Heat Pumps - post here.

We're currently looking at this option.

1980's house that needs complete refurb.

At todays money it might be hard to justify but in our life time oil will either be defunct or prohibitively expensive.

And then theres the environmental impact.

So while it probably doesnt make sense financially now there are other considerations

Or the builder just built a sub standard house that’s leaking like a sieve! ;)

heat pumps are not new. It’s the same technology as is in your fridge!

How much is "mental"?

Could also be bad install, badly spec'd HP for size of house, faulty sensor etc etc.... but its not the fault of "heat pump technology". Plenty HP installs running with very low running costs. You're only as good as your builder and installer.

Totally agree. If a heat pump is designed,installed and commissioned correctly then the running costs will be very low in a house built to the proper standard. Sadly this is very often not the case.

The technology is cutting edge, the systems operate on refrigeration circuits that are extremely efficient. The problem is with the ‘new builds’ and the installers. They work brilliantly when installed correctly and when the rest of the build is up to spec.

As outlined before new builds may be built to A3 spec but going by the ones I’ve seen they are in no way air tight or properly insulated.

The plumbers may put in underfloor piping and rads, the refrigeration tech will put in the heat pump and the sparks will provide the power to an isolater and controller.

None of these guys will end up on site together as it’s all subbed out- the refrigeration guy can’t commission properly because he’s most likely not up to speed on the individual circuit flow rates. The one person who could help- the plumber won’t be around.

Now nobody knows what the controller is doing or if it’s wired right to the motorised valves, the flow rates aren’t set up right so the system will run more than it should. The Delta T’s on each flow and return aren’t checked and the unit is just left running.

In winter the heat pump will ice up because it’s running flat out, it will try put itself on a defrost but can’t defrost properly because it’s working too hard and freezes up again. Trying to defrost the outdoor coil sucks the heat indirectly from the rad circuit dropping the supply temp to your rads when you need it most and the cycle repeats itself, all the time burning through electricity.

Having all your valves on the header labelled and your tradies on site at the same time working on a proper commissioning protocol will ensure things work well.

However by that stage the lads are long gone, on another site or booting up the M1. Your QS or new home buyer is left with a system that more than likely wasn’t commissioned properly or to ISO standards, they probably didn’t receive the commissioning documents and chances are they don’t know a good fridge man and plumber that they can line up to sort it all out.

Maybe it's running in reverse, trying to heat the outside...

I put him over this again. he said that the house took ages to heat up and to cool down so instead he just kept the heat on permanent and when it got too hot he opened the windows. Not surprised then with the bills he got.

nah, not a oil burner sales man. its worse, I sell hospitality goods (napkins, cutlery etc to hotels) 🙈

Basically its not properly commissioned/tested then. i.e. bad installer.

And more importantly he's making a bad situation worse by leaving the pump running like it is. He can fully expect that it will burn out in short order and he'll have another large bill to deal with. No doubt he'll blame heat pump technology for that too.

Just to focus on this one... with a heat pump you dont have the house heating up and cooling down. The idea is that the system keeps the house at an even temp 24/7. There is no heating up and cooling down. Thats for oil burner systems.

He needs to get an expert in and go over the entire install and commission it properly. If the bills truly are at €3500 per quarter (which I still dont believe tbh) the charges for getting the system fixed will be paid for within the first month.

I've had a heat pump since April and it's very cheap to run. Obviously it will run a fair bit more in winter, but I have a PV system to offset some of the cost.

Has anyone here looked at microwind generation as a way to offset HP costs? It seems to me it's often windy when it's cold so it would work well.

First time using a heat pump- still figuring out how it works and plumber meant to be doing a run through next week,

But in the meantime- what temperature should the thermostat be set to?

Thanks - makes sense.

Have been advided to avail of cheaper night time electricity. how does this work if the heat pump is always on? Is it simply the fact that the night time is colder?

An installer told me that it was practically impossible to get the SEAI grant for a heat pump ?

He based this on the Technical Assessors reports (pre and post installation) and the property failing to reach required SEAI requirements / efficiencies in the majority of cases.

Any experience of this ?

This is complete b....x and sadly is 100% emblematic of many HP installers, who in many cases are plumbers not trained in HP tech or the rules of the game and are in cahoots with builders who complete shoddy work.

This enables them to do crap fabric refurbs/ carp HP installs that don't work well and they all escape any accountability.

As I said b....x

3200sq feet two-storey built in 2007 with underfloor. Have had an absolute disaster with geothermal. BER is B2 and Heat loss indicator figure is 1.85. Getting conflicting opinions regard oil or air to water? Would the underfloor drink oil? Any advice or experience please?