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I'm just not sure it's that simple - I'd need somewhere for the pump to go, plus I think leaky semi will be worse than terrace (one more exterior wall), and upgrading rads won't be cheap itself - we have what, 10 across the house, and they're all big? Plus pipework is relatively narrow stuff so I may need to upgrade that between the rads too.
I don't want to rule it out but I don't really buy the idea it won't be a lot more expensive to make it work adequately
andyfallsoff-
upgrading rads won't be cheap itself - we have what, 10 across the house, and they're all big
The quote includes rad swaps and the rads itself. For me upgrading 10 of the 14 rads the quote was ~£3,200. There were extra costs though, another asbestos test (~£100), a structural survey (~£200, which yielded bad results), planning permission (~£270) and I still need to get a chimney blocked. So it will add up to £4000 if we go ahead (still waiting more info from Octo guys, as they want to see what really they can do to make it right about that bad structual survey, before me cancelling the install. I don't want to involve another trade to fix that but I'm happy to pay Octo to get it fixed, assuming it would be at a reasonable cost)
In comparison to that, a new boiler install quote came at £4,500 (including a gas-pipe upgrade) very straightforward, no headaches. But is it really what to go for in 2024? (I'm now waiting to see if it's possible to go with the ASHP install...)
BTW recently tried BritishGas for the HP and the auto-quote (subject to survey) came in at £10k after the grant. Needless to say I didn't book the survey.
If I can afford the HP I will go with that, if not, the old creaky boiler remains for now until I'm fed up with the vented tank.
disq
I would really reconsider splurging for a gas boiler right now.
Even if your house is poorly insulated and leaky, a heat pump will work as long as you beef up your radiators. Friends of ours got a Mitsubishi Ecodan ASHP ~3 years ago, in an un-refurbed Victorian terrace with single-glazed dash windows and no insulation. All they did was upgrade the rads. Their bills were equivalent to those with their previous gas boiler, factoring in no more gas standing charges, Octopus smart tariff and smart controller programming.
They’ve now put in triple-glazing, UFH on ground floor and some insulation, and their bills are ~30% lower.
The £7.5K ASHP grant now means you’ll pay around the same price as a new gas boiler install, future proof yourself, and ur farts will smell delightful. It’s a no-brainer as far as I’m concerned.