Retrofitting Historic Buildings - Westminster City Council

Advantages: They can achieve reductions in fuel bills,particularly for customers previously on electricity, oil fired orLPG systems. They are low maintenance once installed.Disadvantages: They work best in well insulated properties withunderfloor heating – if this is not the case additional costs will beincurred.Carbon savings may not be significant. They also require acertain amount of space externally.Costs: Running costs vary depending on different factorsincluding the level of insulation and size of property. TheGovernment’s renewable heat incentive (RHI) may benefit theseinstallations in the future although it is specifically excluded fromthe start of the RHI.When to do this: This should be installed where there isappropriate heat demand, in a well insulated property preferablywith underfloor heating.For further information see:• ‘An Introduction to Low Carbon Domestic Refurbishment’Construction Products Association (2010)http://www.constructionproducts.org.uk/publications/dbfiles/Domestic%20Refurbishment%20Revised11010%20(low%20res).pdf• http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Media/node_1422/Getting-warmer-a-field-trial-of-heat-pumps-PDFGroundSourceHeatPumpGroundSourceHeatPump 52UnitPeraveragedomesticsystemCost(lower)Cost(Upper)Cost(average)Subsidies(refer to ESTwebsite forlatest info 51£9000 £17000 £13000 RenewableHeat Incentive43