Think very hard before taking the plunge with a heat pump. I had a top-of-the-range Daikin Altherma R32 16kW split system with upsized radiators installed in June 2020. It was great for... 3 months. Then communications errors started between the indoor and outdoor units, which caused occasional glitches. The heat pump stopped completely in Dec 20 due to a refrigerant leak, and a replacement outdoor unit was supplied within 5 days (cudos to Daikin on that occasion). Then after a few months the control PCBs in both units needed changing due to ever-increasing comms errors. Then in late November 2021, the system became very inefficient due to another loss of refrigerant and could barely heat our bungalow to a modest temperature. It full-stopped a week later and the system had to be put into emergency mode, where internal electrical backup heaters were employed to heat the radiator flow water (no heat pump action, no efficiency). This went on for 9 WEEKS while awaiting spares, at an average consumption rate of over £100 per week for space heating, and the bungalow could just reach 19 deg when mild outside. At the end of this period, the heat exchanger was replaced and the system was recharged with R32 refrigerant. All was good for 3 weeks, but then the system alarmed due to low R32 refrigerant - again. TAs of now, the efficiency is going down, and the running costs are going up. I am yet again waiting for an engineer to come and fix the leak and recharge the system. Electricity is going up 50% tomorrow... My heat pump has a 5 year warranty; I hate to think of what repair costs will be after this. My heat pump has now seen 2 winters, and has let me down on both. In my opinion there are not enough spares or qualified engineers about to offer fast, effective, and economic repairs on heat pumps. I really feel I made the wrong choice (my old oil - fired boiler had one fault in over 7 years and was fixed on the same morning). In summary, if you want a heat pump, go for the simple mono block design that does not use the latest R32 refrigerant, which seems to be very difficult to keep sealed in, at least in my case, and what I have heard. Surprisingly, I don't feel any better for having written this...

Very informative video, thanks. I've just fitted Central heating to my daughter's back-to-back terrace. A heat pump is not an option for her as the house only has a front! But good info is never wasted.

I have been a building services engineer most of my life, the past 20 years in local authority - It is so refreshing to listen to someone who knows what they are talking about without the spin!

You should also do a video of an actual installation from start to finish to show just how disruptive an installation can be

Great video. We had our daikin altherma 13 installed a year ago and it's been brilliant. This video would have been great to see back then as it explains way better than anything I was told at the time 👌

Great video. Really informative. I have read the reviews good and bad, normal stuff some people unfortunately have had horrendous experience some no issues. So helps no understand the failure modes and where to talk about during installation.

That's a great video. Really informative thanks for posting. I also noted that you took your outdoor shoes off while in the customer's house. This is always great to see. That or shoe covers. Very respectful. You're hired! 🙂

This video communicates such a positive image of EcoBubl - I so wish we had used you to install our ASHP. We had a nightmare of an installation - 3 days turned into 16 days over two months! Experience, knowledge and competent planning up front … Great video, informative and entertaining too!

Fantastic explanation of the process 👍👍👍

Really good, clear, informative and helpful video. Thanks for putting together!

Great video. Well put together and informative. I work in the industry and learnt a few things. Keep them coming :-)

Good presentation but for me heat pumps are a total no no. The main reason being cost, I built my house 40 years ago and heating and hot water is provided by a Worcester Highflow floor mounted combi, which is cheap to run. The estimated cost of putting a heat pump system in is around £20,000, money I do not have or wish to spend. The disruption potentially caused by the installation would be enormous, something I am not prepared to contemplate.

Brilliant presentation, some fun but lots of knowledge there.

Every point made is perfect for engineers to consider and the home owner 👍

Very clear, knowledgeable presentation. Shame you’re not near us.

I love this walk through. Watching it makes me aware of how careful we’d need to be about getting the right firm in to assess the property - if only you were in Yorkshire!

This is a great introductory video to the practicalities of heat pump installation. If only all suppliers were as open, honest and pleasant to deal with. It makes clear the preparation and fore-thought needed to ensure that the results will be a success in terms of the use of available spaces and aesthetics, as well as heating efficiency. The video helps build confidence that the switch to a heat pump can be managed, when you have the right company to design and fit the system.

