Hi Everyone,
I’ve just had a rather interesting conversation with the heat pump installer for Eon.
He phoned me to ask if I had heard from them - which I haven’t.
He went on to say that the 10 houses he surveyed including mine were in a similar situation - no wall insulation and he’d just had a meeting to discuss this with Eon.
Feedback from that meeting was to offer homes like ours Hybrid Heat Pumps - meaning we would have a heat pump unit outside and a new compatible condenser boiler that housed a buffer vessel for the water - a large water storage tank isn’t needed with a hybrid. The model being used will be the Daikin Hybrid
https://www.daikin.co.uk/en_gb/product-group/hybrid-heat-pump.html
Apparently its 70% efficient and more compatible for homes without insulation? I didn’t fully understand that except that during colder spells it will switch to gas. This doesn’t sit well with me - it’s still fossil fuel. He asked me to consider it anyway - to do my homework!!
He also mentioned microwave boilers as the next big thing for hot water and heating.
I wonder about microwaves and exposure - also I wondered at how frequently microwaves can break and stop heating?
Overall, I wonder how sustainable all of the above will be by comparison.
Personally, I am glad that the heat pump installation failed - I am learning so much on this journey and I’m coming round to heating the person rather than the space - certainly not heating whole house anyway!!
Additionally, I can continue to decarbonise in smaller steps - get an electric shower, change my gas cooker, use the gas heating less by warming ourselves, insulating the floor from above with sheepwool underlay and carpet, having the windows fitted and continuing with our draught proofing - while retaining a breathable home via the materials we choose.
Looking at our options for heat pumps and wall insulation I haven’t done the maths for the embodied carbon, but when you consider the disruption for insulation, waste , embodied carbon in the insulation and other materials, the installation of the heat pump and piping etc, not to mention the AA* boiler I would have to throw out to accommodate the new condenser boiler … it feels like a massive carbon budget as well as the cost, waste and disruption.
On top of all this, it feels like too much of a gamble at the moment - seeming in it’s infancy and modelled on people wanting to heat whole houses and measuring expectations for comfort above needs.
Plus, not everyone is tech minded enough to be finitely measuring and monitoring with gadgets to achieve best energy performance.
I wonder what your thoughts might be on this development and if you have had a similar experience.
Best Wishes
Carla