This is a question we get quite often. Your boiler is on it’s last legs or may have already broken down and you need heating and hot water ASAP. A common situation for Surrey homeowners thinking about having a heat pump indeed!
Firstly you need to understand a key difference: if you have a gas boiler that has broken and you want a new one, they can often be swapped in as little as a days work as your existing system is set up to work with a gas boiler. Heat pumps often need system changes, bases built, new pipe runs, electrical supplies and lots of paperwork to receive the boiler upgrade scheme grant. The process is much slower than a like for like boiler swap.
Planning ahead
If you have a little more time on your hands and your boiler is still working or you are renovating a property, then a heat pump can make a lot of sense but make sure you allow a few weeks (minimum) to allow for the correct planning of the installation, system design and paper work to be completed.
Here are just a few things that will need considering and calculating for a normal, well design heat pump installation:
- Location of your heat pump: will it need a new base built or trenching for underground pipes
- Electrics: can your current supply handle the load and where will the power cables run
- Cylinder location: is your existing cylinder suitable, is it open vented and if so where will the new relief pipe be routed
- Is your current water supply suitable
- Are your existing pipes suitable to accept the larger volume of water flowing through them
- Is your existing underfloor heating suitable for low flow temperatures (what spacing do the pipes have and do you have the original plans for it)
- Are you planning an extension
- If you have underfloor heating: are you changing your floor coverings
- Is a lower cost installation more important or are lower running costs more important
- Which radiators will need changing
Not an exhaustive list by any means, but at least gives you an idea of moving parts involved in correctly planning and designing your heat pump installation.
It is not to dissimilar from having an entirely new heating system in many cases, like when the property was initially built.
Modern Gas Boilers Have Given Us an Easy Time
Gas boilers have modernised and become very powerful, flexible and simple to install. They are more forgiving then a heat pump as they can output a far greater range of power in a smaller form factor.
A typical Viessmann boiler can service a house that is a 1 bedroom flat or a 500m2 detached country house in Surrey. They can provide 2-35kw of heat. That’s a very forgiving range that makes a whole house heat loss almost irrelevant (room by room is a different matter).
The point being, you do not have to have a full survey to size a boiler (for a like for like swap).
Heat pumps however, come in more defined size outputs e.g. 2-4kw, 4-6kw, 6-8kw, 8-10kw and so on.
This makes a site survey and heat loss report, essential. There is far less room for error.
So Should You Have a Heat Pump?
Ultimately you have to decide why you are considering a heat pump. If you want to reduce your carbon emissions then maybe it is your only sensible choice right now (choose your electric supplier carefully).
Are you wanting to have an off grid ready system heat pump in Surrey that runs with solar and batteries to reduce your reliance on power grids and energy suppliers? Heat pumps win this hands down.
If you just saw that a grant is available and have heard it is cheaper to have a heat pump than a boiler? Think about this very carefully as adverts saying that often design to a maximum flow temperature to keep radiator changes almost non existent which keeps installation prices down and use lower quality hardware inside the heat pumps. All this adds up to very expensive to run heat pumps. Caveat Emptor.
We would advise against a heat pump if you want a cheap install, whilst it is attractive on the surface, dig a little deeper and you will find very high running costs and unreliable hardware.
Confused?
If you have finished this and are confused or have made a decision either way and live in Surrey, Hampshire or Berkshire and want a Heat Geek verified team to walk you through the installation then use the form below to drop us a message.
If you want to read more then try these:
A bespoke guide for Surrey homeowners looking for advice on heat pumps: https://homesteadenergy.co.uk/heating-your-surrey-sanctuary-heat-pump-or-boiler-a-bespoke-guide-for-discerning-homeowners/