ASHP Upgrade - A SWOT analysis is requested

I think you will probably get 7 different answers from half a dozen people on the subject of Heat Pumps.

Most will only have personal experience of 1 unit if they have already taken the bait. 
We researched the subject for 2 years before taking the plunge and getting an ASHP installed last year. It has now been in service for just over a year and I’ve put together a few notes on our experience. 

In addition to ​@BPLightlog’s excellent and comprehensive blog (I have a heat pump) there is plenty of reference material on a range of heat pumps out there for you to look at once you get past the sales pitch. Try this for starters.

https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/heat-pumps/best-air-source-heat-pumps

Peter 

​@Cloudliner79 sorry to hear of the difficulties you’ve experienced when contacting OVO. has there been any other issues aside from those mentioned in your previous posts? If so we’ll try and give the best advice we can.

Regarding your decision on having a heat pump installed, it’s great to see you’ve received some helpful info from ​@Peter E and ​@BPLightlog. You might also find some useful comments in this recent thread:

Thank you Ben, it transpires that my house, built to ‘an average speculative quality standard’ in 1982, actually has several issues such as a cold spot with a lounge to integral garage breeze block only dividing wall. I may need to add an additional insulating cavity inside the garage to increase the insulation and prevent all my heat going out into the freezing cold garage because the radiator is effectively on the garage end wall. However if I choose the right sort of convector / radiators apparently either an 7Kw or maybe 11kW ASHP should provide me with sufficient gentle background warmth plus hot water for washing up, showers and bathing if I replace my old copper cyclinder and immersion heater with a new ASHP compatible copper cylinder and immersion heater (for topping off).as I have a large south facing garden and can site the ASHP well away form my boundaries to keep my neighbours happy on either side.    

​@Cloudliner79 it’s a shame to hear about the issues with the insulation, but it sounds like you’ve got some good ideas for how to make things better. For sure making the right changes will save money in the long term and add value to the property I imagine. 

Keep us updated as to what you decide to go for, and always feel free to fire any more questions our way!

All houses have cold spots. Ours is the north facing hallway with three outside walls and a large area with a door and windows either side. It's where I put my 3.5kW monobloc A2AHP and for the last two years this area has been lovely and warm in the winter and the rest of the house is fine. The A2A is enough for an average temperature (over a 24 hour period) down to about 8C and below that I use about 1300kWh of gas (down from 10,000kWh) over the heating season. An 87% reduction on my previous use.

In the summer it operates as an aircon on the hottest days keeping the lounge at a very pleasant 22C for very little cost (£15 for the summer season). I don't have solar or a battery.

Sometimes it's recommended that you combine ASHP with underfloor heating which is very efficient. But, it can take days to change the UFH slab temperature. In the spring and autumn if you suddenly have a hot day the only way you can cool the room/house is open the windows. If you suddenly have a cold day it can take a day or two to warm the slab up so you need another form of heating to warm the air up.

Peter

Thank you Pete that is very useful and supportive. This is a new and fascinating journey for me as I want to get our modest family home up to a decent modern standard before the next global catastrophe hits us again. Covid was bad enough but this current madness in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere is beyond my understanding and I feel desparately sad for the frightening and volatile world that our two grandsons aged 13 and 16 are going to inherit in the future not to mention their parents. Just saying. Be positive and look forward to common sense prevailing in short order.

​@Cloudliner79 Because OVO is a general energy supply forum you might benefit from looking at / interacting with a Heat Pump forum like this one I chosen more or less at random. Here you would get more focussed information and if you find out something interesting or an option that you feel is right for you then you might like to bring it back on here. Happy hunting!

https://www.renewableenergyhub.co.uk/forum/heat-pumps/

Peter