I was at the Ideal Home Show both this year (and last) and it was amazing to see Daventry homeowners, Phil Payne and Zena Walker return to talk about their heat pump journey and encourage others to follow suit.
If you didn’t know the story, last year the couple visited the Show and came onto our stand to find out a bit more about heat pumps.
They were there at the same time as our Ecodan Ambassador, TV architect, George Clarke, who took them through our Find My Ecodan tool on the stand to see which heat pump was right for their home and who was their local Mitsubishi Electric partner.
George explained how heat pumps work and they were able to see how much they were likely to save over their oil boiler and send their property details direct to one of our business solution partners – Garry Hamilton Ltd. to conduct a full heat loss calculation and provide a quote for their system.
During the autumn, they had their antiquated, expensive oil boiler replaced with a new Ecodan R290 air source heat pump and you can see the results in this film.
We’re heading to a fully electric society, so heat pumps really are the way forward for home heating
Ines Mansilha Marketing Executive
An ideal discussion
So, when we were preparing for this year’s show, we thought we would see how they were and whether they would be interested in joining us to let other homeowners know how they had got on.
This led to the idea for a panel discussion hosted by George Clarke, along with Garry Hamilton – the installer who designed and fitted their heat pump system.
Phil and Garry joined George on the main stage to a packed audience with George introducing the story of how he had met Phil and his partner Zena at last year’s show and how they had now made the switch to a heat pump and were living with their Ecodan.
Phil explained that they knew oil heating might be expensive but after moving into their new home near Daventry, they found that they had already spent over £1,000 in just three to four months.
Neither knew much about heat pumps so it made sense to find out more.
Leading the panel, George Clarke explained the difference between gas and oil boilers, and heat pumps and told the audience that he had lived with a heat pump for over eight years and, how his house is always a lovely 19 – 20°C.
He also explained that his house, like every other installation, needs to be designed and planned for properly, to make sure that the heat pump works to the best of its ability in each situation, as every home and building is unique.
A credible installer
Phil talked through the process of finding an installer and selecting Garry Hamilton with the Find My Ecodan tool on the stand last year with George.
Garry was local to their home near Daventry and after arranging a visit and discussing what they needed, he pretty well designed the system as Phil and Zena sat there.
He took the couple through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) and explained how using an approved installer means the government will pay £7,500 towards the overall costs. That’s not a loan and is essentially free money.
The government has also just announced that the payment for homeowners of oil and LPG systems is going to increase to £9,000.
Phil said that they did notice an initial bump in the electricity bills as he and Zena were learning how to operate the system most efficiently, and explained that you need to learn how to manage a heat pump as it is different from how you use a traditional fossil-fuel boiler.
Help every step of the way
Garry applied for the BUS on the couple’s behalf and explained what the installation process would be like. The BUS scheme is also VAT-free, which means 20% more off the overall price and Garry took away the hassle of the paperwork.
After discussing the property and the requirements it was decided that a 250-litre cylinder was needed and then it was a question of looking at the radiators and deciding which, if any, needed replacing. In this case some were replaced to help the overall system get maximum efficiency.
There was a challenge with the airing cupboard which was a very tight space for the cylinder but Garry worked his magic, as Phil explains.
It took just under a week for the installation as the project needed a bit of additional work to hide some of the added pipework. Garry and his team were amazing at getting the tank in place and also being able to hide pipework behind the skirting board.
As heat pump users, both George and Phil agreed that the way a heat pump heats the home is a more gentle process than oil or gas, where sometimes you simply can’t touch the scalding hot radiators.
Phil explained that previously in the house there were permanent cold spots like the corridor that runs the length of the home. Now there is the same temperature everywhere which is another added bonus from using a heat pump.
A heat pump journey
Garry Hamilton explained that he has been a gas engineer for 25 years and about 15 years ago, he decided to start installing heat pumps as well. He compares gas and heat pumps as being like the difference between an old Nokia phone and a modern I-phone.
The new high temperature heat pump also produces water up to 75°C so is just like a gas boiler, although you do need a cylinder which then acts as a heat store. And what this means is that you can take advantage of cheaper electricity times and store up the hot water till you need it.
Garry said that it was a big learning curve because of the different ways heat pumps work to gas boilers, but now it’s like second nature. It was more about relearning how to heat a home, rather than a complete re-education but it is a different way of operating the system.
Phil also added that he has had to give friends and family a tour of the system and most of his friends who are engineers are quite sceptical, but they are all very impressed.
George ended the session by explaining that the government is pushing the country towards a fully electric economy, which will be less susceptible to volatile oil and gas markets, so heat pumps really are the way forward for home heating.
Ines Mansilha is Marketing Executive for Residential Heating
