Although environmentally speaking it is very easy to justify the installation of a heat pump in your home, they cannot be justified on a purely financial basis because heat pumps cost more to operate than gas boilers mainly because they run on electricity and electricity is four times more expensive than gas at present in the UK. I guess things can change but I am writing about the metrics at this moment.
And this information comes from a survey carried out by the Green Britain Foundation in which 1000 heat pump owners were questioned.
You may know that heat pumps work like a reverse refrigerator by moving warmth from the outside air to the inside. They produce about 3 to 4 times the energy they use making them much more efficient than a traditional gas boiler.
I mention the running costs briefly above. There is also the installation costs. Even with the £7500 upfront subsidy, the installation of a heat pump will be £3000 more expensive than the installation of a gas boiler at about £3000. You have to recoup that extra £3000 over the forthcoming years after installation which you are not going to do.
Another point is that the claims the manufacturers make can be misleading because some data suggest that about 90% of heat pumps' actual performance is below the manufacturers' claims.
The survey mentioned above found that two thirds of respondents said their homes are more expensive to heat with heat pumps than they were with gas boilers, their previous system.
Only 15% of respondents reported that their homes are less expensive to heat. The remaining 19% reported no difference or that they were unsure.
It seems that heat pumps are far more common with richer people than poorer people. This probably indicates or confirms that the main reason for installing them is to protect the environment and the money aspect which I am mentioning here is somewhat irrelevant or less relevant for these people.
I think, however, that the financial aspects are very important because it's hard to ask the average person to pay £3000 more to install a heat pump rather than a gas boiler and then find out it's more expensive to run than a gas boiler.
And the installation is quite substantial. There is much more in terms of equipment when installing a heat pump compared to a boiler. There's more disruption and the equipment occupies more space. You will need to have that space around your house. There are strict rules about how close the pump can be to one's neighbour. It is far more technical than a gas boiler it seems to me.
Dale Vince, the person who set up the Green Britain Foundation says that customers are being mis-sold heat pumps. He added that: "It's a myth, but is such a frustrating one, that heat pump save you money. The reality for people on the ground is a disappointment."
The government argues otherwise. They say that a survey conducted by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that 89% of property owners were satisfied with their heat pumps after a winter of use. The report said that property owners had mixed experiences with their total energy bills after installing a heat pump but "most commonly they reported that their bills had decreased."
As mentioned that comes from the government and personally I don't trust this government particularly as they want to promote heat pumps.
I have been thinking about installing a heat pump but having read The Times' article which I used to write this article, I have decided against installing a heat pump. This is particularly so because my current boiler is functioning okay and I don't plan to live in my house that much longer and you have to live in your house in which a new heat pump has been installed for many years in order to recover the initial outlay namely the extra £3000 mentioned above. That must be factored in to the overall finances.
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