Great prez, thanks. IMHO a critical issue with all these tecs (I am also looking at "big-battery+inverter from off-peak" and "Zepeo -or competitor") is finding a *REALLY* smart installer who understands the tec. Good luck with that! If you find one, his calendar is full until 2029.

Northern ireland has used heat pumps for a very long time. We have a colder climate than England and i can tell you, if you want massive electric bills crack on and get a heat pump. Cost for maintainance is gonna cost a fortune.

Absolutely excellent video 10000%!

So in this example a small two bedroom end of terrace built in the 70s meaning it will have cavity walls that are probably not insulated and has double glazing. To move to a heat pump they need to lose a wardrobe for the tank, have all their radiators increased in size and will still have higher energy bills than the gas combi they are replacing. Plus this new system is very complex with many failure points meaning higher cost of servicing or when things go wrong. Plus the cost of such a system is going to be in the £10k+ range with all the installation work required. Then in winter when it is really cold outside the efficiency falls and you are using huge amounts of electricity for your heating. They would be better off spending that money on better insulation for their home and triple glazing and latest boiler tech to reduce their gas consumption. This would reduce their bills considerably and would reduce their energy consumption overall below that with this new heat pump and probably wouldn't even cost as much to do.

what an excellent video, made it really easy to understand

This lady on here going far, 👍

Fantastic video! Incredibly informative and interesting video as usual :)

I sold hundreds of heat pumps (I was working for CARRIER) and really don't understand people throwing out an already installed gas boiler to replace them with a heat pump. Nowadays you can't really get information about how heat pumps work in various conditions (you get very basic info of several points - before you had tables with air temperature vs water temperature for any points) and many heat pumps use electrical heaters to compensate for inefficiency during low air temperatures. Heat pumps are expensive to buy compared to gas boilers (you may never return investment), difficult to maintain (just ask for a service cost) and as a minimum, you could keep the gas boiler with the right hydraulics and run both. Of course, you need to do a heat calculation.

great way to present a quote, greetings

Nice video. All of these things should be considered when installing heat pumps. If it is not done properly you will likely have an expensive system that is not up to the job.

This is a great video that's put me off converting to any form of heat pump system - Thanks

Very interesting to see the process. We would love to upgrade to a heat pump but, living in a Victorian mid terrace (max width of 16ft) house, with a loft conversion and combi boiler situated in the loft (no cylinder or water tank), and the rear of the property being all glass and covered by trees (so nowhere to place the heat pump), it might not be possible.

This is really engaging.

Thanks for this great video :)

Very useful. Thanks

With prices rising I wouldn't advise it. And I've been installing them for 10 years.

amazing video, hilarious and informative!

Great video! What is the pros and cons of Mixergy vs Sunamp? Also can Sunamp be used with a monobloc heat pump?

great video..thanks

As a heating engineer with over 30 years of experience working on gas and oil and now training on renewables I agree we need to look to the future but there aren't enough skilled service engineers out there. Watch Roger Bisby's videos as he makes sense!!

There are a couple of points where this Daikin Altherma can be installed more conspicuously thereby reducing the cost of installation. (Daikin certified engineer for many years)

Great video. Start up in Ireland

If your gas boiler uses an indirect tank for hydronic heating and domestic water heating it's easy to swap in a high temperature monoblock for a condensing boiler. All the hydronic utilities can be reused without replacing everything inside. The monoblock heat pump only requires water in and out and electrical service. You don't even need an HVAC Technician since the refrigerant circuit is completely contained in the outdoor unit. Adding in a "cold tank" with 3 way valves will allow you to heat water and cool your house in summer at the same time with a VRV manifold.

Well presented you know your product

Nice video 😊👍

Curious engineer here. Very good video and considerations. Some questions here based on my scandinavian experience. Do you ensure most efficient operation by using weather compensation, which is I think is very important? I saw a lot of UK installers ignoring weather compensation and run very high LWT as a shortcut to minimize callouts sacrificing customers COP. Do you recommend your customers balancing the radiators and upgrading valves to maximize flow and thus COP? Also underfloor heating balancing. And do you inform your customers that most efficient operation for HP is stable operation avoiding night setbacks and such? Happy to see promoting HP's in UK where conditions are challenging to make install financially feasible.

