> I don't understand why heat pump solutions in the UK are so expensive. An air to air heat pump from Samsung can be had for a thousand pounds and installation for another five hundred here in Norway
Hot air heating is missing in discussions in the UK. I don't know why; I speculate that it's because it got a bad reputation in the 1980s when it was fitted to new build houses and is perceived as ineffective. Certainly the conversations I've had with people all go "I ripped out the hot air system and replaced it with (conventional) hot water radiators and a gas boiler and the house is toasty warm". The draughty nature of UK housing may also be a factor.
What's the situation in Norway and other countries? Is hot air heating widely used? In what kinds of properties do you use air to air heat pumps?
> What's the situation in Norway and other countries? Is hot air heating widely used?
Central heating of any kind is rare in Norway. There is widespread use of underfloor heating (either water borne or electric) in bathrooms. Its fairly common in living rooms too but definitely not the majority.
Most people use electric panel heaters and a wood burner. In the past we used quite a lot of paraffin burnt in a pot burner in the centre of the house which could keep most of my 130 m2 house warmer than we wanted. That's no longer allowed so I burn wood (compressed wood waste from sawmills).
> In what kinds of properties do you use air to air heat pumps?
All kinds of free standing houses, terraced houses. My next door neighbour has two, one for the ground floor and another for the bedrooms in the floor above.
The only thing holding me back from getting a heat pump is that the wiring in my house is not up to it so it would be a substantial extra cost to get that upgraded. That's not a problem for most UK houses or recently built Norwegian ones.
In this small town of 6000 people I think that probably one in four of the detached and semi-detached houses have air to air heat pumps.
US single family homes are, by a large margin, primarily heated via the central air system (the same ductwork that supplies cold air in summer).
My experience with both is that I prefer central air heat. That said, they will perform worse in a drafty house- air is a very poor carrier and storage medium for heat compared to water, so if you have a room with a draft away from your thermostat, it'll get colder faster; a radiator in the room would essentially act as a heat bank.
Hot air heating is missing in discussions in the UK. I don't know why; I speculate that it's because it got a bad reputation in the 1980s when it was fitted to new build houses and is perceived as ineffective. Certainly the conversations I've had with people all go "I ripped out the hot air system and replaced it with (conventional) hot water radiators and a gas boiler and the house is toasty warm". The draughty nature of UK housing may also be a factor.
What's the situation in Norway and other countries? Is hot air heating widely used? In what kinds of properties do you use air to air heat pumps?