Heat Pump Quote and Performance Simulation

Heat pumps can work in nearly all homes, our 14kW unit is powerful enough for a 200m² home. We can install multiple units, but we need to do a proper onsite survey to establish if this is feasible and affordable.

We pride ourselves on our initial questionnaire being more detailed then other providers, so you can immediately receive a solid understanding of your heat loss, costs and savings. 

Heat Pump Noise Explained

One of the main concerns about heat pump disadvantages is that they are noisy. This just isn’t the case with modern units. There are now strict regulations on how loud this can be (around 40 – 60 decibels within one metre). Our heat pump is only 42bd from 1m.

That’s roughly the same as a fridge freezer or a gas boiler and because they’re outside, the noise will rarely be heard. Our site survey includes a noise check to ensure this.

Read more in our Knowledge Hub page on this topic.

Heat pump Disadvantages

Before installation we do a thorough home survey to ensure the heat pump system we install is optimised for your space.

Unlike a gas boiler, where high bursts of energy are produced, rapidly heating, a heat pump is designed to stay on for longer without costing you more – keeping consistent temperature throughout the day. The rapid inefficient burst of burnt energy with a boiler verses the slow consistent operation of a heat pump is one of the core reasons for the massive difference in heat pump efficiency and cost savings.

Heat pump Disadvantages

Air source heat pumps can actually work in temperatures as low as -20 °C when properly installed. Norway, Sweden, and Finland have the highest heat pump adoption rates in Europe, and are equally some of the coldest countries.

When it gets very cold, the heat pump will need to use a bit more energy than usual to keep your home cosy, but as our heat pump is designed for Swedish winters, the UK’s milder climate means our heat pump has no problem keeping up.

Our heat pumps are also installed with outdoor temperature sensors and climate control systems, which can engage immersion heaters to boost hot water if in the rare case the heat pump isn’t efficiently getting your hot water up to the design flow temperature.

Heat Pump Costs | Savings, Payback, Investment

With the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme £5,000 grant, you can get an ROI on your investment and saving on your gas bill quickly. We give you a detailed overview of your savings, and comparison to new and older gas boilers when you complete our online questionnaire.

Heat Pump Warranty | Maintenance & Service Packages

A heat pump can last 20 years – about twice as long as a boiler – and they need less pricey maintenance.

Our installations include a 2, 5 or 7 year warranty depending on your service packages.

Read about our industry leading maintenance packages here. 

Heat pump Disadvantages

These days heat pumps can actually heat water up to these higher temperatures. 

The question is, why would you want to? Heat pumps work more efficiently at lower temperatures and with modern low temperature radiators you just don’t need to heat your water up to 60 degrees, or higher. 

By running your radiators slightly longer at a lower temperature you save money, have less heat loss in your radiators, and have a more pleasant living environment.

Heat pump Disadvantages

Heat pumps are smart. They use outside temperatures to control your heating curves and with your input they can learn your usage and active times in the house to ensure that slow and steady heat is produced so when you walk in your home the temperature is perfect.

Then it works slow and steady in low eco modes to maintain that temperature.

You don’t need to worry about going to the thermostat and hitting boost.

Heat pump Disadvantages

One of the biggest heat pump disadvantages people believe is that a heat pump won’t heat their house sufficiently. 

This is a misconception, especially as heat pumps become more advanced and efficient.

It is true that insulation makes your heat loss lower, but this is true for all heating methods. Heat pumps also work differently to boilers, in that they provide slow and steady heating when operating at their most efficient and economic.

The key to poorly insulated houses is utilising the heat pumps smart features, which track outside air temperatures and your personal needs, such as time of day needs.

Additionally, with Adlår, we complete a detailed MCS site survey, which looks at your emitters and allows us to upgrade any radiators to low temperature, high efficiency ones, further utilising the heat pumps steady heat production.

Yotube Link

Heat pump Disadvantages

This has a bit more truth to it, but it isn’t a heat pump disadvantage. The error here comes in understanding how heat pumps work. See more below for our tortoise and hare analogy.

Regardless of this however, all of Adlår’s heat pumps are fitted with smart immersion heaters linked to flow temperature sensors.

In the rare case UK temperatures were to drop below -10°C, and output temperature from the heat pump doesn’t achieve the design flow temperature set by you, the immersion heater kicks in, giving you the boost you need.

This is not the most efficient way to operate, but it covers you in the worst case scenario.

Youtube Link

Heat pump Disadvantages

This is correct, and that’s because using a heat pump requires a different way of thinking. We think of it as the famous race between the tortoise and the hare. 

