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UK boilers are rather different from US water heaters. UK boilers run at much higher temperatures and are typically un-insulated or poorly insulated, in order t
by LarsAlereon 4y ago
UK boilers are rather different from US water heaters. UK boilers run at much higher temperatures and are typically un-insulated or poorly insulated, in order to heat the room that they're contained in. They do make high-temperature heat pumps that work for this, but they're much more expensive than the small units used in US hybrid water heaters. There's never really been any incentive in the UK to switch to more modern types of appliances.
- yobbo 4y agoDepending on how much water these boilers are supposed to heat, £10k still sounds a little high. The most economical solution for smaller houses is typically: air-to-air heat pump for indoor room temperature, and exhaust-air-to-water for warm tap water. For larger water heaters, end consumer products might not be commonly available so prices might be much higher, idk. If the boilers are used for circulating water radiators, then that requires larger heat pumps for which £10k is reasonable, but air-to-air is typically more economical. I think part of the reason is the temperature-delta is much higher with water radiators which makes the pump less efficient.
- noneeeed 4y agoUk houses are not designed around warm air heating, wet radiator systems are the norm. I’m not sure you could retrofit warm air into most two storey brick houses in the UK particularly easily.
- rasz 4y agoSplit systems are more efficient than ducted air anyway. Heat Pumps are Not Hard: Here's what it will take to start pumping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43XKfuptnik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43XKfuptnik
- dzhiurgis 4y agoMaybe you could retrofit freon lines inside of hot water pipes?
- dzhiurgis 4y agoHeated floors work best for wet systems because you don’t need huge temperature delta