As long as people think it’s too cold in the UK for them to work or that you need to insulate your house to a level that’ll make you drown in black mould, I don’t have much hope
‘You’ll need new radiators, and ideally more insulation’
“Utterly unworkable, now fit me a new gas boiler”
(Imo, the thing really holding ashps back is the costs. Companies treating installation like a dark art, and using the government grants to print money)
We also have an issue that much of our housing stock is really old and actually relies on leaks for propper air circulation, properly insulating these houses leads to damp and mold problems as OP mentioned. Huge swaths of housing in the UK are just fundementally unfit for purpose.
I like to rant about this, but it is possible to insulate old properties without causing damp and mould.
It requires understanding of how the materials work (breathability, etc), and more expensive materials, so it’s often difficult to get it done for a reasonable price.
My previous house was a Victorian semi that had cavity walls. I phoned up about a green grant to get it done (as people two doors down had) and they wouldn’t believe me until they checked Google Earth. Had it surveyed and it would have needed a lot of preparation work to get into a condition that it could have been insulated. Ended moving and I am unsure what the new owners have done on that front - not flash enough to make their Instagram account about renovating the house which I have been advised not to read as they are horrible people with bad taste. Although I get the gist as it often gets commented on at parties, especially as a friend’s brother-in-law did the bathrooms.
not flash enough to make their Instagram account about renovating the house which I have been advised not to read as they are horrible people with bad taste
I’ll take “slapping grey paint on every surface, then fitting grey laminate flooring and black gloss worktops” for $500, Alex.
That, and painting over every patch of damp with tanking rather than actually fixing it.
Too cold in the UK for them to work? We run them in MN where it can hit -25C in winter. On the coldest days they can’t be the sole source of heat but they work just fine in the cold.
As long as people think it’s too cold in the UK for them to work or that you need to insulate your house to a level that’ll make you drown in black mould, I don’t have much hope
‘You’ll need new radiators, and ideally more insulation’
“Utterly unworkable, now fit me a new gas boiler”
(Imo, the thing really holding ashps back is the costs. Companies treating installation like a dark art, and using the government grants to print money)
We also have an issue that much of our housing stock is really old and actually relies on leaks for propper air circulation, properly insulating these houses leads to damp and mold problems as OP mentioned. Huge swaths of housing in the UK are just fundementally unfit for purpose.
You just need to fit a few treacle extractor vents. Takes sometime with the right tools a few minutes to do.
I like to rant about this, but it is possible to insulate old properties without causing damp and mould.
It requires understanding of how the materials work (breathability, etc), and more expensive materials, so it’s often difficult to get it done for a reasonable price.
My previous house was a Victorian semi that had cavity walls. I phoned up about a green grant to get it done (as people two doors down had) and they wouldn’t believe me until they checked Google Earth. Had it surveyed and it would have needed a lot of preparation work to get into a condition that it could have been insulated. Ended moving and I am unsure what the new owners have done on that front - not flash enough to make their Instagram account about renovating the house which I have been advised not to read as they are horrible people with bad taste. Although I get the gist as it often gets commented on at parties, especially as a friend’s brother-in-law did the bathrooms.
I’ll take “slapping grey paint on every surface, then fitting grey laminate flooring and black gloss worktops” for $500, Alex.
That, and painting over every patch of damp with tanking rather than actually fixing it.
Too cold in the UK for them to work? We run them in MN where it can hit -25C in winter. On the coldest days they can’t be the sole source of heat but they work just fine in the cold.
I know, I’m not saying that that makes any sense 😅 just seems to be a common thought here