Major heat pump supplier attacks plans to replace gas boilers
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
A Gerald Ratner moment!!
A major heat pump supplier has attacked SNP-Green plans to use them to replace gas boilers in Scotland, warning parts of the country are too cold for them to work.
Lord Willie Haughey, the business tycoon, said the heating system is unsuitable for the Scottish climate as its performance declines markedly in freezing weather.
The Labour peer said some units can stop working properly at temperatures of -5C (23F), or require more electricity to function properly, resulting in higher bills.
Parts of Scotland hit -15C last winter and the country holds the record for the UK’s lowest temperature of -27.2C seen in Braemar in Aberdeenshire in 1982 and Altnaharra in Sutherland in 1995.
The multi-millionaire, who owns a heat pump company, also warned they were noisy and only heated water to 54C (129.2F) – less than the 60C recommended by the Health and Safety Executive to kill the legionella bacteria.
A strategy published by ministers in 2021 said that the average cost of installing a heat pump is around £10,000, four times the £2,500 cost of a new fossil fuel boiler. Lord Haughey said the cost was now £15,000.
His intervention came after Patrick Harvie, a Scottish Green minister, last week unveiled plans for homes to receive lower environmental ratings if they are heated using gas boilers.
From 2025, homes will need to achieve an EPC rating of C or above at certain trigger points, including a sale, meaning some properties with boilers will be barred from being put on the market.
A strategy published by ministers in 2021 said that the average cost of installing a heat pump is around £10,000, four times the £2,500 cost of a new fossil fuel boiler. Lord Haughey said the cost was now £15,000.
Air source heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air while ground source pumps are powered by cables buried quite deep in the earth next to the house.
The pump then uses electricity to amplify that energy into heat for the home. They were originally developed as air conditioning systems.
Lord Haughey, who made his millions through a global refrigeration business, said:”I have a heat pump company and following Patrick Harvie’s announcement, I should really be jumping for joy.
“But the truth of the matter is that heat pumps don’t work as efficiently in Scotland as they do in other countries.”
He said this was because of the colder climate and warned “legionnaires’ disease can thrive in lower temperatures in hot water systems”.
Lord Haughey added: “My staff are always telling me I should not criticise our core business but this is eco nonsense being peddled by the Greens. I’d like to challenge Patrick Harvie to a debate on the science of it.”
The tycoon also said the heat pumps are so noisy, that if eight or ten neighbouring homes had one, the resulting sound would “rattle your windows”.
He described them as “ugly and cumbersome” and said they created a bigger scar on a home than a satellite dish.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Honesty on this subject at last.
He just gave an interview on todays PM on Radio 4 at approximately 5.15. If you have iplayer you can catch it. I didn’t think he was that impressive unfortunately, not helped by the telephone line, a hesitant manner and a very thick Scottish accent
I second that!!!! Davies introduces the piece by saying how absolutely wonderful heat pumps are, like he’s selling them. Then he turns to Haughey, introducing him as a successful heat pump salesman who knows the product so well – and Haughey tears Davies’ argument apart by saying how useless they are!! It was a joy to hear. Thoroughly recommended you all listen to it. The only downside was when Haughey started to tell Davies that ELECTRIC heaters were better and cheaper than gas. Please listen.
” …. homes to receive lower environmental ratings if they are heated using gas boilers.
From 2025, homes will need to achieve an EPC rating of C or above at certain trigger points…”
Watch the pea.
An EPC is an Energy (not environmental) Performance Certificate rating.
One factor that undoubtably annoys the Greeens & enviros, is that one aspect of the given EPC rating relates to running costs.
Natural gas, used for heating ~80% – 85% of homes, is considerably less expensive than electricity (especially in winter when heat pumps are most needed most of the time). Nat Gas’s useful-energy *cost* saving in most cases cancels or exceeds a heat pump’s CoP for the period most heat is needed most of the time.
Hence greens’ desire to veer focus from cost to energy quantity.
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/guide-to-energy-performance-certificates-epcs/
Heat pumps are already recognised in EPC assessments.
My son has a modern house (2015) and the architect used higher standards than building regs to get an environmentally friendly house. On the EPC every assessment is “very good” or “good” except the heating and hot water using a ground source heat pump which is classed as “very poor” so the EPC is rated D. The EPC suggested getting a boiler installed. I queried this recently with my son and suggested he had it re-assessed. He spoke to an assessor who said it would still be D with the heat pump.
Yes. Heat pumps reduce your EPC rating, as does electric versus gas heating. The EPC is assessing COST efficiency and on a heat output to cost basis Heat pumps are more expensive than gas.
