Cosy with heat pump

WE ALL have a duty to mitigate Britain’s contribu-tion towards global warming.

I live in a 120-year-old brick-built cottage that is off the gas grid and used to be heated by a coal boiler.

Eighteen months ago, due to my concerns about fossil fuel and after doing my research, I decided to have air source heating installed. I am satisfied with the outcome and would be happy to explain to John Humphrys (Mail) how to use his heat pump.

JOHN OLDERSHAW, Market Harborough, Leics. JOHN Humphrys says his heat pump only manages to ‘take the chill off the downstairs rooms if given a couple of days to warm up’. He says his vital fallback of a log-burning stove is ‘not exactly an option in your typical suburban semi’.

A walk around any suburban area on a mild October night would disabuse him of this opinion as his lungs take in the acrid smell of wood smoke.

That’s due to the interior design fad of the wood burner, beloved by those who would escape to the country, but without the inconvenience.

They use mains gas to cook and heat, and burn trees as

entertainment for the eye. Those trees were cleaning the air. Any replacement trees will take decades to fully grow.

STEVE NUGENT, Dorchester, Dorset.

WHILE accepting climate change, John Humphrys expresses doubts about heat pumps for homes. The general view is that to be green, we will continue to enjoy improve-ments in our lifestyle, but just do things in a different way.

The truth may be that we are going to have to accept a lower standard of living. ROGER SCHAFIR,

London N21.