Detached property, hosted by Christopher

Stiebel Eltron heat pump in a 1965 - 1982 property

Christopher

About me
I live in a village with no mains gas. My previous heating used an oil boiler which was expensive. When I refurbished the house I wanted a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option. My father in law already had an air source heat pump in a 200 year old cottage so I had no concerns about whether it would work. I'd like to give others the opportunity to overcome any concerns they might have about living with a heat pump.

Joined the network in 2025

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About this property

Great Shefford, RG17

5 bedrooms

Other heat pump

EPC rating: D (64) last assessed in 2015

Cost of energy bills per year: About £500 including charging two electric cars

Installing the system

The heat pump was installed as part of a whole house refurbishment and extension in 2014/2015 which lasted about a year. We insulated the roof and all the interior walls of the old part of the house, and removed the floor screed to insulate and install underfloor heating in all rooms. Upstairs underfloor insulation was installed under floorboards between joists. The heat pump uses a small river on the border of our property as its heat source, water is pumped from the river to a heat exchanger next to the heat pump then discharged back downstream in the river. We also installed mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) in the whole house, solar hot water and 3.9kW of solar PV panels on the south-west facing roof. Two years ago we added 12kW more solar PV panels, split between the SW and North East sides of the roof and 27kWh of batteries - both connected to a 6kW inverter working in parallel with the original inverter an panels.

Living with a heat pump

Running costs are very low, though maintenance costs are higher than our previous oil boiler. Because we use river water for the heat source, there are filters in the system that need to be cleaned occasionally to remove silt and debris and keep the water flow at the required rate.