I expect they’ll fiddle the rating system soon so an EPC will no longer measure efficiency but ‘greenness’.
The reality is that EPCs don’t even measure cost. Like everything green theydepend on models. In turn those depend on what the assessor inputs as the assumptions. That may be only vaguely acquainted with reality.
As regards its EPC, I wonder if the high humidity we often experience in Britain is a factor in its apparent lack of effectiveness compared to some other other countries?
I understand it will be less effective when drawing in humid outside air , but on the plus side removes humidity from inside the house thereby making it warmer, so possibly swings and roundabouts.
+1
Joe, if you ever email that comment to your MP please do share his/her/its reply with us. My guess is they wouldn’t have a clue about the rating system so you’d get some ‘green’ staffer who will answer with gobledegook.
The SNP-Green coalition will ignore the facts (as always).
The most likely people to steal your marvellous (?) new heat pump are ‘dodgy’ installers, it says here…
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/how-to-protect-your-heat-pump-from-theft
BWTM: Vandals will destroy a 10k unit to get the 80 bucks worth of copper tubing out of it.*
While riding my moto in South Carolina, it’s not unusual to see compressors on rural churches on stilts. STILTS. 10 feet off the ground. To keep the vandals away. It was weird, first time I saw it.
It will be a growing problem in UK.
*We also have problems with people stealing the catalytic converters off vehicles, too. The thief has no concern over the damage.
oldbrew : Thanks for the link to homebuilding.co.uk. It would appear that GSHP have two advantages over ASHP – noise and safety from theft, even if far more expensive…if you have the money and the room to fit one of course…
How different the world be if it was run by honest logical business men like lord Haughey – like a breath of fresh air .
Patrick Harvie’s career is based on invented ‘save the planet lies ‘ which will hammer the poor even to death by freezing or hunger whilst actually destroying the planet – but he will not suffer on his salary .
So we cant sell grandma’s home unless the family raises £20k- £30 and it lies empty and vandalised to be snapped up by developers for next to nothing-
scenarios like this are demonically crazy
“Air source heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air while ground source pumps are powered by cables buried quite deep in the earth next to the house.”
What a load of nonsense. The heat is generated by the compression stage of the refrigeration cycle. Air source use air to condense the refrigerant thereby heating the air and ground source use Glycol water as the condensing medium.
Wrong, Beagle. Heat is extracted from the air.
Though there is also significant heat from compression.
Hello Gamecock.
cold cannot pass on warmth. (thermodynamics)
However when the temperature of the suction side (Outside part of the system) falls with ambient it impacts the discharge temperature from compression proportionately.
So Gamecock are you saying a block of ice could be used to boil water? Explain how cold outside air can be converted into modestly warm air, a quick explanation of defying physics will suffice. I spent 20 years on massive industrial refrigeration plants and the only heat generation comes from the compression phase. The cooling phase comes from the expansion of the compressed liquid (liquid, because it has been condensed from the gaseous phase with a condensing medium- in our case glycol water) The heat from these different phases was then used to heat /cool by means of heat exchangers.
I am saying you don’t know how a heat pump works.
Prove me wrong.
I shall publicise this point again. Air Source heat pumps are typically quoted as having a CoP (co-efficient of performance) of “3” meaning for every one unit (kWh) of electricity in you can get 3 units of heat energy out. BUT! this is a co-efficient and varies on cold side temperature (outside air) and hot side temperature (water inside through radiators et alia). The figure of 3 is based on an outside temperature of PLUS 7 °C so not very cold, and a hot side water temperature of just 35°C. as per BSEN14511.
If the cold side is colder, the hot side needing to be hotter the CoP falls dramatically. When it is colder and you need more heat, they become more and more inefficient.
The daily mean temperature in Aberdeen is below 7°C for over 25 weeks of the year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen#Climate
Heat pumps are a ridiculous waste of electricity.
“Heat pumps are a ridiculous waste of electricity.”
That is not absolute. They are great in Florida.
The clue is in the name HEAT generated from a PUMP or compressor. I gave a simple explanation above. All the heat is derived form the Compression stage of the refrigeration cycle. You know that compression generates heat, don’t you, well that is the heat cycle. When the high pressure refrigerant gas is passed through a heat exchanger then the cooler temperature of the other medium in for example a shell and tube heat exchanger condenses the refrigerant gas. This refrigerant gas is the passed though a control valve where the pressure is reduced. As you know to change phase there is a heat requirement where there is a cooling effect for the liquid to change to its vapour phase.
The whole process is compression and then decompression with both these phases dependant on heat transfer.