A boiler uses high bursts of energy to quickly heat water. The gas or oil that is burnt, burns at a very high temperature, resulting in a rapid rise in water temperature. When you set your room temperature at 20 degrees, the thermostat turns this high heat on when it drops below the desired heat, and off when it meets it. As a boiler can’t burn at 20 degrees, this creates a yo-yo effect with you heating and the water temperature. The boiler is the hare. Fast, but needs to stop.

Heat pumps in contrast keep the water flowing and they gradually bring water up to the right temperature and then hold it there. This means that whilst you don’t get a quick burst of heat, you get a more constant one. Heat pumps are the tortoise then, not the fastest but they win the race (if the race is constant room temperature and lower energy bills).

Boilers vs Heat Pumps

We use the analogy of the tortoise and the hare to visualise boilers vs heat pumps when it comes to heating.

A gas boiler works fast, with high energy output to heat up water, whereas a heat pump works slow and steady holding the temperature at a more consistent level. 

We also like to claim, as the tortoise, the heat pump wins the race.

Boilers vs Heat Pumps

Traditional boilers tend to be oversized compared to heat pumps in terms of capacity.

As a general rule a house that requires 5kW of energy would tend to have a 30kW boiler installed.

This is because combi boilers are designed to be reactive, providing heating on demand. In this case, your thermostat will monitor your room temperature and turn the system ON and OFF to meet the desired room temperature. This creates a yo-yo affect between desired temperature and actual, and also between your inflow water temperature and your design flow temperature of your system (~35°C for underfloor heating and 45~80°C for radiators).

This greater temperature rise in this scenario requires more power.

Heat pumps heat your water much more gently, over a longer period of time, and keep a constant flow. 

Having heat pumps with a 30kW capacity requires an expensive unit, and usually 3-phase power to achieve. As a result, heat pumps are designed more carefully to facilitate lower capacity.

Heat pumps keep water flowing and by maintaining constant temperature in the system, there is rarely a need for a large surge in power to combat dropping room temperatures. The heat pump works to keep the water inflow temperature within a couple of degrees of your design flow temperature, rather than 5~10 degrees, as can be the case in a boiler system.

Adlår heat pumps are installed with extra capacity built in, and in combination with temperature sensors and pre-programmed environmental heating curves, we can account for the worst case scenarios (when outside temperature drops below -10°C, and the hot water temperature isn’t keeping up with your thermostat demanded temperature).

Our extra capacity includes:

1. 3kW Immersion heater, within a 60 or 90 litre buffer tank
2. 1.5kW domestic hot water (DHW) cylinder air source heat pump (ASHP)

The buffer tank smooths out demand, having heating hot water available to distribute to your heating system. The 3kW immersion heater can be activated if the heat pump’s capacity is close to maximum and the temperature settings aren’t being met by the heat pump alone.

The 1.5kW DHW ASHP cylinder works independently from the heating, to supply only for your domestic hot water. As DHW takes priority over room heating in most systems, by splitting the system as we do, we avoid the heat pump being in over capacity and prevents heating capacity for hot water from ever being diverted to the DHW. 

The outside main unit  is roughly 1m x 1m x 1.5m, it needs a space of ~1m meter infront and to each side to allow optimal airflow into the unit.

Inside you need space for a hot water cylinder, which is roughly 2m x 1m x1m (the size of a small-medium sized modern fridge), which you can place on the ground or first floor of your home (the closer to the outside the better).

Heat Pump Roof and Wall Installation

A number of main installers don’t install heat pumps on the roof or on wall mounts above 1m high. 

Adlår is fully trained in this, with over 50% of our installs in these categories.

Advantages can include:

• Less restricted air flow.
• Less visually impairing.
• Out of the way.
• Less noise impact, increased interaction distance to the fan.

Learn more here

Boiler Upgrade Scheme – £5,000 Grant

Insulating your home is always a good idea, as it means whatever heating system you have will work more efficiently. Generally homes with an Energy Performance Certificate Rating of D and above, with at least a couple of types of insulation (wall, loft or double glazing) should be well insulated enough already, which includes most homes in the UK. If not, you may have to insulate first, which is usually quite straightforward (cavity wall insulations costs around £500 and takes 4 hours on average) and we can help arrange this for you.

To be eligible for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme £5,000 Grant you must not have loft or cavity wall upgrade recommendations on your EPC certificate.

Heat Pumps run at a lower temperatures than a typical gas boiler (which makes them greener and cheaper to run), but this may require larger radiators or more radiators to be installed to keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

Most homes need a couple of radiator upgrades, our specialists will confirm any radiator changes required during your home survey, and we can install them at the same time as the heat pump, and because it is tied into the heat pump installation it can be done VAT free.

Heat pumps work even better (lower costs and higher efficiencies) with wet underfloor heating. We can quote for this during our visit also.