"Andy Bennet" wrote in message
...
We looked at installing an air source heatpump, would have cost £13k to
upgrade our existing wet system.

So does it heat the rooms by blowing warm air (*) through vents in the room?
My parents had gas-fired hot-air heating in their house (installed at new
build in 1972) and said "never again": the house was always cold, especially
if you were in the draught of the floor vent, even with the thermostat set
high, and a lot of dust settled on everything despite frequent cleaning of
the air filter in the boiler. It cost a fortune to run, even after we had
cavity wall insulation; however I don't think the house had double-glazing.

It was by far the worst CH I've ever experienced - even compared with a
single storage heater in my first house.

I would say that wet radiators (heated by whatever fuel is acceptable) are
the only realistic way of heating a house. How ever you do it, it needs to
be able to achieve the temperature that is required, and to be able to heat
a cold house (after a holiday) within a few hours. Otherwise we'll all have
to invest in Hive and other control systems which allows the CH to be turned
on remotely several hours ahead of arriving home. Even our wet system, with
a bloody big oil boiler (a box about 4x3x3 feet outside), took about 3 hours
to heat the house from 12 to 20 degrees in winter if we went away over
Christmas.

I get the distinct impression that the government are banning existing CH
systems (as with ways of generating electricity) before they have got a
replacement that is at least as good. Replacing with something worse is
worthy of the strongest possible contempt.

I suppose modern houses can at least be insulated better than existing
houses are.


(*) I presume it does, since you say that it replaces your wet system.