Is it really cheaper to use a Daikin heat pump rather than a boiler?

It has recently been announced that from the year 2025, gas heating will be banned from new homes, so now would be a great time to look for alternatives.

In this article, we take a look at the benefits of using heat pumps over boilers and look at whether it is cheaper to run than a traditional boiler.

Heat pumps are a renewable energy source that heats your home by sucking heat from the air and is an environmentally friendly and sustainable solution to heating within your home.

Most heat pumps are relatively easy to install and can be connected into your central heating system. Saving energy consumption and reducing the impact on the environment, you could be on to a winner with a heat pump.

The heat pump works by moving heat around. Not only can they be used to heat your home, but also to cool it down. Three main components make up the heat pump: an outdoor evaporator unit, an indoor condenser unit and a refrigerant, which is the part which transfers the heat between the indoor and outdoor unit.

Evaporator
The evaporator takes energy from a renewable such as air, water, geothermal or solar.

Compressor
Next, the compressor constricts the gas, which in turn causes the temperature to rise.

Condenser
The condenser extracts the heat from the gas and transfers it to the heating system and by this point the gas converts back into a liquid.

Expansion valve
This valve causes the pressure of the refrigerant to decrease which leads to evaporation and the cycle restarts. This cycle is reversed when cooling your home. You can check if your home would be suitable for a Daikin Air source pump by taking an online heat pump test.

Keeps home warmer for longer
One of the main advantages of heat pumps is that it can heat your home at a constant temperature over a longer period of time and at a lower temperature, whilst still keeping you cosy and warm in your home.

Environmentally friendly
Compared to a typical gas or oil boiler, an air source heat pump produces far less carbon dioxide emissions and only requires a small amount of electricity as up to 75% of the heat pump’s energy is taken from the air around your home. Using a heat pump could mean that you are reducing carbon emissions by up to 70%.

Easy maintenance
If looked after and maintained properly, your heat pump could potentially have a life of up to 25 years compared to just 10 years for a typical boiler. However, it is essential to ensure your heat pump gets a yearly service to keep it in tip-top condition.

Keep your home warm all year round
You can rest assured that you will be kept warm and toasty this winter with a heat pump as they can heat rooms even when the temperature is as low as -20 degrees Celsius!

You could make money!
Net zero-emissions is the target for RHI. Let’s embrace a greener world by utilising the above technologies, and RHI laid down processes. The way it works is owners of renewable heating systems pay you for each unit of energy generated by the pump. For more information on the RHI scheme- check it out here

Cost of a heat pump
It will set you back anywhere between £6000 - £15,000 to install and set up your heat pump. However, it is a good idea to consider that once the heat pump is up and running you can make energy savings and earn through the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (as mentioned earlier).

Once a heat pump is up and running, you can look forward to reduced energy bills. An air-source pump generates 3 times as much energy as a standard boiler.

So, we have looked at the benefits of using a heat pump as opposed to a boiler, but which is cheaper to run? We have already briefly mentioned that the initial installation and start-up cost of a heat pump is much higher. An air pump could cost up to £15,000 in comparison to a standard gas boiler at an average cost of £2,300.

This seems a massive difference, but remember you could end up claiming back a chunk of the heat pump installation costs through the governments’ RHI scheme. Another consideration is that a heat pump has a much longer life on average 25 years as opposed to a boiler, which only lasts on average 10 years so you may need to purchase two boilers within the space of a heat pump’s life.

Now let’s take a look at the running costs. As a heat pump relies largely on electricity to function, the running costs can still be high due to the cost of electricity being more expensive than gas or oil. However, if the cost of electricity were to fall due to an increase in solar and hydroelectricity plants, you would be saving a lot of money compared to gas-run boilers.

Another benefit towards choosing the route of an air source heat pump is that you will be able to take advantage of the Government's Green Home Grant, but how does it work with RHI? You can find the details here however in layman's terms it mean that you will receive much of your RHI repayments upfront which could help considerably with the initial outlay.

Although the initial start-up costs of a Daikin Heat pump appear costly, some savings can be made when running the pump due to the government RHI scheme and lower energy usage. So, if you want to be more environmentally friendly and have a more sustainable home, a Daikin Heat pump would be the perfect choice for you!