Central heating

[James Curry]

Has anyone fitted a heat pump as there preferred method for heating their homes. The 2 types are Air source heat pump and Ground source heat pump.
They basically work on the same principal as a fridge. The Ground source heat pump works the same way but is the more expensive of the two.Grnd.jpg because of instillation costs.

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/the-sou...s%20into%20gas.

How do air source heat pumps work?
Air source heat pumps use the same kind of technology that keeps a fridge or freezer cool – but in reverse!

The pump pulls in air from outside, then uses it to heat a special refrigerant liquid. As it warms up, the liquid turns into gas.

This gas is compressed to increase its temperature – and provide lots of lovely heat for your home.

Once the gas cools down, it becomes liquid again and gets re-used at the start of the cycle.

The whole process only uses electricity and even works when it’s as cold as -15°C during the winter.

The science sounds amazing, but it’s not new. It was first described by scientist Lord Kelvin back in 1852, believe it or not!.

Now if the heat pump is just a glorified fridge why are they so expensive? You can expect to pay depending on the size of your home anywhere between £3000 to £15000. You can get a new Combi gas boiler for £780 to £2800.
Yes with both systems you may need to install more energy efficient radiators and obviously make sure your home is well insulated. Roof space and double /tripple glazing, and perhaps cavity wall insulation.

The prices are as quoted from the UK company Valliant. There does not seem to be a great deal of difference in prices from other suppliers.

I think at our time of life if we are in need of replacing the central heating system boilers I would be sticking to Gas or Oil units. Yes you are still at the mercy of market price increases.

The reason I have posted this thread is today I was reading an article about the UK company Vaillant. They announced they are opening a new factory in Derby

[Doc Vernon]

We have a Heat Pump on our Hot Water System here James, and like you say works like a Fridge, cheap as chips to run.

Heating here is mainly Gas, which we have with Ducted throut the House, nine outlets! Not too bad on cost either.
Cheers

[happy daze john in oz]

There is much talk here in Oz by the Greens about the value of heat pumps but as yet no indication to the public of what they are, how they work or what they cost.

Most houses use gas ducted heating with the unit in the roof space, fitted with timers and thermostat.

The number of houses with Solar is increasing bt causing problems.
The Grid is designed to put power out not take it in as it does when there is a surplus.

Figures out the other day show that the total amount of power generated by all Solar is only 14% of total power supply.
Reverse air conditioners are much cheaper to install but a bit expensive to run.

[Keith Tindell]

My son had a ground source heat pump, it was an ex council house, and the local council had fitted them to all their new council houses, i say council, but its housing assoc really. I had a bungalow with ducted air, cheap to run, but what a curse for condensation, every window running in it. i then had the usual gas boiler fitted and radiators, which largely cured the problem.

[Tony Taylor]

My son had a ground source heat pump, it was an ex council house, and the local council had fitted them to all their new council houses, i say council, but its housing assoc really. I had a bungalow with ducted air, cheap to run, but what a curse for condensation, every window running in it. i then had the usual gas boiler fitted and radiators, which largely cured the problem.

I have had warm air heating for 45 years Keith, no issues with condensation. The heating does not create the moisture that condenses, the moisture in the air will condense on the a cold surface; there could be several reasons why there was a problem, possibly the airflow was blowing onto your cold windows where with radiators it would be more static air flow, the moisture in the air has to go somewhere and will condense on any "cold" surface.

[Keith Tindell]

Yes , agree Tony, one of the problems with this particular building, apart fro no double glazing , was it was a crap built place. The walls were made from Strammit board, ie compressed straw, i had never come across this material before, but of course the walls were always warm, so any cold spot was running in condensation. I cured the problems in the end, i moved !!. I had the electrician in to fit a new socket, you should have seen his face as he ended up with a large bucket of straw.

[Tony Taylor]

Yes , agree Tony, one of the problems with this particular building, apart fro no double glazing , was it was a crap built place. The walls were made from Strammit board, ie compressed straw, i had never come across this material before, but of course the walls were always warm, so any cold spot was running in condensation. I cured the problems in the end, i moved !!. I had the electrician in to fit a new socket, you should have seen his face as he ended up with a large bucket of straw.

seems a bit cockeyed of the architects to use build materials which have good insulation values and then fit crap windows.
I often think that lots of these people come up with designs to win some sort of award or other. I often see these housing developments where I wonder how anyone ever gets their furniture moved in as there is no vehicle access for a hundred yards or more

[Keith Tindell]

I think most people suffer from condensation to a lesser or greater degree, even in small amounts, behind a wardrobe, or a bedside cabinet etc, even at night your breathing causes moisture. we sleep with a window open, only slightly in winter, but even then there are small amounts on the d/g window. To see some of the people featured in the news, its really bad, completely black mould .I see some people have triple glaze windows now, but there has to be a cool spot somewhere in a house, and you boil a kettle, the steam has to go somewhere.

[j.sabourn]

In meteorological terms , think that means all those people sufferering condensation have reached their Dew Point Keith. JS
Definition of Dew Point .... the temperature at which air must be cooled to cause condensation. On a ship we knew it as rain. Cheers JS

[James Curry]

The atmospheric temperature (varying according to pressure and humidity) below which water droplets begin to condense and dew can form.
Could prove to be disastrous for the main engine in high humidity areas such as the Red sea and middles east especially in summer.
On large Turbo charged slow speed 2 strokes water vapour entering the scavenge air intake space could remove the cylinder oil lubrication on the cylinder walls and destroy the liners due to excessive wear.
Ways to avoid or limit the water ingress was to reduce the air cooler cooling effect and open the scavenge drains.
The scavenge temperature 32degs C seems to stick in my mind. The air coolers were cooled by sea water passing through the heat exchangers. So the 32degs C sticks in my mind is likely because of the sea water temps in the summer months up the red sea /Gulf regions.
I have been on ships were this condensed water was collected and tranferred to the Boiler hotwell or distilled holding tanks.