Folly of forcing heat pumps on homeowners

SIR – Environmental initiatives often backfire – the switch from petrol to diesel cars being one obvious example.

Next could be the plan to replace gas boilers with electric heat pumps. A reader with experience of one recently reported that it was so noisy as to be unusable. Alan Duncalf (Letters, May 30) also mentions a number of drawbacks.

The Energy Savings Trust (EST) could only recommend them for new-build homes with under-floor heating, or well-insulated homes without a gas supply. Unable to produce hot water, they would need back-up from electric immersion heaters, undermining their energysaving claims. The EST calculated that installation would cost up to £19,000 and save up to £30 per annum over gas or oil boilers, taking 633 years to recoup the cost.

Is it wise to ban gas boilers when heat pumps are not widely affordable – and are unsuitable for many homes? Keith Forsdick Looe, Cornwall

SIR – We had a ground source heat pump installed five years ago.

The total cost will be reimbursed by the Government under its Renewable Heat Incentive scheme over a sevenyear period. The unit is no larger than an equivalent gas or oil-fired boiler. A proportion of our electricity requirement is provided by solar panels on the roof of our garage.

The system generates enough hot water for all our needs, as well as excellent heating.

David Mansfield

Knutsford, Cheshire

SIR – We have had a ground source heat pump since 2009 and cannot praise it enough.

Our property is 200 years old and stone-built. Heat and hot water are plentiful and the heat pump (the size of a large fridge) fits comfortably in the garage.

I invite Mr Duncalf to visit and see for himself how very efficient it is. John Kania

Lincoln