Agree with many of the thoughts here
@bstop, i looked at hybrid v fully
electric cars last year, and concluded after a lot of reading and test drives, pricing, overall annual running costs, and driving experience etc, EV was the way to go.
Took the EV plunge, and have never looked back.
Similarly, i have been looking into heat pumps + replacing a 27 year old double glazed windows in recent months. We also currently have a 27 year old gas boiler.
Have had a few quotes, and late last year i was saying NO to a heat pump, as it did not seem to make financial sense, the heat pumps were in the 10 to 12k price bracket alone, this included replacements for a quarter of our existing radiators, as not all are suitable to work with heat pumps. So with the excessive cost, even after grants, i diverted course, onto looking at a new efficient condenser boiler and a full window/door replacement.
However the recently revised, and much increased grants, have changed all that, so i need to look over it all again.
What i did learn along the way about Heat Pumps, is they will only work efficiently, if your house is well insulated, as others have mentioned, get the low hanging fruit sorted out first, so that means getting attic insulation & walls pumped - we already have those two done, recently, any open chimneys ? we boxed that off with a stove replacing fireplace, and has already made a noticeable difference. Next, is windows & doors, which contribute significantly to heat loss. One of the window/door quotes has triple glazing with a uv value of 1, or double glazing with a little higher u value 1.4, I am leaning towards triple glazed as my understanding is, the lower u values will make the heat pump work more efficiently, and its also an opportunity to get better external noise reduction, with triple glazed. Apparently there is some solar gain loss, with triple glazed, as they apparently leave less sun heat into the house, i’m fine with that, as house can often, be too hot in summer months, as it is.
Also, i learned that heat pumps heat a house very slowly, so typically, are most efficient, when left run continuously, they will increase temperature as required, to a chosen temperture setting, then come on/off, to keep it at that temperture.
Water can be heated, independantly.
Do some reading up on it, there is a lot to take in, and its new’ish and different tech, and involves changing, how one does things. The more you research, the more you will understand it better, and be in a position to make a more informative choice, and minimise any “surprises”!