Ok, So there is a lot of information out there, and lets face it an awful lot of noise from politicians, Facebook and the media about how good or bad Air Source Heat Pumps are or how you must change to one as soon as possible so below we try to explain some stuff as simply as we can….

1) Modern Oil boilers are remarkable clean burning.

Over the years they have improved efficiency to over 92 percent.. All modern oil boilers are also biodiesel ready. This means that if you wish you can run your oil boiler on biofuel and reduce your carbon footprint by up to 88%. No the government and Eco companies won’t tell you about this. It costs as little as £600 to convert, and NO other changes are needed.
Why don’t you know about it?. Well I am cynical so I am going to say because at £600 there is no money in it for any ‘Eco’ firm, and the government is resisting taking the VAT and fuel duty off biodiesel, I presume because they want you to get an Air Source Heat Pump for several thousand pounds, and even give you £7500 funding (yup makes no sense to me either)

2) In the right home, and Air Source Heat Pump works well.

ASHP work at much lower temperatures. This means that they need to work for longer to heat your home - heating is ultimately putting in more heat than the property looses. The better insulated the house, the more heat it keeps and therefore the warmer it gets.If you are in an older house and the walls are not insulated throughly then an ASHP will not work, it simply can’t generate enough heat quickly enough to raise the temperature. You most likely need an oil boiler.

If you are in a well insulated home then ASHP will work for you. It is worth noting it is a very different sort oof heating and needs to be on for longer and keeps your home warm rather than warms it up from cold. Not necessarily a bad thing but a different way of heating.

If you want a fast heating response then again ASHP is not going to be for you. You will need an oil boiler.

3) I can save money with ASHP.

Well, I have yet to see it.You really save money by locking in those KW with insulation. Its got little to do with the source of heating

Simple maths coming up…..

Oil 75p a litre, 10 KW to a litre, so per Kilowatt (just a measure of energy) - 7.5p per kilowatt.

Electricity - currently 29p or thereabouts per Kilowatt. Plus the good old daily charge.

So at current rates to be the same cost as an oil boiler then ASHP needs to generate 4.14 KW of heat per KW of electricity.

ASHP can do this - BUT only at their very best perfect operating conditions (which seems to be more like Spring/summer than Autumn winter(ask the sales person to show you the by month efficiencies).

So invariably ASHP cost more to run than oil, and they cost ALOT more to install

4) So do I not like ASHP then?

I do like them as anything that gives people choices has to be an ok thing, but the industry needs to stop mis-selling them and governments need to be a bit more openminded to a range of solutions. Nice modern home, and you like a constant warm house - go for an Air Source Heat Pump we are happy to quote you for one. Not as well insulated then go for oil especially as biodiesel will likely have a lower carbon footprint than ASHP one day (assuming those politicians listen to good old maths…)

5) What does installing an ASHP involve

Firstly a lot of maths, about a half day to do calculations to check how much heat your house is loosing. Then this is used to determine if ASHP can provide enough heat. If you are changing from a standard boiler then you will need bigger radiators usually about three times bigger, or you need underfloor heating, you will likely need bigger pipes. (remember we are trying to heat your home with less ‘heat’ in the water so we need more water flowing into bigger heat emitters.) We also need a friendly electrician at install to make all the electrical connections.