Heat pumps are gaining in popularity as a low-carbon heating solution but lots of misinformation persists around them. Here we draw on resources from Elite Renewables to separate fact and fiction.
Heat pump basics
Modern heat pumps are up to four times more energy efficient than gas boilers, turning 1kWh of electricity into up to 4kWh of heat (Octopus Energy). Heat pumps also run on electricity, which is getting cleaner every year, making them the right choice if conserving the environment is high on your agenda.
Heat pumps can operate efficiently in a wide range of building types. They can be installed into new-build homes and retrofitted into an existing home. Which brings us neatly to our first fiction:
“Heat pumps only work in new homes”
Recently 20% of the people surveyed thought that heat pumps could only work in newer homes and this was picked up by the media. In practice, heat pumps have been installed across the UK in new and older properties. And the government’s boiler upgrade scheme is only available to existing homes.
Elite Renewables installed a heat pump in an older rural property that previously only had oil heating. The owner wanted to keep the existing ‘old school’ radiators that were 125 years old and was told that would not work with a heat pump. He is happy to report that his electricity costs have been lowered (when compared to his bill for the previous property) despite it being a bigger house and less insulated than his previous property.
“Heat pumps won’t keep your home warm”
“This is one of the more pervasive myths about heat pumps” says the University of the Built Environment and yet 81% of people are satisfied with the performance of their heat pump. A client of Elite Renewables, Karen, says “the stuff that you read online about you can’t warm it up in the same way. It is just not true, you know. Our house is perfectly warm enough for me.”
“Heat pumps are noisy”
Nearly a third of people believe that heat pumps are noisy (EDF) and in the UK noise levels need to be kept below 42 decibels at the boundary between your property and your neighbours. That’s approximately the sound of a fridge. In reality complaints about heat pump noise are very low – 100 for every 300,000 installations (Carbon Brief).
“Heat pumps are expensive”
Heat pumps are more expensive to install than a new gas boiler – around four times as much at £12,000. But they last longer, at around 20 years, and require less maintenance. The government’s boiler upgrade scheme will pay up to £7,000, effectively halving that price. A new boiler will be £3,000-£4,000 and new heat pump (with a grant) £5,000.
The running prices of a heat pump depend on the price of energy and the efficiency of the installation. Electricity is cheaper than gas. Heat pumps use between three and five times less energy. Choosing an energy plan like Octopus Cosy (a special heat pump tariff) can bring the costs of running a heat pump below that of a gas boiler at typical 85% efficiency.
Maddy, who was a process engineer, has a heat pump that was installed by Elite Renewables a few years ago. She “has become a bit of a heat pump advocate” so we will give her the last word.
Maddy says, “They’re very efficient. They use less energy – cleaner than gas. They’re not expensive to run. They’re not noisy. They’re reliable. Your house is nice and warm. So there’s really no reason that people shouldn’t have the chance to get a heat pump if their boiler is coming to the end of its life and they want to choose a system that might even be cheaper to run.”
Visit Elite Renewables at www.eliterenewables.co.uk for more information on heat pump installations.
