A new scheme allows people to view a heat pump in a home near them – and one couple hosting viewings say they want to “spread the word” about the clean tech.
John Condon and Michael Davies added a heat pump to their Victorian two-bedroom home in a conservation area in east London in September 2022, and say they have “no regrets” about switching from their gas boiler.
They have signed up to the new “visit a heat pump” scheme, from innovation charity Nesta, which enables people thinking about installing a heat pump to search online for a household with one already installed near them which they can book to visit in person.
Visitors to their house can see the outside air source heat pump, tucked into a side return in the garden, the hot water tank in the space where the boiler used to sit in the kitchen and the internal pumps in a cupboard in the bathroom – and hear the level of noise the kit makes, which is similar to a boiler running.
The couple are also happy to show would-be heat pump owners the app that controls their heating system, answer questions about cost and practicalities and give pointers and tips to people to help them consider the move away from gas boilers.
Mr Condon said their switch to a heat pump followed their leasing of an electric car and the installation of solar panels and a battery in their home.
Mr Davies added that they knew their boiler was on its last legs.
“It was a mixture wanting to do the right thing environmentally, the fact that we knew we were getting a new heating system, and we were future proofing ourselves,” he said, as they could see boilers were being phased out.
The new system, which cost £12,000 after the £5,000 Government grant – which has since increased to £7,500, took five days to install, and included a new water tank and several new radiators.
It required planning permission because they are in a conservation area.
Mr Condon said: “It’s brilliant, it’s much better than the old boiler we had.”
The benefits they point to include more comfortable heat and being able to control each room’s temperature – and contrary to misconceptions, it does not take longer to heat up the house with the heat pump.
Among the tips they have for any new heat pump owners are to put aside a bit of money for redecorating, for example a new cupboard or boxing to enclose the inside kit, to purchase a battery if possible to make running the electric heat pump as cheap as possible, and consider the energy tariffs they can get.
Mr Davies said of the reasons for signing up to host visits for would-be heat pump owners: “It was wanting to spread the word, there are so many misconceptions.
“There’s hysteria they’re not built for cold weather, but Finland and Norway have huge percentages of heat pumps.
“It’s not as easy a process as a switch to a new gas boiler but it’s worth it.”
And he said: “I still don’t think it occurs to a lot of people even if they’re not necessarily happy with their old solution, they’re familiar with it, so they think ‘replace like for like’ – that needs to change.”
Mr Condon added: “Things do need to change, so we’re happy to show people around.”