General Chat

There's a small problem with the government wanting everyone to have a heat pump.
That 'problem' is called LAND!
I thought heat pumps - particularly ground source eat pumps - needed land, so looked it up:

'The maximum length for a loop of pipe will be 400m but depending on the size of the heat pump required you may require 2 or more ground loops. The average system will require between 600 and 1200 square metres of land. This land must be clear of trees and buildings.'

Then there's the depth:

'Borehole depth depends on the heat demand of a property and the underlying geology but is likely to be around 75-200 metres deep. You will need space inside your home for the indoor heat pump unit, which contains key components.'

I'm not saing the government is out of touch, but 'someone' doesn't realise, we don't all have a few hundred square metres of estate going 'spare'! :-S :-D :-D

As for air sourced heat pumps:

'Heat pumps run on electricity, which is three times more expensive than gas. So heat pumps are more expensive to run than gas boilers, but they aren't actually three times more expensive.
That's because heat pumps are 300% efficient – whilst gas boilers are around 94% efficient – so they use much less energy to run. So you'll only experience a small increase in running costs.'

Again, 'someone' seems totally unaware of the financial crisis!
Put one of these in your house - it 'only' costs about £10,000 - but you can get £5,000 off this - at the moment - and enjoy spending even more on heating your home!!!

....then there's this snippet of information:

'Although the government is pushing for heat pumps to become more common in the UK, it’s been estimated that 54% of UK homes aren’t suitable for them.'

I live in a village with no mains gas, and at a guess I would say one in three houses has LPG as the main heat source.

Thank goodness I'm in an all-electric house, therefore wouldn't be affected by this plan.

But, as usual, the headlines are panic-mongering and not entirely accurate.

Even if the proposal is passed, it would only affect houses with gas boilers - not ALL houses.
That more or less limits it to houses in towns, as rural areas don't have gas, unless LPG.


And they're not saying that people would be banned from selling their houses - only that they would have a lower EPC rating if they still had a gas boiler.

That might make the house harder to sell, but selling wouldn't be banned.

(Though the "facts" seems to depend on which newspaper you read!
Some seem to suggest that any house with too low an EPC rating, whether or not it had a gas boiler, might have to upgrade insulation, etc - which would be sensible, although expensive.)

Didn’t Florence say there were local new builds that couldn’t be sold because there was no one to put in the heat pumps. I wonder if the Scottish govt. are going to spend time and money training the engineers.

I saw something on the TV recently where prop,e we’re having lots of problems with poorly installed heat pumps.

As far as I can tell you would have to have a safety certificate, without which the sale wouldn't be legal, so the solicitor would stop the sale!

You have to install your own heat pump, so could choose your installer, but it costs about £10,000. If you live in an older house, it has to be fully insulated first. Ours is Victorian, with 2' thick walls, which are designed to breathe. Insulating them would be very expensive, and probably make the house damp!!!

I sometimes wish I were on benefits, as they can get the whole lot paid for by the government. :-(

oops typo...sorry. The I & O and N have worn off me keyboard along with other letters!

Just had a look at this online. Might of known the Greens/SNP are behind this!!! Another good reason not to vote them in again in the general election next year.

Have they forgotten we are in a cost of living crisis and our priorities are to feed and clothe our families, its called survival. How on earth will people have 10k to change their heating system??

Besides in the winters here when the power is off, the older houses still have open fires and stoves to keep warm and cook on. What use is this new system when the power goes off? our house is very well insulated so not too cold without heating in Autumn.

But in reality, who is going to give up their gas boiler when say the unit price is say 20p against electric unit at 55p? The reason people use gas is because its so much cheaper than the electric. My dad is always saying his bills are so cheap compared to others.

I think your typo is spot on ‘sighing’.

I read it in the Telegraph but the story seems to be all over.

As for the government not stopping you selling - it would be interesting to see if it comes about. Another nail in the coffin for the SNP perhaps.

names.I received in the post today, a leaflet from Br gas telling me to get a quote and i can get a discount for sighing up!

This is a brand new house with underfloor heating and an air source pump. All new houses built by our council have them installed so its older houses they are looking for to buy them.

Not sure how the government can stop you selling your own house??What about people here who have oil heating .

It is being reported that Scotland will ban the sale of houses if they don’t have a heat pump installed. I think I would want to install my own rather than trust the frantic installation of one to get a sale through. You wouldn’t know how dodgy the installer was.