Putting aside for a moment the BBC bit, can anyone explain to me why the English hate heat pumps so much? I really don’t get it. See also opposition to 15-minute cities and renewable energy. - ThreadSky

brislen.nz • 9 days ago

Putting aside for a moment the BBC bit, can anyone explain to me why the English hate heat pumps so much? I really don’t get it. See also opposition to 15-minute cities and renewable energy.

Reposted from George Monbiot

The BBC is institutionally biased towards the right and the far right, and here's the proof: the results of an almost perfect before-and-after experiment.
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Comments

theambulator.bsky.social•8 days ago

Theirs tend to be more expensive. Sometimes a LOT. First because they seem to tend to heat water rather than air (better for storing heat & heating types for the UK?).

theambulator.bsky.social•8 days ago

The main hate seems to come from a type of Heat Pump that's common in the UK but not here. Being ground to water heating, whereas in NZ they are mainly air to air heating.
Ground to water is massively more complex to install and a lot more expensive.

theambulator.bsky.social•8 days ago

"Installing an air source heat pump costs between £2,600 – £22,780 and £6,700 – £40,500 for a ground source heat pump."

p-no-nwa.bsky.social•9 days ago

Witchcraft

robodobdob.bsky.social•8 days ago

It probably all flows back The Atlas Group.

andrew.joll.nz•9 days ago

They do seem to love their gas. I'm on a British vintage radio forum, in the "other tech" they're always talking about gas boilers, pilot lights and stuff. Oh and they put their washing machines in the kitchen which is weird but a topic for another day.

joshoconnorchen.bsky.social•9 days ago

Gas is an excellent source of heat, if you don't mind just burning methane indoors for shits and giggles.

mattgordon80.bsky.social•9 days ago

Have you seen the size of houses in the UK? There's no bloody room to put them anywhere else. We dream of having a laundry again.

Ours had been relocated to the conservatory to make space for a dishwasher.

ninjakitty.bsky.social•9 days ago

They’ve never hear of good insulation and ducting?

swampy-kiwi.bsky.social•9 days ago

gas and oil lobbying - relatively new technology (for the UK) which takes time for people to get used to and a use case that isn't perfectly matched to the technology.

swampy-kiwi.bsky.social•9 days ago

replacing a boiler that does both Hot water and heating (radiators) with a heat pump, that probably lives outside in a postage stamp sized back garden and costs more than the incumbent technology and will require renovation (brick houses and need to run electricity outside) mean its not cheap.

swampy-kiwi.bsky.social•9 days ago

all of which are fixable but provide entry points for bad actors to run disinfo campaigns

danxduran.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'm not a huge fan of heatpumps. Least not in this place anyway - neighbours left theirs on most of last winter, all night, and it literally vibrates the walls. Drove me insane!

changleen.bsky.social•9 days ago

That’s just shoddy installation though, not a reflection on heatpumps, just whatever halfwit did that particular job.

danxduran.bsky.social•9 days ago

Yeah it's something I didn't think about when we moved into a place with shared walls! It's the fans outside. Ah well

brianboru.bsky.social•8 days ago

Our experience of "heat pumps" in London was during a record-breaking heatwave. Smoke billowed from the hotel's ancient hp when we switched to aircon setting. The manager doubted it had ever been required to COOL the room. An army of servicing people declared it dead & a portable unit was provided.

kennedyt.bsky.social•8 days ago

For the same reason that they look down their noses at automatic transmission in cars, and can't cope with metric system.

billbennett.bsky.social•8 days ago

That's also true in the US. One thing the two have in common is Murdoch-owned media, which could be part of the reason.

sazp.bsky.social•9 days ago

They’re an unknown. Most UK houses have boilers that heat all the hot water and the central heating. We like to be properly warm 🤣 not just the odd room here and there. Proper central heating is one of the few things I miss about the UK.

drift.nz•9 days ago

Ducted heat pump works well. I had an old house in UK that was relying on electric night storage and a Rayburn stove for heating. Ended up reluctantly connecting to gas and installing boiler and radiators. Have ducted heat pump here and I am cosy in all rooms and it’s cheap to run

juha.bsky.social•9 days ago

Heatpumps are most excellent. I will brook no argument against them.

elpie.bsky.social•8 days ago

I’ll argue. I hate them with a passion. I’d probably have one if I were in AoNZ but they’re noisy and don’t work well in cold climates. In dense urban environments the noise can be horrific. Even worse for me that doesn’t shut windows until temperatures go below -20C.

