It was a freezing Friday evening early in February 2023, when my boiler broke. An engineer was called, several cold days passed, and his declaration came in sombre tones: ‘uneconomic to repair’. Li…

It was a freezing Friday evening early in February 2023, when my boiler broke. An engineer was called, several cold days passed, and his declaration came in sombre tones: ‘uneconomic to repair’. Li…

  • HeartyBeastOP
    13•10 months ago
    1. Air conditioners in UK houses are pretty weird and complicated
    2. Potentially having to rip out aall the (usually underfloor) pipe work and replace all your radiator is pretty complicated, compared to switching out the existing gas-fed box on the wall
    3. Working out the capacity needed to heat your home is pretty complicated
    4. Finding the space outside in a small urban garden than can take the unit, without annoying the neighbours next door with the noise can be pretty complicated.
    • GreatAlbatrossMEnglish
      5•10 months ago

      The capacity calculations and potential noise complaints are the big ones imho.

      I can definitely see issues with installers not giving a toss about noise, and having to be chased later.

      Calculating capacity isn’t that complicated, you can look everything up to work it out (wmk losses, etc.), but it is a step up from the current “slap a new boiler in” mentality.

      And I wouldn’t be surprised if most heating techs don’t consider requirement at all when changing a boiler, they’ll just put in a big one, and run the rads at 70 if the client complains.

      There is talk about ASHPs that can still maintain efficiency at higher temps, which may help a lot of households avoid changing the radiators too. But it’s still early days.