From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Another nail in the coffin!
Heat pumps will not work for Britain’s Victorian houses, one of the largest makers of the devices has warned.
Vonjy Rajakoba, managing director of Bosch UK, told The Telegraph that heat pumps did not make sense for older homes that lack extensive insulation or were not detached.
Mr Rajakoba said: “At low temperature you need well insulated homes, you also need space for heat pumps for the external unit and also the tank, so you need to have the sort of home which is adequate around the heat pumps.
“We think that in the UK, with the fleet of Victorian houses or period houses and so on, hydrogen, or in the interim hydrogen-ready boilers, are the solution.”
Mr Rajakoba’s comments will stoke doubts about the current government “net zero” strategy, given Britain’s ageing housing stock. Almost two fifths of private homes were built before 1945, according to government figures.
Mass adoption of heat pumps is a key plank of Britain’s plan to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050.
The electric devices raise the temperature in people’s homes by pumping compressed air from outside to raise the temperature indoors. The Government wants to see 600,000 heat pumps installed each year by 2028, compared to around 35,000 today.
However, a House of Lords committee claimed in February that using hydrogen to heat homes was “not a serious option”, citing concerns about whether the gas could be produced at scale and cheaply enough. The report urged the Government to instead focus solely on heat pumps.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/14/heat-pumps-wont-work-old-homes-warns-bosch/
Heat pumps as a share of heating system sales, 2021
So we go around in circles again. Heat pumps are useless, so go for hydrogen, scream Bosch. But hydrogen won’t work, so go for heat pumps say the House of Lords.
I’ve got a better idea – just stick with what does work, gas boilers.