juha.bsky.social•8 days ago

Agree, you don't seem like a heatpump person. :)

elpie.bsky.social•8 days ago

This is where I learned to hate them. Two and three storey apartments with one household per level, most with a heat pump placed as far from their own windows as possible, putting them right next to the neighbors windows. Noise should be illegal IMO.

drift.nz•8 days ago

My heat pump is outside in a position where I don’t hear it much. I’m wondering how noisy it is for my neighbour though now

elpie.bsky.social•8 days ago

People tend not to consider this.

nzrossvideo.bsky.social•8 days ago

I’m in NZ and we have radiators on a boiler.
Seriously looking at converting them to heat pump source.

nzpom.com•9 days ago

I don't miss it😉

parsley72.bsky.social•9 days ago

I think there’s an amount of “cultural inertia”. When I first came to NZ I met a few people who couldn’t see the point of double glazing - “We’re a warm country”. One glazier didn’t even want to quote for it! That’s changing now.

What’s weird is that the UK has loads of double glazing but no HRV.

wiremu.bsky.social•9 days ago

i get the same reaction when i suggest triple glazing to a client as i did when i suggested double glazing nearly 30 years ago.
i simplify it for them : do you want thick insulation or thin insulation

braincolor.bsky.social•8 days ago

We have trust issues with science and engineering. Cost and received advertising is the slamdunk

wiremu.bsky.social•8 days ago

i did a bungalow refit, made new sashes and fitted into existing frames. my price for 32 sashes was $2k more than the quote for the glass co. to bodge the old 90 y/o sashes and fit thin double glazing. original sashes are 44m profile, mine are 52mm. 24mm glazing units.

braincolor.bsky.social•8 days ago

Superb !
I know I should do it, but priorities

wiremu.bsky.social•8 days ago

yes, it is costly. can't get around it unfort

brucebuckman.bsky.social•8 days ago

Ooh I like that window hardware.

wiremu.bsky.social•8 days ago

unusual! only time i've ever seen it.

brucebuckman.bsky.social•9 days ago

In our ongoing reno the kitchen space which has lots of windows is now all double glazed and the difference in mild Auckland is immediately noticeable.

brislen.nz•8 days ago

Yeah our new half of the house is fabulous. The old half is damp and grim at times.

brucebuckman.bsky.social•8 days ago

‘Damp and grim at times’ sounds like a rejected tourism promo for visiting Auckland in winter.

jessterraformearth.bsky.social•8 days ago

Winter came early today in Tāmaki Makaurau! 😬😬😬

andrewr4.womcats.com•8 days ago

Also sounds like undies on a humid day. 🤣

wiremu.bsky.social•9 days ago

a single glazed 3mm pane has an R value of 0.18. (roof insulation can be up to 7.0.)
double glazed low e / argon fill with a thermal spacer thickness of 18mm= around 0.6. still fuck all but around 3 times as good as single, and that's where you feel the difference.

brucebuckman.bsky.social•8 days ago

Also helps that both our new and retrofit double glazing also seal tight. The old windows leaked air like crazy. Great for air ventilation, not so great for winter and heating.

Plus so damn quiet. A van pulled up in the drive just now a few metres away and I had no idea.

wiremu.bsky.social•8 days ago

That seal is critical to the system working. if those gaps aren't resolved the draft will actually get worse because of the increased temperature gradient. Everyone comments on the noise reduction- a bonus. one client has 14k daily vehicle movements below her house (SH6). a game changer.

swampy-kiwi.bsky.social•8 days ago

I'm about to get the south facing windows upgraded with retrofit double glazing - they wont be as good as new but Way more affordable (and still $$) - doing it as a trial as much as anything and if its good will continue to do rooms as finances allow.

brucebuckman.bsky.social•8 days ago

We’re well pleased our retrofit in the south facing lounge & bedroom and also plan to do additional rooms.

wiremu.bsky.social•8 days ago

I don't recommend retrofitting if it means squeezing a thin double glazed unit into a sash which was designed for single glazing. It's a kiwi bodge job. double glazed sashes are constructed differently to deal with the increased weight( 3x) and increased thickness of glazing unit- from 3mm to 24mm

patrickherd.bsky.social•8 days ago

We replaced two window units when we bought this place, the window manufacturer wouldn't do triple at the time unfirtunately.

styler.bsky.social•9 days ago

is central heatng a thing in the UK - and heating your whole house also normal? unlike one room at a time nz

brislen.nz•8 days ago

Yeah totally. Very expensive but warms the whole house. Radiators on the walls in each room.

easegill.bsky.social•8 days ago

I wouldn't say it was expensive especially with proper insulation. I reckon we pay more for heating in NZ than we did in UK

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