Central heating without gas?

Thu 25 Jan 2018, 15:56

Heat pumps can be effective in the right circumstances. They produce low grade heat - not high temperature heat like a boiler. That means that to raise your home to a comfortable temperature, it needs to be well-insulated and not leaky, but airtight.

Thu 25 Jan 2018, 14:03 (last edited on Thu 25 Jan 2018, 14:03)

Yes, the Energy Saving Trust is your friend's friend: www.energysavingtrust.org.uk. Note: the jury is somewhat out on the efficacy of air source heat pumps. Ground source is great, but you need land/access to install a lot of piping or have a bore hole. Biomass is another option, eg wood pellets, which have pros and cons - message me if you want them listed, Jon!

Thu 25 Jan 2018, 12:55

Worcester Bosch make heat pump boilers and list local installers. The Energy Savings Trust describes the options in more generalised terms. And Which? has an article explaining the difference between air and ground heat source pumps. I'm not sure what the difficulty is in tracking down information on this.

Thu 25 Jan 2018, 12:18

A friend has just asked me this. Can anyone here help?

Crisis of conscience: it looks like I need to get a new central heating system in the place I just moved into. Obviously the cheapest and easiest solution is to get a nice little gas combi-boiler which will fit tidily in the corner of the kitchen/diner. But ....butbutbut..... if we don't stop demanding our cheap gas, how are we ever going to break free of the cycle? The boss of Cuadrilla justified fracking on the basis that we all want our cheap gas central heating. He's right. War and instability in the Middle East? They are sitting on the biggest oil reserves. The West wants all this stuff but we don't have the oil reserves- Iran and Uzbekistan do. And that doesn't even touch on the effect on the climate. How do I even get hold of the information about making a choice on this? Even allowing for the fact that I am one woman on a tight budget, and probably can't afford solar panels, thermal store heater, etc etc. Where do I even go to find out how much it would cost and how it all works?