Great video, very informative, but can you give a ball park general advice on the cost of this installation as I have a similar house and am looking into a change to my combo boiler. I appreciate costs are specific to the situation. Thank you

What a great video, anyone considering a Heat Pump should watch this for an easily understandable explanation of the really rather complex design issues. One question is that in this video you state that Sunamps and Monoblocs are not compatible but don’t explain why (??). I recall seeing a video a year or so ago showing an install of Daikin Altherma 3 paired with a Sunamp. Is there a simple explanation?

These sort of videos always make it feel like it would be a complete ball ache for us to make the change to an ASHP

Defo want there to be many more heat pumps soon

so, for UK summer months, is a heat pump more economical for only heating the domestic hot water or is it an electrict immersion heater?

Good video, however if you included a few points regarding running and installation costs it would save people time in tracking down the information themselves. For instance if you have an oil based system and can't get mains gas the running costs should pay you back for the installation within the system lifespan. Until gas costs in comparison to electric change the actual running costs will at best be around the same assuming good design. I have recently got a 2 year fixed deal and the gas/electric ratio is 3.74 so a SCOP of 3.00 with the benefit of summer hot water would bring things level. That does not help with the installation cost which would be similar to this project circa £12,000. You don't mention the BUS grant but as it's not clear how available that is going to be, probably a wise choice. It's always expensive to be a pioneer with technology and if people want to do it for ecological reasons and they can get mains gas they should do so realising that the system life costs at the moment are higher than a gas boiler. The only way to reduce running costs further would be to have additional mitigation of solar / home battery again at more capital cost.

Great video. But why did you not consider putting the tank in the loft? I currently have my unventes cylinder in the loft with no issues as I have no room on the ground or upper floors for it. Cheers

I did the Lailey and coates installer course quite a few years ago and they said that the split system is more efficient. Due to the refrigerant condensing earlier and giving the condenser plate more heat. Not sure if you agree and have your split installs performed better? Great video and would be awesome working with some one with your knowledge 😊

Need advice, I have a common 3 Ton split system gas furnace. My compressor failed after 15 years of service. I recently purchased a new 3.5 Ton heat pump condenser as a replacement. I would like to take advantage of the heat pump technology and use the gas furnace as backup heat. My question revolves around the specifications of the new replacement evaporator coil. I noticed that most heat pump condenser units are married to an air handler with electric backup heat, instead of an evaporator coil box on a gas furnace. I understand that gas heat is possible as backup with a heat pump, but I'm confused about what modifications need to be made to the evaporator coil TXV. Please advise if there are special TXV for heat pump evaporator coil configuration and if there is something that is needs to be done to the furnace. Thanks Kevin

Good video .. Many questions. What does the indoor hydraulic unit do ? Sounds like the Buffet tank just slows down heating , but whats its advantage ? Are you suggesting pressurised hot water cylinder? Why would I want such a large HW tank ? What is the advantage of Air to Water over the cheaper Air to Air ? Especially if a split system & you have the complexity of refrigerant pipes.

Great video, thank you. Are there any documented studies or feedback from people who've had these pumps installed and the total costs of both the installation and running costs, vs a gas boiler system?

Do you have a balance point of outdoor temperature for the options beyond which natural gas is cheaper?

can you use the Daikin Monobloc with the Mixergy cylinder?

You forgot to film the part where the customer depicted in this bit of fiction fainted when told running costs and installation charge !!

Interesting and informative video, I work in Architecture, so it makes sense if you have the space to consider this as an option, however, I live in a small house that has limited space for all of the refrigeration units/tanks, concrete and suspended timber floors, etc. I think after doing research, my best option is for an efficient gas/hydrogen boiler until renewable electricity prices/solar, etc enable me to install a combination of renewable energy sources in the future. 2.5k boiler upgrade vs ? I just cannot afford to go green! :(

Great video, you covered almost everything, why not share the average cost of this specific split heat pump system, and what will be the average installation costs, including savings, ROI, etc. thanks.

