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Heat Pumps - Not Such A Great Deal?

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Heat-Pump

When gas was cheap and electricity not, the case for heat pumps replacing boilers was quite strong - but with the price of all energy rising and the differential between gas and electricity pricing likely to reduce, is that still the case? 

What Are The Economics? 

 People often get confused by the maths involved but it is actually quite simple:

- A gas boiler will be 80-90% efficient if setup and used properly (they rarely are but that is a different story)

- A heat pump will use electricity in the same way a fridge or freezer does, to take heat from one place and put it somewhere else. This is more efficient than 'actually heating' so 1 unit of electricity can produce 3-5 units of heat (the amount of heat produced by an electric heater say, using that amount of electricity)

- So a gas boiler will produce 0.8 units of heat for the price of 1 unit of gas (based on 80% efficiency)

- And a heat pump will produce 4 units of heat for the price of 1 unit of electricity

- So as long as electricity is less than 5x as expensive as gas, the heat pump should be cheaper

The bad news is that heat pumps only work for well insulated houses as they produce less total heat than a boiler and to keep your house warm you may need to change your radiator sizes and/or configuration.

How Can You Tell If It Works For You? 

As long as you know your current energy usage (which is always a prerequisite starting point in these discussions), there is a simple tool which will allow you to compare current spend against the use of a heat pump - see it here: https://hp-annual-usage-estimator.streamlit.app/

It is produced by the Green Heat Coop: Home heating | Green Heat Coop  

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About the author

Martin Silman

Martin began his landlord journey 18 years ago, while working in an international role for a global telecommunications company. Since retiring he has extended his portfolio, which he manages with his wife, but has always focussed on the ‘small student HMO’ sector preferring to offer homes in the community for small groups to the more common ‘pack them in and take the money’ mentality. He has chaired the PDPLA for the past 9 years and has overseen the Associations transition from small local self-help group to a much larger and more professional institution which is recognised and listened to nationally. Alongside his PDPLA role, he also has leadership roles in a number of other local organisations – bringing his unique perspective, driving for change and increased use of technology while respecting the history that brought us here.

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