Nowadays, consumers are looking for energy solutions that help save the environment and money. There is much debate on what installations in your house can save you more money, and solar panels are generally at the center of this conversation. Solar Panels have been getting a lot of fanfare due to the services they provide in terms of energy and cost savings.

Heat Pumps vs. Solar Panels

Heat Pumps

Heat pumps are things you may not have heard of, but they take the warm air from the environment and pump it into your home to have heat during the cold months.

You can choose the best sustainable heating mechanism for your residence by weighing the pros and cons of solar thermal and heat pumps.

Heat pumps extract heat from the earth or the air, whereas solar thermal panels collect the sun’s rays. Both have numerous advantages, one of which is the potential reduction in heating costs. One is better suited for your house than the other.

Benefits of Heat Pumps

• Heat pumps release no harmful gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, or particles. They can contribute to bettering indoor and outdoor air quality.
• Heat pumps are far more energy-efficient than gas boilers and generate three to four times as much energy.
• Heat pumps are dependable, require minimal upkeep, and can run for 20 years or longer before needing to be replaced.
• Although you should check with the local authority if you reside in a listed building or close to a conservation area, you can install most heat pumps without prior approval from any committee.

Cons of Heat Pumps 

• Heat pumps are expensive to operate since they utilize electricity. Since power is approximately three or four times extra costly per unit than gas, remember that trying to rid yourself of a boiler may result in higher energy costs.
• Heat pumps can only supply energy for a few systems in your home because they can only create heat and not power. 
• Finding an installer is challenging because they are sometimes scheduled months in advance. 
• A gas boiler warms a house more quickly than a heat pump. Naturally, cool homes will warm up much more gradually.
• In houses with combination boilers, where installation of heat pumps might be challenging due to limited space

Solar Panels

The heat generated by the sun warms a solution in the solar collector of solar thermal panels mounted on a roof. To heat the domestic hot water, this liquid is subsequently cycled through a wet central heating system or into an induction hob within a heated water cylinder which then heats the house overall.

Pros of Solar Thermal Panels

• Solar thermal panels don’t require you to invest money in running the panels.
• You can spend days on end maintaining your solar thermal panels.
• They help distribute the heating load on your boilers. So, it can help increase the life of your solar thermal panels.
• You can sell extra energy from these thermal panels back to the National Grid.

Cons of Solar Panels

• The price of a battery, which is required to utilize solar power when the sun isn’t shining, raises the cost by $5500.
• For heating, solar power isn’t quite up to the task. Almost all your power for lighting and appliances can be generated quickly, but adding heat makes things more challenging. Since the sun isn’t shining all day, thermal panels have a limited capacity. You need a second source of hot water to compensate for the limited capacity.