Heat pump in a Victorian terrace
Solid walls with no cavity to fill, high ceilings, and often small radiators in period rooms where a bigger one would look wrong. Heat demand per square metre is among the highest of any UK house type.
What to do first
Be honest about internal or external wall insulation before considering a heat pump. Without it, the flow temperature needed keeps efficiency low and running costs high.
Upgrading the radiators is worth about £293 a year in this house — which is the difference between a heat pump being a good idea and a questionable one.
The numbers behind that
- Typical gas use for this kind of house: about 12,500 kWh a year.
- That is roughly 10,625 kWh of actual heat, once boiler losses are taken off.
- A heat pump on the existing radiators would use about 4,250 kWh of electricity to deliver it.
- Break-even electricity price: 24.05p per kWh. The cap is currently 26.11p.
If your break-even price is above the price you actually pay, the heat pump wins. If it is below, it does not — and no amount of enthusiasm changes that arithmetic. A dedicated heat pump tariff can move your real price down enough to flip it.