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Aircon paired with solar is definitely a very good match. I have a similar set up myself and over the last two years it has been very economical to run and keeps the temperature at a reasonable level. 

One thing to watch out for though. If you cool the upstairs rooms, unless you keep doors closed, all the cold air makes its way downstairs. This is because of physics. Warm/hot air generated in upstairs rooms will force the cold air downstairs. It's very noticeable.

Peter 

This is an A2A heat pump, and as such I understand it may attract a £2500 grant towards the cost. Will OVO help with this aspect - producing whatever documentation is needed for the award of a grant?

Hey ​@Firedog 

Great question. We’ve asked the team about this for you, we’ll pop back on with an update as soon as we hear back.

Hey ​@Firedog 

The team got back to me on this and said;

For a property to qualify for the full £2500, the whole property needs to shift its heating to A2A essentially. There’ve been very few of these installs happen across the UK so far. That being said, the main certification requirement is MCS which we can do, however this will all need to be subject to a survey to understand if the property is suitable etc.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, ​@Abby_OVO - also to whoever you made contact with. I wonder why A2A isn’t more popular; I reckon it would be a perfect solution for my cold little cottage, but it’s of course up to the landlord. 

Hey ​@Firedog,

From what I understand and feel free to jump in, ​@Peter E, if I’m off base - it's mainly about compatibility with the UK wet central heating system. There’s also the challenge of managing hot water since heat pumps typically just condition the air. Plus, most central heating systems with static radiators tend to be tucked away and forgotten by many. 

That said, I really think we’ll see a surge in demand for heat pumps! They double as air conditioning units, and with this crazy stretch of hot weather we've been having, people are eager to find new ways to keep their homes comfortable.

A summary would be: It's less of a complete solution than ASHP but the install is a lot cheaper and less intrusive.

​@Chris_OVO is right in that hot water heating has to be taken care of. I went with an immersion heater and use the cheapest slots on Agile. On gas HWH would cost me £100 and an immersion heater costs me £120 a year.  With gas going up that margin will narrow. I'm happy to pay £20 not to burn gas as well.

The heating is by forced air flow rather than gentle airflow off of radiators. We don't mind that. The house heats up very quickly.and cools quickly in the summer. We've adapted to it. 

My unit was £800. It does 85% of the heating.

Peter 

There are a2a systems that can heat a hot water cylinder as well as send heat to the room heaters. Eg Daikin Multi+

It will do air cooling too, it’s not “conditioning” the air as such, though everyone calls it that !

One final point, A2A can be a low enough cost option that you don't need the BUS grant for because then you can the keep your gas boiler for residual/balancing heating. I just use it on the coldest days. 

Thanks for the comments and advice so far. I’m digesting it all before embarking on negotiations with my landlord. Meanwhile, I saw here or somewhere else suggestions for reducing electricity costs by turning off the immersion heater and just boiling up water for washing up in the kettle. My solution takes this principle one stage further:
  

One of a pair of plastic buckets bought for 99p ten years ago. This one was never used, so I​​it’s acquired a new lease of life as a black-body ​​​​heat sink while we have this endless strong sunshine. A couple of hours out on the lawn produces quite enough hand-hot water to wash up a few days’ dishes

(Yes, that’s supposed to be a lush green billiard-table lawn. I’m assured it will recover once this Saharan climate goes home again for the winter along with the swallows.)

That's a very practical solution Noel. It reminded me of the solution for heating up a child's small paddling pool. Spread out one or more black plastic bin liners at the bottom of the pool first thing in the morning and by the afternoon you have quite warm water. We then move a large portable gazebo over the pool to keep them in the shade. Full sun is about 1kW per square metre.

Yes ! I did that with two school friends back in 1976 when camping - a washing up bowl of water left out in the sun ready for hair washing after a day swimming at the beach. Campsite was v basic, a field with a loo and a cold tap.