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17 year old ASHP needs replacement, should I go back to gas boiler?

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

Last Post by Mars 2 years ago

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DavidS

(@davids)

New Member Member

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 1

Topic starter 20/11/2022 11:13 am

Hi,
I bought a property with an old ASHP 6 months ago, which I had to get serviced many times already and the engineer said it’s end of its lifetime (NIBE fighter 2005). Currently we have no working heating, if we only use it for hot water it works fine. it’s an older cottage with OK but not great insulation.

I applied for the government replacement loan with 40% cashback and they were really helpful, I’m at the stage of putting in quotes I received from installers

My issue is that the quotes I got for replacing a few radiators and replacing the old heat pump with the new one are around 13.5k, as opposed to what the government says (10k max). Even if I’d receive a cashback of 4k, I’d end up with a 6k loan and I’d have to pay 3.5k cash

I really enjoy the carbon neutral part, but without 75% cashback it seems like a financial suicide as I could get a top boiler installed (we still have mains gas) for a lot less and because of the type of the property my bills would be less with gas than with electricity.
Even with the older heat pump running to heat water, my daily electricity price is ridiculously high just for hot water as opposed to what I had with a gas boiler in my flat

has anyone been in this situation before? Is my math correct that even with a 4k cashback, if I need to put 9.5k towards a replacement I’ll never see that 6k difference back in bills compared to a top of the range gas boiler?

Thanks

David

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Derek M

(@derek-m)

Illustrious Member Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 4427

20/11/2022 4:22 pm

Hi David, welcome to the forum.

So you are suffering the age old problem of trying to decide what to do for the best.

First of all I would question why you are being quoted £13.5k for changing a few radiators and replacing an old ASHP with a new one. Do you have a breakdown that you could share? Dependent upon size and type, standard radiators are normally in the few hundred pounds each range. Check out the Screwfix website for prices. You could consider buying them and getting a local Plumber to install, or even do it yourself. I do believe a reasonable size ASHP is in the region of £4k to buy.

What is the rating of your present heat pump? What is the heat loss of your cottage?

I suppose the alternatives are, question the quotes for a replacement heat pump until you get one that is more reasonable, or as you say, have a new gas boiler installed at a much lower cost.

As far as running costs are concerned, both now and in the future, we can only speculate. I know that our present electricity price has gone up by 300% over the past year or so, and the price for gas has gone up 500%. What will happen to the prices if sanity should return to the World I don't know, but I doubt that prices will return to their pre-crises levels.

One thing that I would recommend is improve the insulation as much as possible.

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HughF

(@hughf)

Noble Member Member

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 489

20/11/2022 9:26 pm

Wait, so your heat pump works for dhw but doesn’t work for CH?

If indeed the ashp is heating your hot water cylinder fine, then it can just as easily heat your central heating circuit.

Are you sure your dhw isn’t now on the immersion instead?

Just for comparison, my 9kW inverter heat pump was £3100 delivered…. An plumber could install in in a day.

Off grid on the isle of purbeck
2.4kW solar, 15kWh Seplos Mason, Outback power systems 3kW inverter/charger, solid fuel heating with air/air for shoulder months, 10 acres of heathland/woods.

My wife’s house: 1946 3 bed end of terrace in Somerset, ASHP with rads + UFH, triple glazed, retrofit IWI in troublesome rooms, small rear extension.

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 3449

14/04/2023 8:35 am

Posted by: @davids

↑

Hi,
I bought a property with an old ASHP 6 months ago, which I had to get serviced many times already and the engineer said it’s end of its lifetime (NIBE fighter 2005). Currently we have no working heating, if we only use it for hot water it works fine. it’s an older cottage with OK but not great insulation.

I applied for the government replacement loan with 40% cashback and they were really helpful, I’m at the stage of putting in quotes I received from installers

My issue is that the quotes I got for replacing a few radiators and replacing the old heat pump with the new one are around 13.5k, as opposed to what the government says (10k max). Even if I’d receive a cashback of 4k, I’d end up with a 6k loan and I’d have to pay 3.5k cash

I really enjoy the carbon neutral part, but without 75% cashback it seems like a financial suicide as I could get a top boiler installed (we still have mains gas) for a lot less and because of the type of the property my bills would be less with gas than with electricity.
Even with the older heat pump running to heat water, my daily electricity price is ridiculously high just for hot water as opposed to what I had with a gas boiler in my flat

has anyone been in this situation before? Is my math correct that even with a 4k cashback, if I need to put 9.5k towards a replacement I’ll never see that 6k difference back in bills compared to a top of the range gas boiler?

Thanks

David