It’s not just the cost that prevents heat pumps from being viable, there are other costs too. In order to have a heat pump the house needs to be fully insulated, not just loft insulation. Radiators need changing, and there needs to be sufficient space for the heat pump unit.
There are plenty of houses with solid brick walls rather than cavity, which costs a lot more for external/internal insulation installation. Older houses were never built with the idea of heat pumps in mind, and so I think there needs to be a much more realistic and viable solution.
My house was built in 1800. The level of work needed to make it ready for a heat pump would ruin me financially, even if a heat pump were a suitable alternative to my combi boiler.
An electric combi would be a much more straightforward alternative - but I never hear anyone suggesting them when we discuss moving away from gas in UK homes?
Heat pumps still need to get much cheaper to be viable for most people.
It’s not just the cost that prevents heat pumps from being viable, there are other costs too. In order to have a heat pump the house needs to be fully insulated, not just loft insulation. Radiators need changing, and there needs to be sufficient space for the heat pump unit.
There are plenty of houses with solid brick walls rather than cavity, which costs a lot more for external/internal insulation installation. Older houses were never built with the idea of heat pumps in mind, and so I think there needs to be a much more realistic and viable solution.
My house was built in 1800. The level of work needed to make it ready for a heat pump would ruin me financially, even if a heat pump were a suitable alternative to my combi boiler.
An electric combi would be a much more straightforward alternative - but I never hear anyone suggesting them when we discuss moving away from gas in UK homes?