Hello al, a fellow Irishman

Cheers for the link to that thread.

Frank, you seem to be THE man to ask, so if you're still viewing this forum can you tell us how your mate's electricity bill went over the last 6 months, and how well the sytem operated during the winter months? Have you had any grief down the boozer?

It was great to hear that between June and Sept 2008, you measured the cost at £20 extra to run the ASHP, with the solar input. But realistically, the real test would have been October to now, when the solar's input would have been at its lowest. Is it possible to post an update? Was there a massive hike in his lekky bill? Is he still talking to you?

As I posted yesterday, my concerns are 2-fold.
1. Capital cost of solar + (most probably) Altherma -v- simple replacement of an old oil boiler
2. Running costs... I don't just want to replace an oil boiler costing me a fortune (£1500-£1600 typically - ouch!) with an electricity bill going through the roof.

Hey, I'm not really being a doom-monger nor do I want to come over as unduely sceptical... actually, I just don't know enough about all this... I so want to believe it'd be worth it.

If I just swapped out for a new boiler now (recently estimated at £1000 supplied and installed) I reckon my oil bill would be down to £800-£900. Maximum year 1 cost about £2k and no grant towards this.

What's the outlay for a typical solar + ASHP system, and year 1 running cost? It may all come down to simple economics. Essentially, the difference in capital outlay has to have a payback, and the sooner the better.

Would I be much or indeed any better off with solar + ASHP, even after 5 years? And then there seem to be all those caveats about how energy efficient / leaky the house has to be for optimal conditions for the all important COP figures to stack up...........

Kesh