Do you think that installing an air source heat pump has increased the value of your property?
We’re curious to know what you think - feel free to elaborate.
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Providing one can show it works well and heats the house at a reasonable cost. Yes it will increase the value of the house and in my case the running cost is very small because I buy at night and store in two powerwalls.
@wobby1 Yes, not that I have any intention of selling the house but with the ASHP plus solar and battery plus extensive insulation, I feel sure it will all have added to the ‘deceptively spacious’ description and value. BTW, Agile also has afternoon topping up times and I do the same as you wobby1. Regards, Toodles.
Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.
We had ours installed as part of an ECO4 scheme at no cost to us, so combined with the other works (internal wall and pitched roof insulation, and solar panels), it was a no brainer. ASHP alone, replacing an oil (or gas) system - I'm not so sure. It's essentially a like for like replacement (it's a heating system), so where is the added value unless it costs significantly less to run. Some buyers may see it as a positive (new system, won't need replacing, green) whereas others may see it as a negative (those who have bought the FUD that ASHPs can't heat your house in winter etc) and may run a mile making the property less saleable.
Demonstrating running costs is more complex, as we are on Octopus Agile and aggressively take advantage of cheap or free electricity to use far more than we otherwise would. We would have to look purely at cost, and not energy used or SCOP which would not reflect the way we use the system. The ASHP has replaced an oil boiler, so demonstrating comparative costs for that is also not easy as we only have rough estimates of average usage, and pricing varied dramatically year on year.
Samsung 12kW gen6 ASHP with 50L volumiser and all new large radiators. 7.2kWp solar (south facing), Tesla PW3 (13.5kW)
Solar generation completely offsets ASHP usage annually. We no longer burn ~1600L of kerosene annually.
At the moment I suspect not, as buyers might be wary of "new technology"; in 10 years it might be more accepted (any new houses being built near me in rural Cumbria are being built with ASHP+UFH+Solar).
My concern currently would be having to explain to a new owner how to monitor and control the system, as the set-up isn't intuitive (and is partly self-built/non-manufacturer). Again this is hopefully something that will be sorted in the next 10 years. I'd guess the main question a buyer would have is "how big are your annual bills" and compare it with what they currently pay, with maybe noise and reliability/servicing also being factors.
Grant Aerona 3 10kW
I'm pretty sure the ASHP has made our house a little more desirable (with the inevitable effect on its value) since it's slightly (when considered on its own) cheaper to run than the alternative (oil) , it's hidden (whereas the oil tank wasn't) and it's "trendy".
I think our installing solar PV as well has also made a significant beneficial difference to the desirability of the house and therefore the value. The double whammy, however, is what I think has made a huge difference; a heating system that's desirable in its own right powered by often free energy and overall bills frequently four figures lower per year than they used to be. Now we're about to get a car charger installed as well that will only further add to it and the fact it all can be demonstrated to be centrally managed in an effective way is icing on the cake.
I am keen to say, however, that all these theoretical ticks would have been worthless if the installation had been less than well designed or implemented.
105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs
"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"
Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.
‘Value’ is a concept rather than an actual tangible thing I feel, yes the house value to the occupant has increased, partly because the installation was something they wanted to carry out for their own benefit and that of the planet. The occupants will enjoy the additional comfort and (usually) lower running costs etc.
An estate agent will more than likely perceive greater potential to raise the price as a result (no doubt helped by the commission hike he/she might enjoy] So far so good but, potential buyers may or may not share our enthusiasm for renewable energy projects. One might hope for a fellow enthusiast who will be appreciative of our investment and with any luck, this will then be a good sales point or three.
We carry out such installations for our benefit as mentioned above and, certainly at the moment, are not contemplating selling up in the foreseeable future. I suspect that renewable energy heating systems will be regarded in the same way as ‘CH’ was 30-40 years ago in the near future, (along with double glazing, ‘CH’ was sought in the estate agent’s blurb as a desirable factor) but I am not sure they have gained general acceptance as yet - which is a great shame. For now, we will remain snug and smug! Regards, Toodles.
Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.
Posted by: @toodles‘Value’ is a concept rather than an actual tangible thing I feel, yes the house value to the occupant has increased, partly because the installation was something they wanted to carry out for their own benefit and that of the planet. The occupants will enjoy the additional comfort and (usually) lower running costs etc.
An estate agent will more than likely perceive greater potential to raise the price as a result (no doubt helped by the commission hike he/she might enjoy] So far so good but, potential buyers may or may not share our enthusiasm for renewable energy projects. One might hope for a fellow enthusiast who will be appreciative of our investment and with any luck, this will then be a good sales point or three.
We carry out such installations for our benefit as mentioned above and, certainly at the moment, are not contemplating selling up in the foreseeable future. I suspect that renewable energy heating systems will be regarded in the same way as ‘CH’ was 30-40 years ago in the near future, (along with double glazing, ‘CH’ was sought in the estate agent’s blurb as a desirable factor) but I am not sure they have gained general acceptance as yet - which is a great shame. For now, we will remain snug and smug! Regards, Toodles.
I agree with everything you've said, @toodles, and you're quite right that the heat pump installation to our house has immeasurably increased its value to us, which is at the moment irrelevant to anyone else. However, despite this perfectly valid dive down a somewhat conceptual rabbit hole I'm pretty confident the value referred to by this thread's title is intended to be a monetary one and certainly that is the way I was phrasing my answer.
That said, there is a great deal of cross-over with what you've said. For our house to have risen in financial value it is necessary that others who'd like to buy the house would see what we've done as an increase in desirability from their viewpoint. As such, whilst I'm sure there will be people who may shy away from our house (if we were ever to put it on the market) because they don't understand renewable heating, I'm very confident there are far more people who will see it as an extra draw. Given the old adage that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay, the fact there are still plenty who'd like to live where we do and would like it even more now we've got an ASHP and solar PV, I think that justifies pretty well the idea the asking price would be higher with the renewable energy tech than without it.
105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs
"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"
I voted possibly not
Reason being, there are a lot of people that just read scare stories in the press or on social media.
Was away the other week to Aviemore with friends, the log cabin we stayed in had an ASHP, friends were looking about the cabin confused, trying to find the air outlets for the heating system. Thinking was, the air in ASHP was a heated air system. Completely confused by the whole thing. Then said they are shi** anyway, why would any one want one?
@johnmo This is what I eluded to upthread, the average Joe / Josephene is a long way from being convinced that this ‘new fangled technology’ (that has been around for many decades!) works. Perhaps it is a fear of not understanding basics physics and possibly listening to gas fitters / plumbers / heating engineers who also have a distrust of heat pumps. I recall when I had a Gas Board accredited engineer here to repair my gas boiler who, upon being told I would shortly be having a heat pump fitted said that I should think again as they don’t work well and are rubbish!
All I can say is that our rubbish heat pump kept us warm last winter and we are very pleased with the way it doesn’t work!😉.
Regards, Toodles.
Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.
I can report one tangible result of putting in a heat pump (ASHP) - I had to provide an up-to-date EPC as part of the grant conditions and my house went from 'E' to 'C'. That's got to help in boosting either the value or the saleability (which amounts to the same thing).
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