This is Why Heat Pumps May NOT Be The Future

[klondike]

That's what the traffic stoppers say. They aren't wrong - their methods are.

Houses like mine with solid brick walls have no chance of being suitable for a heat pump. There are thousand of them around here as the whole area was build prior to WW1. Mostly terraced too so no personal EV charge points.

[dextrous63]

You could have insulated false internal walls installed, rip up floorboards to stuff insulation underneath etc etc.  So what if you lose a few inches space, and have to spend a small fortune emulating any original features such as cornices?  At least you'll be warm. 

[Raven]

I can see lot of fire places being opened up again. We have an open fire in the Den and a big supply of logs that we burn. I always take note of where the fallen trees are in Dunnet Forest after one of our storms and Himself goes along with the tractor, trailer, and a chain saw.
I also always have a carrier bag in my pocket if I'm going to the forest with Dageus as I collect fallen pine cones, they make grand fire lighters when they've dried out and give off a lovely smell.

[dextrous63]

Am sure that is fine in more rural areas.  In towns and cities, my personal view is that disused chimney stacks should be lowered to below roof level.  Apart from making it much easier to insulate the residual flues, it will also significantly reduce ingress of water from failing stacks and the associated lead flashings.

[Raven]

There's an awful lot of people up here on the North Coast still like to use their open fires, yes it's a scunner at times clearing it out and resetting it for the next day, but hey ho, it's what you have to do if you want the pleasure of a real fire.

[klondike]

You could have insulated false internal walls installed, rip up floorboards to stuff insulation underneath etc etc.  So what if you lose a few inches space, and have to spend a small fortune emulating any original features such as cornices?  At least you'll be warm.

And the cost? Plus the cost of any other insulation work plus the heat pump and new radiators or underfloor plumbing? Maybe I could pay for it but I'd never get that money back and thousands of others simply wouldn't have the money or the income to borrow.

There is a house nearby where they are having external insulation. That saves the complete redecoration but It doesn't look overly thick to me so I have no idea if it would be enough. External insulation is prone to water ingress stopping it from working.

Scaffold poles are typically a couple of inches so that exterior insulation can't be much if any more that 3 inches.



Lofts
Since 2003, current building regulations recommend a depth of at least 270mm (mineral or glass wool) in the loft – use this as a starting point rather than a finishing line to see larger savings.

Walls
The thickness of the insulation needs to be between 50 and 100mm and is usually installed where there are severe heating problems or the exterior of the building requires some form of other repair work providing the opportunity of adding insulation.

[Ashy]

What about electric heaters, are they being banned too? I'm keeping our chimneys although the original fire places have been taken away. What about gas fires, does anyone know?

[JBR]

"As a Heating Engineer, It's Clear Customers Will Be Left Without Heating Entirely Because They Can't Afford a Heat Pump"

I have been a Heating Engineer for the last 25 years and am horrified at where our Uniparty politicians are taking us with their Carbon Net Zero lunacy. I have seen a memo from Worcester Bosch stating that it is going to be fined from 2024 if it sells more than 20,000 gas boilers or 1,000 oil boilers and as a result will have to pass the cost on to the consumer. I have completed a hydronics course and it is obvious that heat pumps are at best expensive and in a great many cases totally unsuitable for a lot of our housing stock. I can already see a situation where I attend a boiler breakdown and find that the boiler can't be repaired and with this new legislation that the customer won't be able to afford a new boiler or a heat pump and will be left with no heating or hot water.

This is much the same legislation that has been foisted on the motor industry where companies will be fined for selling too many petrol and diesel cars so have pulled models such as the Ford Fiesta. We seem to be heading headlong into a Net Zero disaster that none of us voted for or were even given a choice. There is an election coming and most people seem unaware that the four main parties are all signed up to this madness.

https://dailysceptic.org/2023/09/14/as-a-heating-engineer-its-clear-customers-will-be-left-without-heating-entirely-because-they-cant-afford-a-heat-pump/

I can foresee one of two possibilities for the future of energy use in the home.

Assuming that people will continue to vote for either of our socialist parties (Labour and Conservative), these intentions of preparing for 'nett zero' will continue unabated whichever party is in government.  'Nett zero' will, of course, never be achieved but our rulers will continue to pursue the unachievable.

The other possibility is that one of both of these parties may - just might - begin to realise that 'nett zero' is unachievable and, having wasted billions of pounds and destroyed the way of life many are presently enjoying, they will finally admit that they have been wrong.
They may even decide to resume obtaining gas by, for example fracking, and even coal mining.  There is even the possibility that they will finally invest in nuclear fission in power stations which, of course, they should have done many years ago.

I'm really hoping for the second option, but sadly I expect to be no longer here if and when that comes about.

[klondike]

Perhaps the Russians will experiment with nuclear fusion and save us all the problems of global warming.

[Ashy]

Well they've got a nice day for it.