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Fossil Fuel Fired Heating v Heat Pump?

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

Last Post by Toodles 2 years ago

6 Posts

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Toodles

(@toodles)

Famed Member Contributor

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 2694

Topic starter 24/04/2024 5:02 pm [#1509]

Now, when one burnt coal, you knew you had real heating! There were the tell-tale signs such as soot on all the furnishings, black streaks on the wall above the fire place and a general feeling of a fugg in the one room in the house that you endeavoured to keep warm in. Coming home from school in the early fifties, there was the sulphurous reek and yellow sky above all the chimney pots as fires were being lit for the evening. Don’t worry - it will soon be a smoke free zone - when there is enough of the right sort of fuel available and affordable!

Along came Central Heating! Now you could be comfortable in any room in the house. There was the reassuring oppressive heat if close to a scalding radiator that would demonstrate how well it was working by producing streaks of black dust on the walls above the radiators. There was also the reassuring sound of expansion and contraction of pipes - and if you were near the gas boiler, you could hear the ‘WUMPH’ every time the boiler ignited! Oh yes, you knew you had gas powered central heating - and it did you proud! Then condensing boilers came along and, year by year, the air was a little cleaner.

Then the rot set in and someone introduced that devil called a heat pump! Suddenly, rooms were all evenly warm, there were no draughts, the pipes no longer clicked and creaked with expansion and contraction. The radiators didn’t get hot and there was no black dust streaks above the radiators. One could sit right by a radiator or in the middle of the room - it was neither too warm by the radiator or too cold away from it. That flue had disappeared from the airing cupboard or utility room wall and there wasn’t a plume of water vapour to be seen!

Of course, it is really down to the climate being so mild that the radiators don’t need to work very hard at all - look the sun is shining, it must be mild out there so I’ll just pop out for a quick walk round the block - won’t need a coat either. Upon opening the front door one is met by a blast of late April cold air! Damn that heat pump - it has been lying to me - it is damn cold but the house is effortlessly warmed! Thoughtfully yours, Toodles.

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.

👍

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bontwoody

(@bontwoody)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 1009

26/04/2024 2:00 pm

Some fond memories there Toodles! 🙂

House-3 bed partial stone bungalow, 5kW Samsung Gen 6 ASHP (Self install)
6.9 kWp of PV
5kWh DC coupled battery
Blog: https://thegreeningofrosecottage.weebly.com/
Heatpump Stats: http://heatpumpmonitor.org/system/view?id=60

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Toodles

(@toodles)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 2694

Topic starter 26/04/2024 2:24 pm

@bontwoody It is one time where the ‘new’ is so much better than the old, progress indeed! Regards, Reflective Toodles.😊

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.

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bontwoody

(@bontwoody)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 1009

26/04/2024 2:58 pm

@toodles I could add about the time, I set fire to the new sofa after leaving it too close to the 'new' gas fire! I still dont know how my parents didnt kill me in my youth.

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Toodles

(@toodles)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 2694

Topic starter 26/04/2024 3:04 pm

@bontwoody 😫 ☹️

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.

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Toodles

(@toodles)

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Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 2694

Topic starter 27/04/2024 10:41 am

Another aspect was the DHW heating; the coal fire in the living room of our newly built council house had a back boiler and this required that even on a hot summer’s day, the fire had to be lit if we wanted the water heated up. It was some years before my father was to fit an immersion heater in the cylinder and thus stop having to light the fire each day in the summer. Toodles.

Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.

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