The cost of living... what can we do?

Maybe they are, but are the heat pumps there only source of heat?
Wood burning stoves has always been very common in Norway, how many residential homes are still burning wood as a back up source for heat?, they reckon over 50% of households still have wood burning stoves in Norway.

Norway banned the burning of gas and oil boilers in new builds from 2020, with the government offering very good subsidies in heat pumps, which is probably financed by their huge exports of gas and oil.

If they are so efficient with an abundance of green electric then why did the government subsidize their citizens by 55% on electricity during the winter months in the last 2 years

Finland and Estonia are rich in peat, how many households are still burning peat as a source of heat? They reckon 1 in 7 households in Ireland still burn peat as a source of heat.

So, all these Nordic nations might well have a higher rate per capita of heat pumps, but how many are heat pump independent to heat there homes?

 

The uptake it these countries will be down to, government policies and alternatives.
There is over 20 million households connected to mains gas in the UK, very few if any will be connected to mains gas in Scandinavian countries, they are more likely to be connected to the district heating system, especially in urban areas.

The main source of energy for households will be electricity, then probably wood, then coke, oil and kerosene, they do have a high taxation on fossil fuels.

If electricity has been there main source of energy and Norway is supposed to be the role model for efficiency and green energy then why the surge in the uptake of heat pumps?
Well the electricity in certain regions is not as cheap anymore and reports say that demand for electricity could outstrip supply by 2027.

They reckon the average household in Norway consumes 20,000 kWh of energy, if you were only connected to electricity that would of made there annual bill around the 9k mark when electricity went up tenfold, hence why the government subsidised the bills by 55% up to 5,000 kWh consumption.

If gas and electric in the UK was to increase tend fold then I am sure there would be far more heat pumps being installed. Carrot and stick policies and expensive alternatives is the driving force of heat pumps in the Nordic countries.

 

A house across the back of mine appears to have a heat pump, originally I thought it was an air con unit hanging on the wall, but now I think it must be a heat pump.

So why do I see smoke rising from their chimney during the winter, most people around here are on gas boilers for central heating, very few use the old chimneys on the houses, most are capped off or used as vents for gas appliances.

 

Possibly, solid fuel of some kind but it suggests that the thing on the wall doesn't do the whole job, either internal heating or water heating.

 

A Norwegian friend of mine did comment last year that electricity had gone up in cost due to a lack of rain leading to a drop in hydro electric generation. When the rains came the price dropped back down as hydro electric generation went up.

 

True, the lack of water for hydro power was one factor for rising electricity costs.

I know electric prices fluctuate hourly in Norway, the same happens with fuel as late Sunday evening to early Monday morning is when fuel at the pumps tends to be the cheapest.

Current cost per kWh in Oslo for electric.

⚡️ Electricity prices in Oslo (euenergy.live)

Why do they have more heat pumps per capita when electric can be so cheap?

 

Because heat pumps augment and maximise the electricity that they use?? :-)

 

Once they completely cover the the UK in windmills we will probably be as cheap as Norway, I dont think, because they will still link the price to gas.

 

I see Roland (Rishi) has announced the delays on the governments green policies. Grants for the boiler upgrade scheme will be increased by 50% to £7500, which might encourage more households to research heat pumps as this increase in grants should reduce the payback period.

 

I did a online quote with Octopus and was quoted the following on a standard variable tariff.

Gas 6.9p per kWh standing charge 27.47p a day
Electric 27.21p per kWh standing charge 49.77p a day

Now according to their website regarding heat pumps

Gas Boiler with 9653 kWh annual heat demand @ 85% efficiency would have an annual energy usage of 11700kWh which would cost £907 at the above gas rates plus standing charge, ex Vat

A heat pump with 9653 kWh annual heat demand @ 300% efficiency would have an annual energy usage of 3218 kWh would cost £1057 at the above electric rates plus standing charge, ex vat

So, based on their standard variable tariff for gas & electricity a heat pump would cost £150 more to run annually ex vat