Eddie1980

Very soon I will be refurbishing a property which I rent out as the current tenant has just given notice.

The particular property is an old country house divided into apartments some 40 years ago. They currently have coal fires and eco7 +storage heating, which in my view in 2008 just does not cut it, too much planning ahead, never there when you want it, too much when you don't, big, ugly and very expensive.

As this is out in the sticks there is no mains gas and I really don't want an array of storage cylinders outside and be subject to all the annual inspections a gas boiler requires. Oil is again the same issue as gas lots of storage, risk of tenants stealing from each others tanks etc and in my experience people who rent are not normally the people who like a big bill in one lump cos the tank needs filling...

So heat pumps look very attractive as an option, no need for annual inspections or corgie people to install, predictable pay as you go running costs, about 3x cheaper then the storage, I already have the eco7 and as an aside it ticks the green box for the energy efficiency survey property is now subject to.

My current thinking is Air source to over sized radiators as its quick and easy to install, much less disruptive then retro fitting underfloor heating and ground source. Also my investigations so far suggest that while ground source is slightly better (better return, longer life and quieter running) its cost of installation is more prohibitive and air source is coming on in leaps and bounds.

Has anyone any experience living with air source on radiators or indeed heat pump heating in general ideally in older property.

Thought, comments, advice, experience and suggestions welcome.

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My developments use air source heat pumps. We use a communal pump, Dimplex AS range that heats apartments/houses using over sized rads. The system I use has a remote metering facitlity so as the landlord you bill tenants for their heat use. All units are metered individually. You obviously have hot water to think about as air source doesnt supply this as well. I use a 100 litre pre insulated pressuried system for h+c outlets that runs off electricity. These 2 options combined are eco friendly, or as eco friendly as you need to be.

I dont like ground source heat pumps, although there are government grants available for them. Possibly worth looking at for you, depending on the amount of ground you have. My gut feeling is that ground source pumps will become much less common as air source technology is improving all the time. It is worth remember you will need a plant room and the air source pumps are quite ugly and omit a resonable noise so you won't want it sited within 5 meters of any of the apartments.

The subject is a minefield and everyone will give you a different opinion. I'm certainly not saying my views are right but just the best for me considering, purchase costs, installation costs and most importantly on going maintenance costs.

HTH

Chop

Eddie1980

Thanks Chop, you seem to have similar views to the ones I am developing, although I did not know there were communal / metering options. Which is tempting but more of an eggs in one basket approach. I like the idea of redundancy with each having there own.

Plant room and space is not an issue due to the nature of the property.

How noisy are they?? I assume no worse really then an equivalent wattage air conditioning unit since that's essentially what they are.

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Bear in mind that if you go for individual air source pumps they will need to be mounted on the outside of each apartment. Very very unsightly and planning permission could be an issue. From the advice I have taken a communal pump is far better in terms of maintenance and installation costs. Also if you go down the individual route you need a large cupboard in each apartment for the plant.

They omit more noise than an air conditioning unit, it not unbearable but you wouldn't want to sleep next to it all night! Thus my advice of keeping a minimum of 5 meters from any building.

Chop

andy97

iTrader: (1)

I have a ground source heat pump, 17kW heat generation-big house. It works very well, but is power hungry, 5kW/hour. We use it at night(economy 7) to heat our underfloor system and hot water cylinder. You do need a plant room ideally. We live in the sticks so oil was our other option- no thanks

They are not cheap to install, but are rather simple in function, so if you are pratical you could do it your self. Dont expect to make huge savings with its use, but they are efficient and quiet, like a freezer running.

Next job to get a windy turbine.

Andy