’ve had ours for four years and no issues. https://sunamp.com/en-gb/

@Twoshoesnewshoes - just wondering if you've been refunded the cost of the survey? We've been told the same thing by Octopus and they promised they'd refund us but a month later, no sign of it, despite multiple attempts to chase it. That's put me off more than anything else!

@zebette i forgot! And haven’t checked- I’ll check now, I’m in my overdraft so really need it 😂

Yes, I got it back, almost exactly a month after I paid it

Most of the heat pumps installed at the moment do hot water too (though they do need a tank)

There are lots of installers. Have a look at heat geek as some of their affiliated installers offer a performance guarantee dor efficiency.

I'm glad you did, gives me hope I'm not the victim of a scam!

It does take the same amount of energy to heat water regardless of how you do it. However, a heat pump gets heat from the outside world and “pumps” it in to the water so you only pay for the electricity needed to move the heat. So it takes less electricity to heat water with a heat pump than with an immersion heater.

my friend put a ground source heat pump into her house about 4,500 sqft and energy bills half what they would be with gas / electric