Heat pump installation needn’t be problematic

Like Dr Kirstine Oswald (Letters, 14 April), I had a heat pump installed last year. I needed a new boiler and wanted to be as environmentally friendly as I could. I have had solar panels for some years, so I had a battery installed along with the heat pump. I agree it is a very expensive process, and I am unlikely to reap long-term benefits, as I’m already 81. However, I do not recognise the complicated procedure she speaks about. The company that installed my pump dealt with the application for me. There was some online form-filling, to prove I was entitled to the grant, but it didn’t take long. I spoke to the company at the end of May and it was installed in the middle of July. I live in a four-bedroom Edwardian house, which has been warm all winter. I used to pay £3,000 per year for my gas and electricity. For the first three months of this year my electricity cost has been under £400, which includes charging my electric car. At the moment heat pump installation isn’t for everyone, but I wouldn’t want anyone considering having one installed to be put off because of the paperwork. Karin Sumption Teddington, London • The overwhelming majority of heat pump installations do not need the planning permission that Dr Kirstine Oswald refers to – they are considered permitted development. Nor you do have to use a government grant to have one installed – ours was recently installed without a grant, and it cost less than it would now with a grant. There is a legitimate point here in that, as soon as a grant is available, installers put their prices up. And, yes, the cost of gas per kWh is far lower than that of peak electricity. However, a heat pump will deliver around 4kWh of heat per kWh of electricity used, and if this is timed with off-peak electricity it will be cheaper than gas per kWh. For example, at off-peak electric of 14p per kWh, heating via heat pump would cost around 3.5p per kWh as opposed to around 6.5p for gas. CJ Edwards West Tolgus, Cornwall • It’s unfortunate that Dr Kirstine Oswald had such a negative experience with a heat pump installation. However, I’m surprised. I’ve just had a heat pump installed in Sheffield by a local company who looked after everything. All I had to do was sign the various documents they sent me. The whole process took two weeks. I agree that any savings will be minimal, or possibly even non-existent while the price of electricity is so high, but the technology is far more efficient than a gas boiler, and while the UK continues to expand electricity production from renewables the thought of relying on an imported fossil fuel for heating seems retrograde to say the least. Matt Campbell Sheffield • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.