Heat Pump in a Terraced House - The Install Most Installers Would REFUSE!
Heat Geek
15,097 views
Most people assume an old, poorly insulated terraced house is one of the hardest places to install a heat pump and when Gareth from Hurford's Heating first surveyed this one, even he wasn’t sure he could make it work.
This 1897 mid-terrace on the Isle of Portland has solid Portland stone walls, no floor insulation, virtually no insulation in the extension and very limited insulation in the loft conversion.
It also had another problem: where do you actually put everything?
After spending hours surveying the property, researching the unusual Portland stone and working through the heat loss calculations, Gareth went away to think about whether he was prepared to take the job on.
The result?
A 7kW heat pump that has heated the house comfortably through the depths of winter.
In this video, we meet the homeowners and installer behind one of the more challenging Heat Geek installations — and show why getting the design right matters far more than simply assuming an old house “isn’t suitable” for a heat pump.
You’ll see:
How a heat pump works in an old terraced house
Why the installer nearly turned the job down
The challenges of heating solid Portland stone walls
Why insulation isn’t the whole story when sizing a heat pump
How accurate heat loss calculations affect system design
The challenges of routing pipework through a difficult property
What the homeowners thought of the installation process
How the heat pump compares with their old gas boiler for comfort and noise
Why installer quality can make or break a heat pump installation
This house is exactly the sort of property people are often told isn’t suitable for a heat pump.
But good heat pump design isn’t about applying simple rules like “old houses need insulation” or “heat pumps only work in modern homes”.
It’s about understanding the building, calculating the heat loss correctly and designing a heating system capable of delivering what the house actually needs.
And sometimes, that means taking on an installation that other installers might refuse.
At Heat Geek, we believe the quality of the design and installation matters just as much as the heat pump itself.
Thinking about a heat pump?
Find out more at:
:point_right: https://www.heatgeek.com
Find a trusted Heat Geek installer:
:point_right: https://www.heatgeek.com/find-an-inst...
#HeatPump #TerracedHouse #AirSourceHeatPump #HeatPumpUK #OldHouse #HeatPumpInstallation #VictorianHouse #HomeHeating #HeatGeek
13 Comments
The only thing I can hear outside in the winter all the time is our neighbours gas flue apart from 3 days when it was -3c and our heat pump fan was about the same as our old gas boiler flue.
I'm guessing there was a lot of remedial work? The lady said she knew the floor would have to come up, so that's the carpet, flooring etc?
They put the boiler in recently, so that's that money gone to the scrap dealer then!?
It would be nice to know how much on top of the £7.5k the job cost!
I'm not against heat pumps, I would love one myself.
Unfortunately, living in a terraced house smaller than this example and having only micro bore pipework, severely limits my options to a high temp pump and lots of electricity or a hybrid system which the grant won't cover!
Then decided to get a heat pump which was branded Valiant...I'm not sure I would have gone with them.
You can look up the coldest day of the previous year. If they have a smart meter then you should be able to get their energy use that day. You can ask them what their thermostat settings are. It's even better if they have a temperature log of that day. Then you can see the kWh of gas and electricity which added together (because electricity use ends up as heat in your house unless it's used outside it) in my experience match a thorough and clear thermal survey results astonishingly closely.
Way less effort. Way less guessing. Same result. And you can bet on that value because it's experimental rather than a calculated prediction.
You can even go a step further calculating all the gas usage and degree days for the year and get an average to compare to your worst day figure.
If they have no smart meter then you're scuppered and have to guess with a survey or broad year averages based on degree days.
Heat Pump in a Terraced House - The Install Most Installers Would REFUSE!
Heat Geek
15,097 views
Most people assume an old, poorly insulated terraced house is one of the hardest places to install a heat pump and when Gareth from Hurford's Heating first surveyed this one, even he wasn’t sure he could make it work.
This 1897 mid-terrace on the Isle of Portland has solid Portland stone walls, no floor insulation, virtually no insulation in the extension and very limited insulation in the loft conversion.
It also had another problem: where do you actually put everything?
After spending hours surveying the property, researching the unusual Portland stone and working through the heat loss calculations, Gareth went away to think about whether he was prepared to take the job on.
The result?
A 7kW heat pump that has heated the house comfortably through the depths of winter.
In this video, we meet the homeowners and installer behind one of the more challenging Heat Geek installations — and show why getting the design right matters far more than simply assuming an old house “isn’t suitable” for a heat pump.
You’ll see:
How a heat pump works in an old terraced house
Why the installer nearly turned the job down
The challenges of heating solid Portland stone walls
Why insulation isn’t the whole story when sizing a heat pump
How accurate heat loss calculations affect system design
The challenges of routing pipework through a difficult property
What the homeowners thought of the installation process
How the heat pump compares with their old gas boiler for comfort and noise
Why installer quality can make or break a heat pump installation
This house is exactly the sort of property people are often told isn’t suitable for a heat pump.
But good heat pump design isn’t about applying simple rules like “old houses need insulation” or “heat pumps only work in modern homes”.
It’s about understanding the building, calculating the heat loss correctly and designing a heating system capable of delivering what the house actually needs.
And sometimes, that means taking on an installation that other installers might refuse.
At Heat Geek, we believe the quality of the design and installation matters just as much as the heat pump itself.
Thinking about a heat pump?
Find out more at:
:point_right: https://www.heatgeek.com
Find a trusted Heat Geek installer:
:point_right: https://www.heatgeek.com/find-an-inst...
#HeatPump #TerracedHouse #AirSourceHeatPump #HeatPumpUK #OldHouse #HeatPumpInstallation #VictorianHouse #HomeHeating #HeatGeek