How My Heat Pump Became the Warm-Hearted Hero of Our Home
Going Green: How My Heat Pump Became the Warm-Hearted Hero of Our Home
(Spoiler: It’s not just warm — it’s clever too.)
We used to rely on fire, gas, and the occasional desperate kettle-on-the-feet moment to warm the house. But now? Our warmth comes from thin air. Literally.
Let me introduce the unsung champion of our eco-home: the air source heat pump. It hums quietly in the background, extracting heat from the outside air like some sort of eco-magician. And when paired with a chunky battery and a roof full of solar panels, it becomes a full-blown renewable romance.
☀️ The Sun’s Out, the Battery’s In
We’ve installed 26 solar panels across three roof arrays, soaking up sunlight like a lizard on holiday. But sunshine is only half the story — the real magic is what we do with it.
Enter our 50kWh battery system — a beast of a power pack that stores all that solar goodness and dishes it out as needed. It powers everything: the lights, the oven, the computers, and yes — the heat pump.
But here’s where it gets interesting...
❄️ Winter Is Coming (And It’s Greedy)
In winter, the sun doesn't always play ball. Fewer daylight hours, cloudier skies, and shorter charge times mean the battery needs help. So we charge it cheaply overnight using off-peak electricity. This strategy keeps the heating costs down and lets us keep smugly warm without lighting a bonfire in the living room.
And remember: we’re not paying to heat the house, we’re just using electricity to run the compressor inside the heat pump — which does all the real work by extracting heat from the air, even when it’s 2°C and sulking.
🔥 Low-Temperature Heating – It’s a Thing
Unlike traditional boilers that belch out water at 70°C, heat pumps operate at a cooler, more refined 35–45°C. That means:
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Larger radiators (yes, size matters here)
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Longer warm-up times
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But way more efficiency when run steadily
So instead of doing the classic British thing — “Blast the heating for two hours then shiver in guilt” — we set the temperature and leave it running all the time.
Surprisingly? It works. Really well.
🏡 Working from Home = Always Warm
We work from home, film at home, teach from home — and therefore live in our house more than most. So it needs to be warm all the time. No zone heating. No timer switches. Just consistent, quiet, clean warmth.
And yet, our heating bills have gone down. Not by a little. By a lot.
The combination of:
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Smart use of solar energy
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Always-on low-temp heating
… has led to a dramatic cut in our heating costs, even though we’re using the system all day, every day.
🗨️ “The house is warm, the cat’s smug, and the energy company has stopped sending us guilt-tripping emails.”
✅ Key Takeaways (If You Fancy Doing This Too)
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You’ll need more battery storage than you think. Heating is energy-hungry, especially in winter.
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Bigger radiators are your friend. And they look impressive too.
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Keep it running. Heat pumps work best when they’re not being turned on and off like a kettle.
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Pair it with solar AND off-peak charging. Use the sun when you can, and charge up smartly when you can’t.
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You can save money. Yes, even in the UK. Yes, even when it’s dark by 4pm.
🌍 Final Thoughts:
Our heat pump didn’t just replace a boiler — it redefined how we think about heating. No roaring flames, no fossil fuels, no sudden blasts of radiator scald. Just smooth, silent warmth, powered by sunshine, stored in batteries, and delivered by a system that quietly gets on with the job.
It’s not flashy. It’s not fiery. But it’s efficient, elegant, and exceptionally eco-friendly.
And in our home? That makes it a hero.
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