Geothermal heating bill

buffetr13

Hi, I've been looking into buying a house with a geothetmal ground heat pump. Following the advice I received from some of the forum members I requested and received the airtricity bills and usage for 2011 and 2012

Usage 2011

8603
Yearly bill 2080 euro

Usage 2012

8102
Bill 1800

The seller said he leaves the heating on all year, even when he's not is the house cause once the system is switched off it takes up to eight hours to reheat the house to 21 degrees.

The house is 2700 square foot. Do those s bills seem reasonable?

Thanks

TPM

There would be nothing wrong with those bills assuming they are for the full 12 months per year.

Leaving the heating and heat pump turned on all the time would be recommended where reheat times are an issue, the room stats should prevent the heating and heat pump from running when not needed

ted1

Is there many down lighters replacing with LEDs would knock a hood chunk off.

Without known what the other electrical users are its hard to judge

buffetr13

ted1 wrote: »

Is there many down lighters replacing with LEDs would knock a hood chunk off.

Without known what the other electrical users are its hard to judge

Yes, the bill is for the entire year.

I've a geothermal expert coming to inspect the system this week. He reckons the bills are on the heavy side for the size of the house.


Yeah, there's a lot of down lighters and they all have led lights.




.

MOTM

What is the BER grade?
When was the house built?
Does the heat pump provide hot water?
Is there an immersion?

buffetr13

MOTM wrote: »

What is the BER grade?
When was the house built?
Does the heat pump provide hot water?
Is there an immersion?

The house does not have a ber. This is the info I've compiled:

150 rock wool In the attic
60 mm insulation in cavity with insulation board to internal walls, don't know the depth. Stats in every roon.The house was built in 2003.

Who knows, it could be somewhere in one of the b ratings or nowhere near it.

The heat pump does provide hot water, it's a nibe fighter 1220.

There is no immersion, I've read somewhere that this model might have a backup immersion built into the unit. Not sure.

MOTM

buffetr13 wrote: »

The house does not have a ber. This is the info I've compiled:

150 rock wool In the attic
60 mm insulation in cavity with insulation board to internal walls, don't know the depth. Stats in every roon.The house was built in 2003.

Who knows, it could be somewhere in one of the b ratings or nowhere near it.

The heat pump does provide hot water, it's a nibe fighter 1220.

There is no immersion, I've read somewhere that this model might have a backup immersion built into the unit. Not sure.

If the house is for sale, by law it needs a BER. Once this is done, ask to see the delivered energy in the BER (its shown in the report from the DEAP software used for the BER) and multiply this by the cost of electricity here: http://www.seai.ie/Publications/Statistics_Publications/Fuel_Cost_Comparison/Domestic_Fuel_Costs_comparison_January_2012_pdf.pdf

This would give you a ballpark idea if the house is performing as well as it should - although it may be that the current occupant is frugal (or not) in which case its hard to judge. Off the cuff, I think if the full ESB and heating bill is around or less than €2000, then that's not bad for a 2003 house.

shane0007

[Quote=MOTM;82977166http://www.seai.ie/Publications/Statistics_Publications/Fuel_Cost_Comparison/Domestic_Fuel_Costs_comparison_January_2012_pdf.pdf[/Quote]
I think their LPG quoted price is way off the mark @ 89 cent per litre. Advertised prices are generally 75 cent per litre. Netogiated prices are 65 - 70 cent per litre & a client of
mine recently got 63 cent per litre.
So their quotes figures will give an enormous difference in true cost.

MOTM

shane0007 wrote: »

I think their LPG quoted price is way off the mark @ 89 cent per litre. Advertised prices are generally 75 cent per litre. Netogiated prices are 65 - 70 cent per litre & a client of
mine recently got 63 cent per litre.
So their quotes figures will give an enormous difference in true cost.

A bit off topic given the query is on electric heat pumps, but tell SEAI if you think they're wrong. What you're saying seems to be closer to SEAIs commercial fuel costs though.

buffetr13

Had an expert out to look at the system. He picked it apart within a an hour. He recommended things that could be done to make it more efficent,but he reckons I'll still come out with a larger bill than it should be, the cop for nibe 1220 ain't great and there's not enough loops in ufh.

He had an interesting example, his own house 3000sq foot costs 630 a year to heat with geothetmal on all year with 60mm kingspan in the cavity. When it's installed correctly and all the elements of the system are implemented correctly it's a winner.