JoePlant

Thank you everyone for replying it’s much appreciated. From the replies I’ll definitely follow up and check the insulation / air tightness as suggested. From the replies I think the most ideal scenario would be to have the heat pump and try to stretch the budget to have solar along side it to keep the running at a minimum, it’s just the initial outlay but then reap the rewards I agree the cooling would be a good feature to have, all if the bedrooms have three large floor to ceiling windows so during the summer that would be a invaluable addition

Hello everyone. I recently got planning permission for a 3 bed bungalow and I’m just going through building regs. The house has lots of glazing and will be heated by an underfloor system along with a log burner in the kitchen / diner. In order to comply I’ve either got to have an air source heat pump or if I wanted conventional gas I’m required to have a 7kph solar system (18 x 400w panels) along with a boiler. Both would roughly be the same cost wise and I know this comes down to personal preference, but I wondered what people’s thoughts were on this? Gas and solar are both proven technologies and with a well insulated home I think the gas usage will be at a minimum if we went down that route - but this would be an extra cost to the build getting gas to the property as if I went for the heat pump this wouldn’t be required. Im exploring this as an option as heat pumps are a relatively new technology in terms of engineers and fitters along with support afterwards, so my thought was to go with gas and solar and eventually move to an air source heat pump once the boiler needed replacing / there is more support with ASHP’S. If anyone has had this scenario or has experience with either then feedback would be greatly appreciated Thanks for taking time to read