Solar water heating and Ground source heat pump for France (Bordeaux)

[Tim]

I'm lucky to be building a bungalow about 60kms north east of Bordeaux in France.  I intend to insulate very well and install underfloor heating.  I want to run the heating with a heat pump and the water from solar with electric backup to help keep the COP of the heat pump as high as possible. The area of the bungalow is 162sq metres and i believe that the 9kw heat pump is sufficient.
Any advice from anyone would be appreciated particularly Ivan with info of any distributors in France.  Currently the French government will give tax credits of 50% on heat pumps and solar panels so buying there would be brilliant.

Tim

[Ivan]

Hi Tim,

Yes, we have heard about the french grants. Why don't the UK government follow the example of France and Germany and offer some real encouragement, unlike the 50p/household that Martin pointed out is available for solar grants in the UK.


Unfortunately we do not have any data on rating a heat pump based on floor area. Some customers have worked it out by getting a quote from an installer - it is quite a good way to do it, but not really fair on the installer who effectively surveys your house for free. I have heard of a few examples of well-known companies getting it completely wrong, so there is no guarantee.

As a general rule, the 9kW heat pump should be sufficient for average houses....whatever an 'average' house actually is!

Ivan