Sir, – Vincent Duffy (Letters, August 9th) bemoans the efficiency disparity between using gas for generating electricity versus direct domestic heating. This would certainly be an issue if you were then to use this electricity for simple resistance heating; however, if you opt for something like an air-to-water heat-pump (which can act as a plug-in replacement for boilers) with a coefficient of performance of about three, then it still easily beats direct gas heating in terms of overall energy use. Since it’s electric, it can run on alternative energy sources too.
Whether it’s cost-competitive is another matter. – Yours, etc,
WILL BREEN,
Cork.