I'm a Geordie, in winter I just stick a jumper on and some socks on me hands like, bonny lass.

As well as not having a budget close to what is needed for a ASHP, and whilst my gas boiler still has some life left in it, I'm holding out until companies like Tepeo have a viable product which can be a straight swap for a gas boiler without needing expensive upgrades to radiators too. Is this something you're planning on getting involved with?

I think these will be a good idea in the FUTURE but thats like most inventions that get improved over time . I know someone in a new build that has this type of heating and it takes about 2 days to warm the house properly - once its running its fine - but starting it up for first time takes a while .....also the running costs are not really any cheaper - electric prices are constantly going up

What I find is there is little information to equate x to y. So I have about 70sqm heated floor, two radiators upstairs and 1 kitchen, 2 bathrooms, all from the same tank. I also know how much I spend kW wise in gas. But I cannot find a gas to heap pump conversion anywhere.

Is the tool you used open to public or just for installers/sellers?

Very well explained but I wasn’t clear what the advantage was of the split system over monobloc. Split takes up more space and looks more complicated to fit but I couldn’t see why this would be better.

I Will stick with my combi boiler thank you 😁

Does it matter what size pipe work is supplying the rads ? My understanding was 15mm pipes to radiators was required not microbore 10mm or 8mm

Best way is to gut the house. Then add under floor heating top and oversized rads are not pretty. Also compact means 3 extra units to find space for.Customers are not keen. Especially when the quote hits them.

In a few years you will be seeing the TV ads missold a heat pump call this number. On the right type of building they will be ok, but you really need UF heating and timber frame buildings, the vast majority of UK homes have never been designed like that. Also, you do know those dirty fossil fuels are used to generate the clean electric everyone talks about. Also she didn't mention the cost, on a house like that, you probably won't get much change from £15k could be even more.

I’d like to know more about the noise issues. I don’t really have any outdoor wall space that is not adjacent to windows or neighbours windows. I even find next doors bathroom extraction fan annoying and that’s usually only running for half an hour at most. What would the fan noise be like if a whole street of tightly packed homes all had them whirring at the same time?

You go to considerable effort designing the system, so well done on that aspect - but completely omit the crucial part, which is how much electricity will it use to keep the house warm when the outside temperature is below 10’c ? The fact that it needs a 16A or even 32A supply means that it’s not insignificant when you need it the most.

Yes!

Good explanation but for this house example it would be good to give real installation costs and running costs v the existing gas CH system?

Very helpful video. How much was that installation going to cost?

Ecobubl, Can you explain exactly how you measure the Coefficient of Performance please. Having been involved in refrigeration plant for many years I do not understand how such gains are claimed? I can understand that refrigeration plant is effective as a cooler, as the physics of change of state of a liquid removes a lot of heat from boiling the refrigerant. There is no such heat gain produced in condensing the gas from the compressor. By the way I see so many times that efficiency is confused with coefficient of performane, the efficiency figures are much much lower.

Cant say anything negative about this company. From the video to judge. They seem to be a top notch company.. And this comes from a fellow Swede hvac installer himself.

Nice

Did not realize that a sunamp only worked with a split system. Interesting.

I have a new house plus Worcester boiler. If I had a heat pump for my underfloor heating and kept my combi for hot water plus heating backup would that work? I intend getting solar and batteries maybe too!

Great video, answers lots of questions we had about changing our oil fired combi to an airsource heat pump, what with kerosene prices going through the roof. As an aside, I gotta ask, what was that measuring device you were using? Not seen one before, looks like a cool device.

Have you got any training centres in London? Awesome video btw 👍

Honestly a lot of this is way over my head but wondering if someone here in the community could help me. My single unit air source heat pump system is on its way out and looking for a replacement. We just received a quote for a 4 ton amana heat pump system AVZC18 18 seer with AVPEC variable speed air handler and 10kw heat strips for around 15.5k installed. In the USA is this a ludicrous price or is this actually what this kind of system is running right now? Property is around 2400 sqft

Fantastic video but I'd like to ask where on the govt planning portal does it say you have to have planning permission if in front of the house? I haven't read that. As long as it's 1m away from boundary, not in a conservation area or adjacent to a highway at first floor level it is permitted development as far as I can tell. I have heard this confusing potentially misinformation about planning permission before so can you check this is correct please?

