Is our Heat Pump Costing us a Fortune during our first winter? Expensive Vaillant Arotherm Plus

In this video I ask my wife the hard questions to get her perspective on living with a heat pump.
Part 1 here: • Is our Heat Pump keepi...
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Use this link to sign up to Octopus Energy for a free £50 - share.octopus.energy/bold-mis...
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My system :
Vaillant Arotherm Plus 7kW
200L UniStor Cylinder
45L Buffer tank
140sqM Detached 1997 built house
10mm copper microbore pipework downstairs
Installed by British Gas in November 2023
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[@jchidley]

CO2 saving is THE reason to change to a heat pump. The CO2 saved is massive. If the costs are comparable to a gas system, then that's a bonus, in my view. Installation costs will come down as more heat pumps are installed, just like they have for solar PV systems.

[@Lewis_Standing]

Not sure about that because compressors the essential part of the HP are already ubiquitous from air con to fridges and beyond.

[@jchidley]

@@Lewis_Standing The compressors might be everywhere already and yes, I agree that those components already benefit from economies of scale. But the whole heat pump (HP) system, including design and installation both by heating engineers and by the HP manufacturers, will benefit from economies of scale.

[@Lawrence7of9]

2.5k I paid Octopus for ours, and unlike gas boiler no expensive annual servicing to ensure 10yr guarantee. No endless rising bills, environmental damage, personal risk at home. Warmer, more comfortable home for less monthly bills! Magic

[@UpsideDownFork]

It's definitely the biggest win, by far!

[@GlueChube]

Good to see you dealing with the queries and misconceptions many people have..... I've started to do my own video diary of my self install of an aroTHERM plus,....

[@UpsideDownFork]

I've just watched your videos. I'm interested in following the progress!

[@GlueChube]

@@UpsideDownFork I hope i can get it done in a timely fashion so it is of use to you!

[@rajus0]

These short form videos are great and although not for me as I am already sold are more normal/disarming to people I would guess who are not sure about the whole thing. Great content!

[@UpsideDownFork]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@lib_f]

Just had a green 0% mortgage advance signed off from Nationwide, so will be changing to an ASHP and adding more battery capacity this summer. Shame to lose my tall cupboard in the laundry room to a water cylinder, but hopefully I can still squeeze the mop and broom down the side of the cylinder.

[@B0jangle5]

@lib_f How did you find the process? I'm with Nationwide and have been looking into this.

[@lib_f]

@@B0jangle5 I went through a broker, but seemed pretty similar to a full mortgage application; in person valuation done and needed a letter from my employer about bonuses. Bit surprised when it adds like £25/month to my payments, but I guess it's secured against the property, so..

[@vindeballs1]

I've started the ball rolling by getting the survey done for a heatpump. Then walked into work today with 100 diesel engines that have been running all night keeping trailers cool...then jumping into a diesel wagon one of 200 that are running day and night...deflated 🥺🤦‍♂️

[@barriedear5990]

This should be such a no brainer to plug these trailers in when parked up.

[@vindeballs1]

@@barriedear5990 Should be... but their only just getting round to putting in electric on the bays after twenty years 🤦‍♂️

[@UpsideDownFork]

That certainly is disappointing. We also have a port full of cruise ships in Southampton that run 24/7. They are starting to fit dock interconnects to run the ships but it will be a slow rollout. As the Tesco slogan goes...every little helps.

[@vindeballs1]

Just like the trains...we're getting there 🚂

[@bazcurtis178]

Don’t get me started on noise. I am still waiting on our planning permission as we were 0.1db over the MCS requirement. I got an email from the council this week to say the planning permission noise standard is higher than the MCS requirement. I am trying to persuade them that we were so close to passing, take that in to account. My Mum has a heat pump and it is so quiet. I can only hope our neighbours understand it is not noisy. Mid May is deadline day.

[@UpsideDownFork]

I've got my fingers crossed for you.

[@jonathanwright96]

How can a 3 child family driving a most likely diesel suv possibly consider themselves carbon nuetral- you'd have to factor every aspect of the carbon footprint associated in replacing these technologies when they fail along with the inevitable food production/transport, clothes & shoe, dipers, water treatment, travel etc etc etc associated C02

[@UpsideDownFork]

Thanks for your comment and inspiring this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6HFeZutfJycj6s

[@ecoterrorist1402]

shadow ban test

[@UpsideDownFork]

???

[@pmbpmb5416]

Where is it all mostly manufactured ? :-) Devils advocate, anyway there is another factor , world events , energy costs may go through the roof making todays rates look cheap , energy may be rationed , who knows ? If you can afford it being able to supply yourself isolated from the grid with battery storage for periods should be a consideration. The payback today isn’t there but each time rates increase payback improves although offset of interest earned reduces that . The real payback could be simply not having to be too concerned about loss of supply . If it helps the environment that is a bonus , are we just shifting the problem on to others ? If we could get manufacture back here with low emission energy supply we would have cracked it , pipe dream I know .

[@jakemdawsonjd]

His Valliant heatpump will have been manufactured in Germany. They do everything from smelting their own metal, creating their own electronics to assembling the whole thing. While they do have a factory in Belper, Derbyshire, I don't think they manufacture heat pumps there. Secondly, the payback IS there today.

[@pmbpmb5416]

In pure financial terms the payback isn’t there today , it is there long term , we need to be careful not to mislead people into expecting too much . For completeness With more than 12,000 employees Villant develop and manufacture our products at 12 sites in six European countries and China. You of course realised that my point was that doing all this where much , such as solar for example , is sourced from China simply shifts the problem elsewhere .

[@_Dougaldog]

My Daikin was manufactured in Czech Republic, Mistibushi Ecodans manufactured at their factory in Livingston, Vaillant manufacture in UK as are Mixergy cylinders. And a whole new industry for UK to build upon alongside renewables.

[@Yorkshireasaurus]

@@pmbpmb5416Who ever installs heat pumps, gas boilers, kitchens, bathrooms etc and EVER considers the payback?

[@pmbpmb5416]

You would think , however with heat pumps it seems to be a regular topic in the comments section as with solar .

[@TikTok-il9hx]

A super important point for anyone who is a home owner when looking at the cost of a heat pump vs the cost of a gas boiler, is to check with their mortgage provider if they offer any incentives for installing green technologies - I'm with Barclays and they offer a £2000 grant towards the cost of a heat pump. When Octopus are offering to install one for about £2700, with the grant that means an install cost of just £700. Rather changes the capital equation!

[@jakemdawsonjd]

That's interesting, something I'd never heard of. Quickly googled it and my mortgage provider doesn't appear to offer anything at first glance. What was the Barclays scheme called?

[@pmbpmb5416]

I think nationwide do .

[@UpsideDownFork]

Yes, it's a shame that Santander aren't offering anything similar. They do offer green home loans though for those who are interested in finance options.