Talk to me about Air Source Heat Pumps
Discussion
So having gone through the possibilities of renewing the oil heating system completely (£5500) then contemplating electric heating (£3000), I have now had a chat with a guy selling Air Source Heat Pumps. All sounds very good and wonderful with half the running costs and money back from the Government etc. it'll be paying me to run it! So where's the catch, are they any good, is this money back for 20 years offer for real and why will it cost nearly £9000 to install when it's basically a fridge running backwards? Have you got one, tried one, rejected one, installed one? Please talk to me.
I know a lot about air sourced heat pumps, and the UK climate.
What are you trying to do?
Heat radiators I suspect. Yes, an air source heat pump will do it, but it will not be as economical as some people will claim.
There is no reason for a £9000 cost, I would suspect this is partly because a heat pump person will recommend a big unit equivalent to say a 30kW boiler, it's not necessary.
I would possibly do it with two 11.9kW units, which would be around £5000 installed. Both units (in parallel) can be wired from standard 2.5mm household wiring.
What are you trying to do?
Heat radiators I suspect. Yes, an air source heat pump will do it, but it will not be as economical as some people will claim.
There is no reason for a £9000 cost, I would suspect this is partly because a heat pump person will recommend a big unit equivalent to say a 30kW boiler, it's not necessary.
I would possibly do it with two 11.9kW units, which would be around £5000 installed. Both units (in parallel) can be wired from standard 2.5mm household wiring.
caziques said:
I know a lot about air sourced heat pumps, and the UK climate.
What are you trying to do?
Heat radiators I suspect. Yes, an air source heat pump will do it, but it will not be as economical as some people will claim.
There is no reason for a £9000 cost, I would suspect this is partly because a heat pump person will recommend a big unit equivalent to say a 30kW boiler, it's not necessary.
I would possibly do it with two 11.9kW units, which would be around £5000 installed. Both units (in parallel) can be wired from standard 2.5mm household wiring.
Hi, I remember your thoughts a few eeks ago.What are you trying to do?
Heat radiators I suspect. Yes, an air source heat pump will do it, but it will not be as economical as some people will claim.
There is no reason for a £9000 cost, I would suspect this is partly because a heat pump person will recommend a big unit equivalent to say a 30kW boiler, it's not necessary.
I would possibly do it with two 11.9kW units, which would be around £5000 installed. Both units (in parallel) can be wired from standard 2.5mm household wiring.
The supplier is specifying a 8.5kw Mitsubushi unit
The noise level is 48db
Works down to -20 degrees C
Alledgedly the electric used is around 1kW to produce 3kW heat supplying hot water & 7 rads
So fuel costs halved and then the "government" subsidise the production of heat to the tune of around 7p pe kW for the next 20 years so break even after 5 years and in profit after that.
too good to be true??
And, whilst there's experts reading this, how about a cheapy from Ebay;
http://tinyurl.com/2w4m5zh
369 quid delivered. DIY Install
Claims 18000 BTU, 5.1kw cooling & 5.7kw heating. Now all these units seem to be identical apart from the branding. Are these, like a lot of things, all made in the same factory in China and branded differently for different markets?
I thinking of trying one in my conservatory, is it worth a punt?
http://tinyurl.com/2w4m5zh
369 quid delivered. DIY Install
Claims 18000 BTU, 5.1kw cooling & 5.7kw heating. Now all these units seem to be identical apart from the branding. Are these, like a lot of things, all made in the same factory in China and branded differently for different markets?
I thinking of trying one in my conservatory, is it worth a punt?
tays27 said:
And, whilst there's experts reading this, how about a cheapy from Ebay;
http://tinyurl.com/2w4m5zh
369 quid delivered. DIY Install
Claims 18000 BTU, 5.1kw cooling & 5.7kw heating. Now all these units seem to be identical apart from the branding. Are these, like a lot of things, all made in the same factory in China and branded differently for different markets?
I thinking of trying one in my conservatory, is it worth a punt?
Bit off topic, but I'll reply to this first. Heat pumps are NOT all the same - the ebay one will be towards the lower end of the spectrum, probably from this supplier:http://tinyurl.com/2w4m5zh
369 quid delivered. DIY Install
Claims 18000 BTU, 5.1kw cooling & 5.7kw heating. Now all these units seem to be identical apart from the branding. Are these, like a lot of things, all made in the same factory in China and branded differently for different markets?
I thinking of trying one in my conservatory, is it worth a punt?
Shanghai Shining Air-Conditioner Manufacture Co. Ltd
At the price quoted it doesn't really matter too much. If you want the seriously good model of this size get a Mitsubishi Heavy Industry SRK50ZIX.
Back to radiators etc., an 8.5kW unit for seven radiators and the water only gives 1kW per rad. However I don't know the size of your house - I would suggest it was a bit undersized for the UK. Yes, it may operate down to -20 but it won't be efficient (and it won't produce anything like 8.5kW).
Have a look at this link http://www.sirac-cn.com/product4_top02.htm
I would be very interested to know how the installer is proposing to heat the water as well. Using a heat pump for water heating AND radiator heating is not straight forward. Why? because if a heat pump is used as a direct replacement for an oil boiler it will be a disaster. If the system is set up so the radiators have say 60 degree water going to them with a 50 degree return you are asking a heat pump to only heat from 50 to 60 all the time - and it's beyond heat pump technology for this to be efficient - you would probably have under 2:1 coefficient of performance below five degrees ambient - with an output of say 5kW.
Don't rush in just because of the subsidies. BTW the LSQ04RC unit on the Sirac link costs US$1450.
Thanks again, i could e-mail you the stuff that icenergy sent me.....if you were to copy it, put it on a fire it would warm the house for a week...
Considering the set up. it needs to be near the house and it's not a pretty piece of kit. Hiding it means long pipe lengths to cool off
Not looking good at the minute particularly with the set up cost of £8800. Would need to get to see a current installation first. Could get their surveyor around but I would have to pay £500 upfront first.
Talking myself out of it.
Alternatives are these new fangled electric radiators (not storage heaters) or re vamping the oil system. New boiler new tank in new location with re sited pipework. Sort out the inside radiator system.
Still keep thinking that oil is going to become more expensive as supplies dry up and we need to go deeper and deeper to get it. Don't think this current BP problem is going to help either.
Cheers
Considering the set up. it needs to be near the house and it's not a pretty piece of kit. Hiding it means long pipe lengths to cool off
Not looking good at the minute particularly with the set up cost of £8800. Would need to get to see a current installation first. Could get their surveyor around but I would have to pay £500 upfront first.
Talking myself out of it.
Alternatives are these new fangled electric radiators (not storage heaters) or re vamping the oil system. New boiler new tank in new location with re sited pipework. Sort out the inside radiator system.
Still keep thinking that oil is going to become more expensive as supplies dry up and we need to go deeper and deeper to get it. Don't think this current BP problem is going to help either.
Cheers
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