‘Greener, cheaper, much warmer’ – heat pump owners laud their new system
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‘Greener, cheaper, much warmer’ – heat pump owners laud their new system
Report finds users even in Victorian properties and older rural homes are noticing cheaper bills and warmer homes
Gillian Woodward, 50, says her house has been “completely transformed for the better” by installing an air source heat pump. Woodward, a community nurse in north Wales, was “astounded” to discover that she was eligible for a government-backed means-tested grant that covered the whole cost of insulating and installing a heat pump in her home.
“A lot of my friends have said they’re not sure about heat pumps,” says Woodward. “But the technology has improved a lot and satisfaction levels, even in old homes, are high. I thought it was worth the risk.”
Gillian Woodward
Gillian Woodward. Photograph: Guardian Community
Her experience chimes with the findings of a report by the thinktank Nesta last year that found satisfaction levels for heat pump users in Victorian or older properties were 83%, challenging the idea that the heating technology is only suited to those in newly built homes. The survey found that two-thirds of heat pump owners and 59% of gas boiler owners were satisfied even without extensive energy efficiency upgrades.
Woodward’s 1880 two-bedroom end of terrace house, which had been awarded an EPC F rating, previously relied on a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) combination boiler. During the winter, Woodward used to get through a £75 gas bottle every 10 days, on top of monthly electricity costs of about £100 this time last year. “The costs of heating were astronomical even for the most minimal amount,” she says.
