@antaniperdue welcome to the forums and it’ll be interesting to see how heat pumps and heating in Australia potentially differs from the UK. Please start a new thread when you’re ready.

Hi, I'm joining from The Netherlands, trying to convince my family to switch to renewable heating and help them with the process as much as possible.

This forum and website have been invaluable with tons of super helpful information, thanks a lot!

@alva welcome to the forums and feel free to start a new thread dedicated to your journey.

PS - love the on-point avatar. 😉 

More of a reintroduction, I joined when I started looking for a fitter, that took more than a year, I'm now sitting in my pants typing with air sourced heat, more than happy with the install and installer, it's warm and quite, not sure if it's cheaper yet but it appears to be. 

Still got some insulating to do but that is my super power, my take is if you have good insulation you don't actually need heating, that's my next project. 

Anyone vinyl wrapped a Valiant Arotherm pump? it's very white. 

Hi I'm Courtney, from the UK.

Keen to learn about plug in solar and batteries. I rent my home and find solar and portable batteries very compelling. 

@sonosppp welcome to the forums. I see you've posted in several battery storage threads so hopefully we can answer all your questions.

Posted by: @editor

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If you're new to the forums, we'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you. Please introduce yourself by telling us a bit about yourself and where you're based.

hi, we live in Dulwich, SE London in an Edwardian semi detached property. Purchased in 2011 a whole house refurbishment was undertaken prior to moving in late 2012. Effectively a ‘new build’ within the skin of a period property. All external walls had internal 44mm insulation added plus all new sash windows and external doors (double glazed) installed along with a ground floor extension including structural glass. All ground floor plus master suite on first floor and 3 further bathrooms have under floor heating. Remaining bedrooms have (new then) radiators. Thermal solar panel on top floor flat roof also, a conventional Veismann boiler was installed in 2012 too.

Now the plan is to move to electric supply for hot water, heating and EV car charger. So PV panels on 2 flat roofs (12-14) a battery and heat pump.

We have commissioned Warmur to undertake a full survey and design for a new system, they use a 3D home scanning system plus detailed analysis of existing energy conservation strategies to build what they call a ‘Warmur Passport’. The idea is to give the house owner confidence in the design of a whole new integrated system, prior to appointing an installer, and for the calculations included in the Warmur Passport to give any installer confidence too.

any thoughts on this?

Posted by: @bellabeck

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We have commissioned Warmur to undertake a full survey and design for a new system, they use a 3D home scanning system plus detailed analysis of existing energy conservation strategies to build what they call a ‘Warmur Passport’. The idea is to give the house owner confidence in the design of a whole new integrated system, prior to appointing an installer, and for the calculations included in the Warmur Passport to give any installer confidence too.

Welsome to the forums, you have come to the right place.  Feel free to ask any question, there is no such thing as a stupid one.  Can I suggest you read this introduction to ASHPs.

If the detailed analysis involves taking into account existing energy consumption then its a good idea.  Surveys, while necessary, are whatiffery and can be a factor of 2 out.  Measured consumption gives a sense check. and if the two differ markedly then the reason should be established.  

My question is, will another installer accept the Warmur measurements, frankly I have never heard of an installer accepting a survey done by another.  That doesn't mean that it never happens, but there are liability issues which seem to prevent it.  Before you spend any money on some independent survey, check.

Whats your annual gas consumption.  Do you have half hourly meter readings.  Either (or preferably both) of these will give a pretty good estimate of the house loss.  Im guessing from your description its well under 5kW so you will be looking at a 5/6kW ASHP (they dont come much smaller).

My advice is to upsize the rads if necessary to run at same temp as UFH.  Do not plan mixing.  Also plan to use no external controls, and do not entertain any installer who wants to fit a buffer (note that a volumiser is fine).

Hi,

thanks for your reply. We are with Octopus Energy and from what I can see via the app/ bills etc is that we use around 28,300 kWh per year for Gas and a further 5,500 kWh for electric. We are also away for around 4 months of the year when we keep the minimum on to avoid frozen pipes etc.

unfortunately we do not have a smart meter for Gas (no signal as live within a conservation area) despite Octopus Energy changing our gas meter three times in last couple of years so only manual meter readings when I remember to submit them.

in terms of installers Warmur have a network of installers that they work with across the UK. But you are not under any obligation to use their installers.

warmur.co.uk

i have had one company provide a quote etc for solar panels and battery who are on the Trusted Partner list from Octopus Energy, but at the time of meeting a month ago we had not yet decided on moving over to ASHP so that was left open to a future conversation.

Posted by: @bellabeck

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Hi,

 

thanks for your reply. We are with Octopus Energy and from what I can see via the app/ bills etc is that we use around 28,300 kWh per year for Gas and a further 5,500 kWh for electric. We are also away for around 4 months of the year when we keep the minimum on to avoid frozen pipes etc.

unfortunately we do not have a smart meter for Gas (no signal as live within a conservation area) despite Octopus Energy changing our gas meter three times in last couple of years so only manual meter readings when I remember to submit them.

in terms of installers Warmur have a network of installers that they work with across the UK. But you are not under any obligation to use their installers.

warmur.co.uk

i have had one company provide a quote etc for solar panels and battery who are on the Trusted Partner list from Octopus Energy, but at the time of meeting a month ago we had not yet decided on moving over to ASHP so that was left open to a future conversation.

Wow, thats nearly double the energy use I was expecting given your description of its construction.  Whats the floor area of the house, it must be rather large. 

28,300 kWh/annum suggests more like 10-12kW, probably rather more if the 4 months are during winter.  You may get some bizarre quotes at this level which will need a bit of careful analysis.  It might be challenging to get some installers to take into account the fabric improvements they cant see unless you have proof they exist.  Please feel free to ask more questions.

@jamespa 

hi,

Those figures are estimated from my Octopus bills. Our cash costs are reasonable at £1900 for Gas and £1500 approximately for electricity. 

I have provided Warmur with all the details the architect specified as our house was used as a case study for retrofit. It is 5 bedrooms with quite a large ground floor extension. 

not all the time we are away is in winter…

but we do keep the house at a constant 22 degrees late autumn though to spring

@bellabeck A few years back, Octopus Energy ‘estimated’ my gas and electricity consumption; it transpired they were out by at least a factor of 2! (I’m pleased to be able to say!) These days, they are unable to pin down my electricity only consumption and their estimates vary wildly each time. (Most of the time, they still estimate considerable higher than actual but sometimes, it is unable to provide a guide figure at all!) Maybe their algorithm just can’t grasp our type of usage under Cosy cheapest periods, charging a 27 kWh battery and having 8.1 kWp of solar panels. Admittedly, we have swapped between Fixed, Agile, Cosy, IOF and back to Cosy in the last 3 years I suppose. Regards, Toodles.