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In ideal conditions. Even good heat pumps with COP >=4 will drop below 2 when it's cold out
by dahfizz 3y ago
In ideal conditions. Even good heat pumps with COP >=4 will drop below 2 when it's cold out
- throwaway473825 3y agoIf it's very cold, yes. But the average should still be well above 3: > Similarly, in Finland, tests of air-to-air heat pump systems from various manufacturers resulted in COPs of 3 at -10C and 2 at -20C. Source: https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-energy-crisis-is-boosting-heat-pumps-in-europe/ https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-the-energy-crisis...
- bryanlarsen 3y agoJudging by how much insulation the typical English house has, it doesn't get cold there.
- stoobs 3y agoNot as cold as the Nordics, sure, but depending on cycles, it can drop a few degrees below freezing between November - March The main issue is that homes were designed to trap and keep heat in, rather than true insulation, which means that as summers get warmer, our homes turn into ovens, with no way to cool them down properly. Case in point last summer with UK temps hitting 40C and above for a few weeks. Government are trying to kill off the old gas boilers though, with heat pumps being pushed very heavily, not sure if they're enforcing it yet or not though. Apparently they're also looking at switching out natural gas for a hydrogen mix, but that means having to rework a lot of the piping/valves as hydrogen needs much higher standards than currently applied.
- HPsquared 3y agoWith the high summer temperatures (likely to rise further with climate change), I wonder why more people aren't fitting forced air heating/cooling. That would kill two birds with one stone. Even just a simple mini-split system.
- vidarh 3y agoThe British seems to like to suffer in the heat. Every summer colleagues laugh at me for having AC units, and every summer they start loudly complaining about how hot it is a week or two later.
- _oyks 3y agoYeah, had to get clued up on this for new house in London. A few points: 1. It is unlikely that hydrogen will be pushed heavily by the UK gov because of the expensive pipe rework. The reason they're pushing hard for heat pumps is because of the Glasgow Climate Pact; they're on the hook to reduce carbon emissions or pay heavy fines. To that extent, subsidising heat pumps becomes financially less unviable for them than doing nothing. 2. Regarding the heat in summer; the houses insulate well but don't do much to prevent heat coming in from the windows during summer. There are some pretty useful half-fixes; mvhrs+insulation, or recessed windows/overhangs/sunshades massively aid this. For those who rent that's not much help though :(
- vidarh 3y agoBeing from Norway but living in the UK: The average UK house is not built for UK temperatures... Insulation here is a bad joke, at least in older housing.
- throwaway22032 3y agoIn the most populated regions of the UK it doesn't realistically go below -5c basically ever. The average minimum temperature in the winter months in London is 3c above freezing.
- EwanToo 3y agoLondon had a -8C night earlier this year https://www.mylondon.news/weather/london-weather-coldest-night-12-26046599 https://www.mylondon.news/weather/london-weather-coldest-nig...
- sgt101 3y agoas noted in the article - a once in 12 ish year event. So, 1/4000...
- nindalf 3y agoYeah we'll be fine unless extreme weather events become more common.
- lnsru 3y agoBut then it’s nasty blackout. Somebody still needs to design electricity grid for one of these very rare events.
- Gwypaas 3y agoBurn some fossil fuels from a "national emergency reserve". Perfect is the enemy of good.
- vidarh 3y agoA whole lot of other electricity demands drop massively at night, so while it needs to be planned for, the coldest nighttime period is also the time the electricity grid currently sees the lowest demand.
- 3y ago
- speedgoose 3y agoI live in a relatively cold place and my heat pump extract heat from the ground. It's worth it where it's cold.
- fatfingerd 3y agoI did a double take on that claim about outdoor temperatures as I've always assumed people were talking about ground source heat pumps.