@derek-m Your thoughts remind me of myself being back in 2010. I changed my mind in 2016 and have been kicking myself for having 6 expensive years and not saving cost by just a simple switch - ASHP with Solar PV.

Hi Neil,

I agree totally about having an ASHP in conjunction with solar PV. That is why I plan to install an air to air ASHP (at a fraction of the cost of an air to water ASHP), to utilise the free electricity from my solar panels. Unfortunately my solar panels don't generate a great deal during the Winter months and actually don't generate at all during the hours of darkness. Air to air ASHP's also provide the added benefit of providing air conditioning on hot Summer days, when there does tend to be lots of free electricity from my solar panels.

I feel that my proposed system will not only benefit the environment, but also our bank balance, and since I have a moderately expensive wife (though not as expensive as my first wife, who was the captain of the British Olympic Shopping Team) to keep in the manner to which she has become accustomed.

I congratulate you on reducing your heating bills by ~60%. You are obviously a trailblazer, and someone who we should all try to emulate.

@neilsondhi, I'd be interested in a few more details of your set-up.  You know, house size/type, ASHP, rads, cost of running, etc.  Some more real world experiences are always useful, since a lot of the stories about ASHPs you seen online are from where it has gone wrong.  

@derek-m Thanks for the compliment. I am living in Hungary (Expat) and luckily we still have "net zero" energy calculation here, which means we pay electricity bills once a year and not hourly calculation as of yet. This took care of my good summer days for those winter days. I have 12.8 kWh solar panels with two EV cars (Nissan leaf - 2017 and 2018 model), if I compare the costs before and now including gasoline cost etc - end to end, we are paying ~8% of what we used to pay before 2017. 

I think anyone living in a house with enough roof space can achieve this, Hungary has more extreme climate conditions compared to UK, perhaps its easier there. 

Hi Neil. 

So correct me if I am wrong.

What you are saying, is that you feed lots of excess electricity into the grid from your solar panels during the Spring - Summer - Autumn period, and then you get this electricity back (free of charge) to drive your ASHP during the Winter months.

I appreciate the savings by having EV's, especially if you are charging from your solar PV.

Did you factor in the costs of all your systems? What sort of grants are available in Hungary?

At the end of the day the solution is 'simple's', we all need to move to Hungary.

@kev-m I will try to put some brief points here and you tell me which area you want me to go deeper. We live in a ~400 sqm twin/semi detached house, 4 floors with the lower floor being semi underground - its built on a slope of a hill (high altitude = colder winters) one floor has UFH and the rest have radiators ~18 radiators. We have 3x heating zones:

1. Semi underground radiator heating zone - almost no insulation.

2. Under floor heating zone.

3. Radiator heating zone for all bedrooms.

The house is wrapped with 5 cm of hard - fire retardant polystyrene insulation, double glazed windows and 30 cm of stone wool insulation in the attic.

Our ASHP is 16 kWh monobloc heatpump that does not heat the DHW. we have a separate water heater (with active hot water circulation) which is also ASHP based, this was chosen intentionally to cool the house while its heating the water in summers and vent out during winters. I am attaching my consumption average per day to make it easier for you to get an estimate idea. 

@derek-m There are no government grants in Hungary, there may be but myself not being Hungarian - perhaps got me discouraged digging deeper into trying to get any government grant. and yes - you said it right, excess energy credited into the grid during summers are sort of recouped in winters. its like Day solar vs night. 

I simulated the cost before getting into it, now after taking the plunge in 2016 - today I can say I am sort of getting ~11% returns, though we can't only look into investment this way, its the property value that gets premium if its A++ rated etc. plus less headaches paying bills.

Hi Neil,

Using your philosophy we have reduced our energy bills by -67%.

Cost of electricity and gas ~£900 per annum.

Benefit from Feed in Tariff ~£1500 per annum.

Return on Investment (ROI) ~14%.

Payback period ~ 7 Years.

Solar Panels = Total No Brainer.  

@derek-m That is an impressive example - Thanks for sharing, glad to see another example proving it's no brainer and encouragements to replicate your achievements. I think majority are afraid to change, it included myself. Living in a foreign country made me more cautious - today I am glad I moved away and embraced renewable energy.

@derek-m – that is very impressive.

Hi Everyone,

I am afraid that you can't get too excited, we had our solar panels installed 10 years ago, just before the FIT was reduced.

For anyone who is interested the exact details are:-

Fixed price monthly dual fuel payment until June 2021 is £69/month = £828 for the year (account still in credit by about £80)

Last four FIT payments, £715.52, £668.24, £269.35 and £127.23, giving a grand total of £1780.23.

Actually it is better than I stated earlier, which makes it an even better 'No Brainer'.

Thanks Neil, you have a good set-up there.  It's a bit harder in the UK as electricity is so expensive compared to gas (if you can get it). I want to go for solar PV but I need to do some more calculations with the ASHP and maybe an EV (which I don't have but would like)