Heated

Today's site meeting was tetchy.

When I very first spoke to the architect, 2½ years ago, he assured me that the house would be so well insulated that I would not need heating. I found that very hard to believe but he said there was no point installing central heating (either underfloor heating or radiators) as I would never switch them on. I asked whether that also held true for the old, immobile person with poor circulation that I might one day become and he assured me I'd be fine. The Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) system would take in fresh air from outside, heat it using the stale air on its way out, and distribute air at a comfortable temperature all over the house. Added bonus - the system would dry a load of washing in no time.

Which means that I am installing an air source heat pump (ASHP) not for a heating system but only to heat water for showers and washing up...

But the grant for an ASHP assumes that the building is not well insulated and doesn't have MVHR so it requires some heating to be installed. Hmm, the architect said, maybe I'd like some heated towel rails?  

I spoke to the ASHP installer who the architect had put me on to. He administers the grants on behalf of customers. No, he said, the grant requires radiators or underfloor heating in every room of the house. I emailed this information to the architect and today was our first meeting since he hadn't replied to that email.

I said it looked like it was not worth applying for the grant - which would cover installing heating I neither want nor need - and that I should go for a smaller ASHP. Well, maybe, he said, but I might need some heating, you know, as I get older...

I lost my cool (appropriate idiom). Why was he now arguing the point I'd been making for 2½ years while I was arguing the point he'd drummed into me for the last 2½ years? How was I supposed to know what to believe? He's the 'expert', not me. Who should I trust? Someone online? Him? Or my own intuition? 

The builder, who redesigned the house to fit my into my budget after he'd told me the architect's plans were unaffordable, was there and kept quiet. Afterwards I phoned him as I know he has his feet on the ground.

He said that part of the rationale for no heating is that the house will be full of people and that lots of cooking and hot showers will be happening to warm up the air for the heat exchanger. Maybe if that's not my lifestyle (it isn't) I would need some heating. 

So now he will quote for installing heating.