Thinking about a heat pump? You need to get out of the way!

The press would have you believe that heat pumps don't work. If that's right, how come Scandinavia has been using them for decades? And they have REALLY cold winters!

Sadly there are people that have heat pumps and feel cold, never mind getting large energy bills. There are a couple of reasons for that - poor installation being one of them.

We are the other problem

There is a big change in mindset involved when shifting from gas boiler to heat pump. I can confirm this since we’ve just gone through that change ourselves.

We started making the classic mistake – we used the heat pump in the same way we used the gas boiler. Mind you, we were still getting a reduction of 75% in our energy bills, so nothing was that bad!

We were warm, but we did notice that by lunchtime we were putting on an extra cardy and evenings could sometimes feel chilly. The general cry was ‘I don’t understand how this works! Why am I feeling cold? Maybe there is something wrong with the heat pump.’

Running a heat pump is counter intuitive

I have since learned the way to use the heat pump and it’s very different. In fact it’s counter intuitive so hard for us to get our heads round:

• If you want to be warmer, turn the heat pump down

• If you want to save money, turn all your radiators and underfloor heating on

• Leave your heating on 24/7

Now that makes your eyes water! Fear of the energy bill rises up and we just can’t bear to do it.

We are warmer

I can tell you from direct experience – it works. A heat pump is meant to run at a low temperature – ours is set at 40° C – and to stay on at that low temperature all the time. We do turn ours down two degrees overnight but otherwise it remains the same.

The pump heats the air, then the fabric of the house which in turns radiates more heat into the house. And because you never let the temperature drop, the pump doesn’t need to work hard to keep you warm.

In contrast, a gas boiler is constantly running to keep up with the demands of a home. It’s coming on and off at pre-determined times and in particular zone to heat the air. Which it can do because it runs at 60°C. The higher temperature enables it to heat the air up fast. But it’s not a heat that will persist. So your house is constantly shifting from warm to cold and back again.  

Our house is different this winter

I’ve noticed I feel warmer and more comfortable this winter. A good measure is that I have no idea what the temperature is outside.

My son in law popped in the other day and commented on how cosy the house was. He’s in our house most days, so his comment was interesting. ‘I notice warmth in my house when I pass a radiator. But in your house it’s just warm everywhere.’

I wondered what was happening. Even thought the pump might be settling in. After four years - I don't think so! But I couldn't work out what was different.

It was a day later that the penny dropped. We are feeling warmer since we had the Heat Geek in. This was the point when we learned how to use the pump properly.

Did the installer tell us?

It’s very possible. Anyone who has had a load of home improvement done at the same time will know how much there is to take in. You get brain ache very quickly. So he might have explained it all to us and we didn’t take it in. Or he didn’t know himself. I prefer to assume the former.    

I can’t wait now for the day when we get it all sorted out. We have to remove the Nest thermostats, take out excess small pumps, maybe bypass the buffer tank……

Watch this space – I’ll tell you all about it.

In the meantime, if you want to find out more, go to the Heat Geek YouTube channel and start exploring. Every answer will be given there and if you want to know something specific, drop them a line and they’ll respond.