Renewable technology one year on
Last year I wrote an article about the decision we made to install an air source heat pump instead of replacing an oil heating system (Ambler; Issue 131 p7). I thought I would try and give some indication of how it has performed as well as the implications the changing cost of fuel has had on the original estimates.
Air source heat pump
In general, the heating performed well and we noted no appreciable difference in comparison to our original system. However, it did seem to have to work longer than expected to maintain the temperatures we had set. We are addressing the issues of draughts in our rooms that were made all too apparent by the storms of winter 2021-22.
The total consumption for both heating and hot water over the last year was 4,143KWh producing an output of 11,398KWh. When we first considered this installation, our electricity was 14p/KWh, which would have been about equal to the cost of oil at the time. Currently I am paying 28p/KWh, which makes the system more expensive than oil, even at current prices.
All I can say is that this is unfortunate, we are still happy that we moved from a fossil fuel to a renewable source of energy.
I am only sorry that our electric generation systems still have a reliance on those same fuels and skew the costs of affordable electric energy at a reasonable price. I suppose the next move should be solar panels with battery backup but that would entail more capital costs, which, even with the high price of electricity, we are unlikely to recoup.
Ian MacKarill
