ASHP - Thoughts please

[dansk]

Hi - As another form of renewable, what are your thought's and experience with ASHP - im thinking of adding them to my services but i read a lot of negative press about them, and from i can see they seem a really good idea for people who are not on the Gas network.

 

[solarsavings]

They work if you get it right..............................end up on ebay if you get it wrong.

 

[SolarCity]

Yeah, we looked at this also. Our thoughts were that there probably wasn't enough work out there to make it worthwhile.

 

[dansk]

umm, thats the tough one isnt it - how much work/demand is there - looking into monthly keyword searchs it seems there is a demand for them.

 

[Worcester]

3 years ago how much Solar PV work was there?

What's your strategic business plan?

Do you want to be a Renewable Energy solutions provider? A green deal installer? An Electrical Contractor?

WHEN you know where / what you want to be and when you want to be there, then you'll know if you should invest in this area.

Without knowing those to criteria then there is no point investing in any training.

 

[dansk]

FYI - underfloor heating is my background, mainly electric with the advent of Solar PV as good source of electric generation and with electric heating the PV was a natural path, now that PV has slowed down a tad its given me the courage and enthusiasm to pursue other technology's to complement the underfloor heating side and not stand still to swept out to sea.

Reason for asking was to test the water with mainly trade guys who on here seem to multi disciplined and get some feed back, all i was doing is putting the feelers out - So Worcester what's your thoughts on ASHP

 

[SRE]

For what it's worth we put the 1st 30 in in England in 2005 and had loads of fun and games. I wouldn't consider going down that route and I'm in a very rural area that should in theory be really good for ashp. They are great for new builds (very small market) if they have been designed properly and in social housing both off the gas grid - pretty small market. Until they improve their COP significantly we won't be looking at them.

 

[dansk]

umm, strong case - is it true most of the horror stories are from poor specification and installation? kinda lack of training from the manufactures?

 

[sedgy34]

try solar thermal

 

[dansk]

Thanks, but i want a different slant and there loads round here doing thermal, but not so much ASHP - now is there a clue in that?

 

[sambotc]

I've installed them, they are not a like for like with a traditional heating appliance, they work off lower flow temperatures so radiators may need re-sizing. A good alternative in smaller properties provided they are well insulated etc, on a larger property your better off looking at biomass. They need to be well sized for the property, too small and they'll work their knackers off and cost a fortune, too big an they'll tick over costing you a fortune. Good design is key.

Down south they seem to offer good potential as the average winter temp is higher than up north, the colder it gets the harder they work the more they cost.

 

[dansk]

Thanks - round my neck of the woods we have a lot of oil boilers and LPG - ive always been interested in ASHP and it wasn't until this weekend whilst exhibiting i got talking to the Husky rep - of course he is going to big them up, but putting the sales BS to one side it seemed a really good idea, i like the electric aspect and even tied in with PV and UFH it would make a great addition in my eyes - but i want to know if im missing something and why isnt the market bigger than it seems? I get the feeling its because of a lack of understanding and poor design at the site survey stage.

 

[sambotc]

Your house has to be very insulated to the point where the ASHP is almost backing up the heat that's already contained within the house. Farm houses etc forget it.

They have their purpose but they are not a be all and end all solution to replacing an oil/LPG boiler.

If you go onto the MCS website there is a calculator on there which you may want to look at to get an idea of the process, quite time consuming. They also released some webinars to explain how they want you to approach the system design etc

 

[dansk]

i understand - so if ASHP isnt the best/or could be better options for off gas customers, whats a better solution to supply hot water, run the UFH?

 

[SRE]

We're oil, installed heatpump, suffered for 2 months freezing then put a new oil boiler in. Well specified they have their place but they are designed to work at 15 degrees from memory and that's what the COP is quoted from. Who is worried about whether a boiler is running when it's 15 degrees outside. As it drops the COP gets less and t about 2 degrees if memory serves me right it's operating at COP of 1. Would you suggest electric instead of oil? If you would then ashp are for you - not for me though, not until they work at their suggested COP at -5. Now there's a market.

GSHP different - again well specified are a great idea, the temperature that they are drawing from is pretty constant - a lot of ground work involved though .....