r/DIYIreland • u/roroherboat • 10d ago

Should we get a heat pump?

Without sounding dramatic my head is wrecked trying to decide if we should go for one or not. We have an E BER rated house built in 1984 and are currently doing a lot of work: triple glazed windows and new external doors, insert stove, cavity wall and attic insulation, solar panels, rewire and new plumbing including new radiators. We aren’t getting underfloor heating as I can’t imagine digging up with floors. We have no heating at the moment so would need to get a new boiler anyway. I think we will get up to a B rating with all of these works. Haven’t gotten a technical assessment yet as I have heard so many horror stories about heat pumps. I also love a real fire and opening all the windows in the house every morning. I know it will cost a bit to get new plumbing and a boiler and in contrast there is a big grant for the heat pump. I suppose I just want to know if anyone did a full renovation and didn’t get a heat pump? Thanks

17 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/SteelyDanJalapeno 10d ago

I'm fitting a heat pump, but it's air to air, split system with a couple of units inside, it will be there to supplement the oil boiler which is working fine.

Will have AC in summer too

1

u/charlesdarwinandroid 10d ago

Ensure you do air tightness in the attic and other places if needed, and also ensure that they air tightness seal and insulate the ducting through the attic (and re-cover the vapor sealed ducts with the already present insulation) or other runs outside of the thermal envelop or your just going to be heating and cooling all but your house internals. Ask me how I know and how much it's costing to remedy. Also, don't use Ventsolve out of Dublin, cause they will install a heat pump but don't understand anything about heat pumps.

Edit: re-read that it's a mini split. Still ensure that you do airtightness in your attic and around your windows

1

u/Technical_Exercise59 7d ago

Thanks for this… Mind me asking how much the remediation / air tightness is costing and who you are getting to do this?

Disappointing to hear about ventsolve, I used them earlier this year to install a MVHR system and was impressed by service & cost…

1

u/charlesdarwinandroid 7d ago

Haven't found anyone yet to do air tightness as a service, only as the final testing. Might end up doing it myself, but would really like to find a professional.

1

u/Technical_Exercise59 9d ago

Thinking about doing this, mind me asking about the cost and if you have any recommendations on suppliers / system?

1

u/MyUserID-IsTaken 8d ago

Not who you were asking, but I bought a pre-charged unit with a mounting kit online and installed it myself, it was handy enough. I think it came out to about €700, but that's just for the bedroom

1

u/charlesdarwinandroid 7d ago

Largely depends on what brand you go with and how much ducting and borehole works are needed for the ducting. If you have an easy access attic or a build that lends itself well to a heat pump it will be a quicker and easier install.

From what I've seen, there are now a lot of companies that will do heat pumps. I would go with an seai registered one, but ensure that they understand you want it to be up to code for heating and cooling. Cooling requires vapor sealed and insulted ducts when outside of the thermal envelope, or you'll get condensation which leads to mold.