I think in Florida, heat pumps are called “air conditioning units” and they do an excellent job heating the outdoors in urban areas.
Hilarious, Beagle. You have no clue how a heat pump works. But that doesn’t slow you down.
Gamecock,
Beagle has given a succinct and accurate version of the refrigeration cycle.
Please explain any werrors and gives us your version?
Not my job, Iain. Y’all can go find out how a heat pump works on your own.
Hello Gamecock,
what sort of response is that?
You claim that Beagle has no idea how a heat pump works but cannot critique his description?
I suggest you think you know how it works but you misunderstand the reality.
In other words:-
Compression to hot high pressure gas,
condensation to hot high pressure liquid
expansion to low pressure cold gas back to the compressor to start the cycle again.
Ray Sanders : I have tried to find the real (practical) CoP figures from ASHP manufacturers for a variety of outside (going below 7 degrees C) and inside water temperatures but have not been able to find this data. Do you know where I can find this information in an easily understood format please?
All the ASHP manufacturers have to supply, by law, is the results under the specified test conditions as detailed in BSEN14511.
https://landingpage.bsigroup.com/LandingPage/Undated?UPI=000000000030328748
This really is a wild west industry askin to the early days of double glazing salesmen despite however “honest”and virtuous they may make out they are. I very much dooubt you will get real world accurate figures from the manufacturers – they will claim “up to” figures at best.
I could also point out all the other additional hidden energy costs such as much extended running time of the larger circulating pump, the costs of defrosting, the additional immersion heater costs for safe water temperatures etc etc.
ASHP in the UK climate are a really dumb idea.
Read some research recently showing average CoP in UK was about 2.8 (air source), which makes heat pumps much more expensive to run with current electricity/gas costs per kWh supplied of 4 to 5. I’ll try to find it, sorry no joy so far.
Try this from GWPF
‘Heat Pumps: Mythology and Actuality’
Andrew Montford
Note 43, The Global Warming Policy Foundation
© Copyright 2023, The Global Warming Policy Foundation
To Nigel, the oft quoted 2.8 figure for heat pumps in the UK is a concocted representation of “averageing” known as SPF (seasonal performance factor). Obviously when it is warm outside heat pumps are more efficient (but then again you don’t need much, if any, space heating) so they provide this pointless average. What it actually demonstrates is that when it is cold the CoP often falls well below 2 but in summer (when you don’t actually need it) the CoP is over 4.
Smoke and mirrors comes to mind.
https://greenbusinesswatch.co.uk/cop-vs-spf#:~:text=Coefficient%20of%20Performance%20(COP)%20of%20Heat%20Pumps&text=In%20the%20case%20of%20a,it%20consumes%20in%20electrical%20energy.
Ray,
as a matter of interest I wrote to the Department of Energy (In)Security and Net Zero (via my M.P.) to say that using heat pumps will increase CO2 emissions rather than reduce them, based on the increase in demand will be met by gas generation.
The first reply was in the vein ‘do not be silly boy, you are wrong’
They then state heatpumps are 280% efficient to which I responded with “Utter nonsense”, physics has that no device can be 100% efficient.
Their next reply basically said the same.
I explained that using electrical units as basis for efficiency neglects the fact that electricity is not energy, it has to be generated and distributed and it is the amount of fuel to generate that one unit of power at the heat pump is the basis for the calculation.
I’m still waiting for a further response, nearly one month so far.
What I gathered is that they quoted an external body as evidence but that was the Seasonal Performance not efficiency, the seemingly untechnical member(s) of the department changed it to efficiency.
And what’s more, most heat pumps have “emergency” electrical resistance heating elements built in which switch on automatically when the outside air gets too cold for the heat pump to warm the house sufficiently. So when smug people boast how their heat pump keeps them “toasty” even on the coldest days they’re actually getting their heat from what amounts to an old fashioned electric fire.
Do Scottish heat pump owners fancy doing this on a very regular basis?
“When the outside temperature drops below 5°C, remember to remove the ice that accumulates on the evaporator, due to the moisture generated in the air condensing. Because the ice decreases the efficiency of the coil by reducing its ability to transfer heat to the refrigerant, remove it and switch on ‘defrost mode’ by reversing its action. To melt the ice, direct the hot gas to the outdoor coil and switch off the evaporator fan.”
https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/2014/06/air-source-heat-pump-performance
Yep every time it’s Brass Monkeys outside I really want to get out there to perform fist aid on my heating system….progress?
“Perform fist aid”
Is that when you stick your fist through the cowling in sheer frustration?
