Local stories from local people: How happy is Emma with her new heat pump?

Emma, one of our wonderful volunteers, who looks after our Overton community orchard amongst other things, recently had a heat pump installed in her home.  We were excited to hear all about it...

What made you want to install a heat pump?

We are very conscious of reducing our impact on the planet, and after we installed solar panels a few years ago, we were ready to move to the next stage and install a heat pump, and get rid of our gas central heating, and the resulting carbon emissions from burning gas.

What kind of house do you live in in Overton?

We have a detached 3 bedroom house that was built in the early 1990’s so has cavity walls.

Which installers did you use?

We got a couple of quotes from local installers, but eventually decided to go with Octopus Energy, as they already provide our energy.

Was it expensive?

We were able to take advantage of the current Boiler Upgrade Grant, which is £7,500 off a new heat pump installation, so it was less expensive than installing a new gas boiler.

How long did the installation take?

It took 5 days in total

How big is the unit outside, and the tank inside?

The outside unit is about the size of an air conditioner, so not much space was needed 

Inside needed a bit more space for a larger hot water tank and the smaller buffer tank. These two tanks replaced the previous hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard.

The two cold water feeder tanks in the loft were completely removed, which freed up more space in the loft and now makes loft access far easier than before.

And of course, the gas boiler (which lived in the utility room) was removed, freeing up even more space. 

Is it noisy?

No. There is a bit of noise when it fires up, but not much more than a boiler. As the heat pump is situated outside the house, we notice it less than when the gas boiler was running. 

How hot is your water and your home?

The water and the temperature of the heating is nice and warm. We can set the hot water temperature ourselves to ensure water temperature meets our needs.  Due to the way the heat pump works, our house is now warmer consistently, throughout the day (and night) than when it was heated via the gas boiler. 

How different is it to gas central heating?

It’s a bit different – so you have it on all the time, pre set to summer and winter temperatures. You don’t need to crank up a thermostat. So it’s a really pleasant, constant temperature.  We control it with an app, which shows us the temperatures. 

Are you using less energy?

Although we still currently have a gas hob (replacement of that with an induction hob is the next project), we obviously have significantly reduced our gas usage. 

Our electricity usage is also low due to our solar panels. We store excess energy generated from the solar panels in storage batteries, which is then used to run the heat pump. Additionally, on gloomy winter days where there is limited sunlight to generate energy from the solar panels, we take advantage of reduced energy rates to charge the storage batteries, which in turn, run the heat pump. 

So overall we are using less energy.  Before the heat pump was installed, we used an average of around 650 kWh gas per month (~£50 per month). Since the heat pump was installed, we’re using ~10kWh gas per month (~£10 per month, most of which is standing charge). 

Are you saving money?

Yes! As we have solar panels too, our energy bills are now really small – we pay less than £20 each month on average for both gas and electricity.

So how happy are you with your installation?

Really happy.

If any local people are interested in seeing a heat pump in action, would you be happy to let them come and have a look?

Absolutely!