UKC

I am researching the use of 'renewable' heat sources in residential and commercial properties, and wondered if anybody might be able to help me out?

Do you have, or know anybody who has either:
Ground or Air Source Heat Pump
Solar PV Panels
or, more importantly, a Biomass boiler?

I am also interested in Micro CHP (Combined Heat-Power) Systems, if anybody has experience with one of them as well?

If anybody could give me any data, perhaps, for any of these systems, for example running costs, repair costs, installation costs etc. then that would be really excellent!

Cheers!

In reply to alexcollins123:

A while ago, I did a first year uni project on micro CHP. We found out that they were about half the cost to run over the year (but were more expensive in winter, cheaper in summer) but due to the cost of the unit and instillation, it wouldn't be cost beneficial for domestic situations.

I don't think I still have the data, sorry.

In reply to alexcollins123:

I have an air source heat pump. All I know is replacement fans cost a bomb, about £400 each.

I have no way of testing its efficacy I'm afraid. My house stays nice and dry though. No moisture build up anywhere.

In reply to SARS:


Do the fans not last long?

Does it cost a lot to run these fans ( wattage)

In reply to alexcollins123:

We´ve a biomass heat/power plant if that´s any use, 490kW though so not quite residential sized.

Jimtitt and SARS, yhm! Thanks - can anybody else help?

In reply to alexcollins123:

Are you considering solar thermal? I am considering installing it as part of a new house purchase. My hope is that ~£2000 on rooftop thermal panels would eliminate the need to use the wood/coal burning range in summer for domestic hot water. I would take solar thermal over solar PV any day as it's more efficient, does not intrinsically degenerate with use, does not require a an inverter (likely to fail one day?) and provides affordable "off grid" backup unlike feed-in Solar-PV.

I know somebody with a 1kw wind turbine and their main unpredictable expense was when it shed a blade in a storm. As it was an old model it proved easier to buy a new turbine than source a replacement blade.

In reply to alexcollins123:

The cafe etc at Coed Y Brenin have a biomass boiler, and all sorts of info all over the walls about the figures it produces, I'm sure if you contact them they will be able to provide figures

In reply to alexcollins123:

Have a ground source heat pump. Installation £9,000 with £3000 grant installed 8-10 years ago. Heavily insullated house -Roof, double glazing,cavity wall insulation pumped in, and underfloor heating. Last winter quarterly bill -with lowest setting of heat(14 degrees)- £175, but that does not include living in it as yet, just heating the space area though it does include my living costs of lights TV and a bit of electrictto supplement to a wood stove back boiler for showers. Ground source heat pump used to heat 4 bedroom house constantly for this last quarter bill, set at 14 degrees, as I said, a comfortable temperature since the heat is so even.

In reply to alexcollins123: had a PV system installed just over two years back. Cost £12k - though I did get a higher rated fan-less inverter to improve reliability. Return over the two years £2650, so break even point will be about 9 years at this rate. Panels are west facing so power is less than ideal south facing. I have recently taken a few more trees down which may help generation over winter in future.

In reply to Denzil:

Do you also find that even if its quite bright outside that PV's just don't generate anything. I was under the impression that as long as there was light they would generate at least a bit, but to generate more than about 70 watts ours seem to want direct sunlight!

Thank you all for replying - does anybody else have any sort of system they might be able to share some details and figures about?

In reply to alexcollins123:

bump?

In reply to alexcollins123:

Impressed with the air source set up.

Big investment ,but worth it IMO.

In reply to alexcollins123:
We have a Buderus ground source heat pump. Best thing ever I had in a single house. We have three 30m horizontal sole pipes in sandy ground, deep enough to be continuously immersed in ground water. Heat transfer is therefore optimal.

Friends of ours have a CHP unit running without much faff since about ten years. However, the unit is shared between ten houses on a common plot and is housed in a separate building (together with a workshop, party room, and a couple of guest rooms), thus not very micro. I very much doubt this would be viable for a single house, although smaller units have come onto the market.

Based on the experience of several other friends I would avoid wood chip burners. In principle they are great, but the mechanics that feeds the chips from the bunker to the oven is high maintenance and expensive if you don´t have the skills or time to do it by yourself.

CB


edit to include cost information:

Our electricity bill that includes operation of the heat pump and hot water generation is €150/month, which as a number probably does not help.
Overall our energy costs are about two thirds those of our neighbours (in identical houses) that heat and generate hot water using natural gas. Noone burns oil, so no comparison there.

In reply to MargieB:

forgot to add, electric bill also includes running of power tools in house construction.

In reply to SARS: How often to you have to change the fan? or
Was it a feak breakdown of the fan? and can you buy them from different companies at different prices than £400? Am very interested as was thinking of using air source heat pump on a building. Thanks

In reply to alexcollins123:

I am an architect and we (our practice) has specified all of the above, great feedback on some poor on others. Worth mentioning heat pumps are not renewable! They are electric, just a very very efficient means of heating using electricity, therefore they have a low carbon footprint.

In reply to alexcollins123:

My dad is running air source heat pumps at his unit (a hyperbaric oxygen therapy centre) - email me thorugh ukc and I'll put you in touch.

In reply to Lukeva:

If your electricity supply was in Scotland and purely Hydro would that be renewable? And can my electricity board claim to be purely or only partly from renewable sources? I shall check my supplier on that one {SSE}! I thought SSE supply was largely from renewble sources.....

In reply to alexcollins123:
Do you mind if I answer your questions here than by email? Just keeps everything in one place.

Btw, my system is a Nilan vp18. I don't know whether this falls under the definition of air source heat pump, but it takes hot/cold air from inside and outside to heat/cool the house and provide hot water.

1 - Why did you decide to fit an ASHP?2
I didn't. I bought the property with it in. But the property is meant to be an eco property.

2 - Was the system a retro-fit or installed when the building wasconstructed?
Installed when constructed.

3 - Roughly what was the installation cost if it was retro-fitted?
No idea tbh, but I hear around £20k

4 - What is the systems 'official' and actual efficiency rate? (As in howmuch electricity does it actually use?)
No idea, sorry.

5 - Do you benefit from the government Feed-In-Tariff?
No.

6 - If yes, on a quarterly basis, how much would you expect to receive fromthis offer in summer/winter time?

7 - What type of heat distribution system do you use?  Is it effective?  Doyou think it could be improved?
I'm hardly using additional heating so seems to be effective.

8 - Does the system require regular maintenance?
Yes. Annual is advised.

9 - What are the expected repair & maintenence costs over a 5 year period? And a 10 year period?  And a 20 year period? 

Based upon the short period so far, I estimate about £3k over five years; £6k for ten and a complete refit at 20.

In reply to SARS:

Thanks a lot. What I meant by the heat distribution system is just to see whether you use underfloor, radiators or air-blown air circulation.

Thank you to everybody else as well.

Does anybody use HVAC system in their home/place of work either? Although its not exactly what I'm looking into, its quite an interesting thing which I could research further!

In reply to alexcollins123:

You're welcome.

It's air blown air circulation.