+1
“fist aid”… I wish I could basque in the glory of claiming it was a deliberate pun but sadly it was only a typo. I might use it again deliberately but in the meantime I shall reinstate my spell chequer!
‘Fist’ aid is excellent, shall definitely steal that.
Lord Willie Haughey, the business tycoon, said the heating system is unsuitable for the Scottish climate as its performance declines markedly in freezing weather………..
So thats OK then, as freezing weather in Sco’lan is a thing of the past. I know this, ‘cos peer reviewed climate scientists concur with this statement, and we will now have to be concerned/frightened/terrified about global boiling.
The only way this ends is with heads on pikes.
Not a heat pump but this graph gives an indication of how COP varies with condenser and evaporator temperatures:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-variation-in-COP-with-condenser-and-evaporator-temperatures_fig2_229572251
Precise values depend on system design but I would think that the ‘backroom boys’ would have the data to plot such a graph for any system they designed. I would insist on seeing it before entertaining purchasing one.
This is another good reason for the government to hand out 100 drilling licenses in the North Sea which will then bring down our energy costs and so then why do we need an unworkable heat pump
All it takes for a SEVERE UK winter is a High Pressure to build over Southern Sweden in mid-winter. Then an east wind will blow CLOCKWISE from SIBERIA! Lows will still cross west to east across the Atlantic…….and will meet the very cold Siberian air……HENCE HEAVY SNOW ACROSS THE UK!!
Anyone who thinks such winters are gone IS A FOOL !!
Check out 1962/63 when the SEA FROZE in the UK!!
ONLY COAL IN THE CELLAR SAVED THE UK FROM MASS HYPOTHERMIA IN 1963 !! THE COAL HAS NOW GONE!!
Wind turbines and solar panels will be useless in powering the UK !!
Too true. But I’m afraid we’re going to need such a Winter, with power blackouts, and unfortunately some people dying, before the eco zeolots – and indeed a lot of politicians in both main parties – will be forced to back down from their net zero obsession.
Hi Paul,
I assume your comment to “Gerald Ratner” was actually meant for me – Gerald Ratzer.
I was born in England, but the family name is from Austria.
You are not the first to make this slip.
Below is my comment from March 24th. I can now add some more details.
I found a local retired engineer that was happy to do the installation for a few hundred dollars.
He had top-notch special tools for the job.
While the list price on the web was $2,000 CAD – the final installed heat pump was $3,000.
Most people in our area of Quebec are paying from $5,000 to $7,000, because the installers insist in only installing units from one specific manufacturer.
They get a good discount and then mark up the final price by a considerable amount. This is a racket, and with a bit of time, I managed to work my way around it.
The system works very well, it is quiet and so far tests out well at cooling.
For the heating season, I am expecting to cut the home heating costs in half – based on the COP of 3.1 and other units installed in the area.
The other big plus for a heat pump in Québec is our electrical power is all hydro – thanks to Hydro Quebec.
Our rates are among the lowest in the world, with a base rate of 6 Canadian cents per kWh.
My email exchange with Andrew Montford is below.
So far, I am a happy customer, – I strongly recommend heat pumps – for the right house and location.
Thank you for all your excellent analysis and reporting.
Gerald
===========
Dear Gerald
Many thanks for this. Of course, my article has a UK focus, and heat pumps may well be viable in other countries. The price ratio is below 2 in some places.
Best wishes
Andrew
Your assumption is wrong. The reference is to Gerald Ratner. the eponymous jeweller’s owner who said he was selling rubbish and the business collapsed. So sorry to disappoint your sense of self worth!
Gosh this Ratzer guy really is well up himself to think the article was about a nobody like him!
I was trying to be terribly British in my comment. I maybe should have used the word Tosser 🤣
I reckon your heat pump will switch on auxiliary electrical resistance heating automatically when the outside air gets too cold for the heat pump to provide enough heat. This will be fine in Quebec with cheap hydro electricity. It would be ruinous in the UK where electricity prices are some 4 to 5 fold more.
And after last week’s BBC bollocks on battery cars, would you believe it but this week’s edition is on heat pumps. I wonder if the Mail TV critic will give it a roasted – how ironic for non-heat pumps – like he did last week’s.
Oh dear! BBC PM took it badly when, yesterday, Lord Haughey went off on one about the uselessness of ASHPs in the UK. So much so that this evening they had a full-blown anti-Haughey piece to prove that Evan was right and Haughey was wrong. Handbags at dawn.
Check it out on BBC Sounds… hilarious – especially the input from a Scottish ASHP user who claimed that using an ASHP in Scotland was cheap. But then, as he finished his comment, he admitted that he pays for the ASHP electricity by having Solar panels!!!