Who left the globe bar in shot?!?! 15:10 lol 😂

Hi Just like to ask question , if the system needs to work above 45 to 50 degrees how does it cover this if in fact it can , regards

Good video that highlights just how much of a faff these set ups are and how wholly unsuitable they are for most people and situations. New builds, larger properties yes but not for the majority. Customers having combis installed for that extra storage space will be scratching their head at moving back to losing cupboards for the cylinder, larger radiators and a large unit in their garden. The unit itself outside is also an eye sore imo. As has been said before it will also cost a fortune to install and the savings on bills will never fully be realised to justify the initial cost and disruption.

The problem for most people is a well insulted home with a combination boiler is so cheap to run and so good with space this sort of deployment is just not worth the expense.

110 cylinger and put it next to asph out side . Like a mini plant room .

Hello what app/software do you use for the design from the site visit?

How much did the quote for this chaps system come to? I keep asking the same question on various videos, but no one replies.

Found the video very interesting but can we please have some numbers?? What's the current annual gas and elect kwh consumption? What's a real world CoP achievable for that system in the UK? What are the predicted annual gas / elec kwh consumption after installation? Net fuel cost change? What's the full installation cost? Plus making good? Looks like the customer would be binning a relatively new Worcester boiler and all their rads. What's a realistic remaining useful life if they kept the current system?

If you've got an old property where insulation is thin forget it stick with gas

Good to see your extensive site survey, but you are not going to be certain of electrical supply without removing the supply fuse. Which I am sure you didn’t :)

Don't want to sacrifice a wardrobe space for that massive tank. I may want to put it in the loft, but how to do this properly to accommodate a loft extension in the future?

a melon scratcher for you, my end of terrace house has 3 different build types one third of the house is solid stone construction circa 1800 ish,another third(2 storey extension circa 1986) is standard cavity walls with cavity insulation, and the final third is a 8m by 3m single storey rear extension 7 years old of block construction ,inner & outer skin with solid insulation in the cavity, plus 10 triple glazed windows (7 yrs old), and 2 external half glazed triple glazed doors, hows this figure in the workings out ??

Did they put the cylinder in their bedroom cupboard? They do get noisy. I would'nt recommend any of these systems are put close to sleeping areas/walls, having done it myself.

Morning guys I wondered if anyone can help our heat pump is oversized, what can we do to improve its efficiency?Its my fault really as at the time Daikin only offered a minimum of 9kw with the black grill which we liked the look of compared to Daikin other units. Our heat load is about 5kw at -2, i was thinking maybe a buffer could help but after reading these posts I'm totally confused. We have a 25litre buffer which I believe was installed for hydraulic separation and nothing else 25litre volume. The heat pump will modulate down to 30% according to the manufacturer but won't be enough on the milder days of spring/Auturm when we should be saving. Any help be much appreciated as electric has just doubled for us.

So many comments slagging off heat pumps and the people that install them when the real problem is the shameful building standards in the UK. We were raised on stories about the three little pigs and their straw or wooden house that gets blown down by the big bad wolf. And so we build houses using thousands of tiny concrete bricks and tiles - pandering to every English twit that thinks his home is his castle. Open fireplaces and period features are what sells houses, MVHR is almost unheard of and still not standard in new builds. Builders putting a couple of solar panels on new builds now to meet the regs for a minimum EPC 'cos it's cheaper than adding insulation or triple glazing.

I have for 10 years a Heatpump no gas. Solar Panels, Induction Cooking, Heatpump. LG and Vaillant have good Heatpump for House Warming.

If you need lots of insulation before you get a heat pump, thats the crux of the issue. You see if you bulk out your insulation then your gas boiler usage drops and drops! The British are so gullible I could cry, I'm a heating engineer.