Hi all,
I have just read a very interesting comment on here from 2016 regarding swapping oil fired central heating to an air pump.
I was wondering if anyone else has done the same and what their reviews are?
We have a single storey 2 bedroom property in the NW of France.
Our current system is about 40 years old and is very inefficient. We have a separate water heater.
This colossal boiler is in the bathroom, sounds like an aircraft taking off and stinks of fuel when it’s running. Removing it would give me space for a bath (desperately miss my bath!)
We would need the air to water system and also have 2 big log burners as backup/additional heat.
Would really be interested in reviews or alternatives.
We’re not on a gas supply route, by the way.
We (by all accounts) have a similar sized property (in Dept 16) and have an air pump system installed with 3 outlets indoors.
We submitted the bill to the impots after the installation and were reimbursed a significant sum from the cost so worth investigating further. The rules may well have changed in recent years of course but the installer might be in a position to advise.
My heat pump was installed two years ago and it’s brilliant. The house is from 1980 and well insulated which helps a lot apparently.
Ours is a 300 year old stone built house, the insulation is good.
Do you find it economical?
Thanks for replying, by the way 
There seems to be quite a few incentives at the moment, I’m in the middle of checking them out.
It’s definitely looking like an option!
all designed to help France meet it’s co² targets no doubt so good for consumers.
Ours is very economical, much more than I thought.
If I were you I would get three opinions/ estimates.my first installer said it wouldn’t be practical for this house. The second said it would be ok but with some modifications to the radiator positions and the third said there would not be a problem.?
Two years on there have been no problems.
There are probably just three things which are important to a heat pump system.
Insulation, insulation and insulation.
The more the better.
Oh, and modern, high surface area radiators if you’re not using an underfloor/in wall system.
Ours are Daikin room air conditioners (heat/cooled air reversible) units fixed to the wall at high level as opposed to a “wet” system so extremely useful all year round. All the “gubbins” are contained in the loft with minimal impact in the rooms and the main unit is contained outside and is very silent in operation.
Can you explain why?
Well, quite probably I’m completely wrong. I’ve only just started looking into it and after about 5 minutes it all blurs into one.
I thought that for geo-thermal I would need quite a bit of space outside (we have an average size garden) and that the one I mentioned was my only option.
Please correct me if I’m barking up the wrong tree 
There are a number of solutions.
Geothermal being only one of a suite of options.
There is a solution known as Canadian well as well as above ground free standing aircon units.
The choice is immense.
Oh yes - most definitely it does! As simple-minded bunnies we are looking at air source heat pumps as anything else looks a lot worse 
oh blimey
@Corona @graham Wouldn’t it be true to say that air source heat pumps are the least disruptive introduction to an existing property unless it’s a field with a wreck and you are doing a complete rebuild?
and intrusive perhaps. The reversible type (like wot we have) is a boon in the summer as it can keep the temperatures indoors at comfortable levels (especially on hot stick nights).
That’s what we are aiming for at the moment. I don’t want another winter without more heating 
We can leave out bedroom reversible aircon unit on overnight set at a lower temp than the lounge or office - mores suited to a bedroom which might be more difficult to achieve with a wet system and in summer less cool of course…
My only experience of air source heat pumps is for my pool, but the efficiency usually decreases with the ambient temperature. For central heating, a ground source system is more efficient , but has significantly higher installation costs (you don’t necessarily need a big area as the pipework can be installd vertically)
This is already heading into the “too hard” tray, I can feel it… However, I think Anne-Marie is more resilient than I am so having introduced my unhelpful two-pennorth, I shall retire…