F Gas Regulations

muckybutt

We have been contacted today by the company that manufacture our ASHP, and have been told by them we have to have our ASHP tested under these regs every year ?

They'll do it for free whist its under warrenty then they'll carry on doing it or we have to get someone else to do it but either way its got to be done.

The bloody thing is more trouble that its worth, cost us a fortune during the winter, then they put this bombshell on us.

Swipe

Would you care to name and shame the manufacturer so others can steer clear?

muckybutt

HEATKING

Quote :

We are writing to you regarding the ASHP you have installed in your property. There has been a change in regs which requires an anual inspection to be carried out on your unit to check the refrigerant system for leaks.

The regs concerned are referred to as the F - Gas regs. These regs stipulate that the owner of any refrigerant equipment containing 3Kg or more of refrigerant (which ours does) must have their equipment inspected annually.

It is therefore YOUR responsibility to ensure an F - Gas inspection is carried out annually and that a record is kept.

Damned if im gonna do that if I dont have to, ill rip the bloody thing out if it is the case, soddin thing cost us nigh on £800 for 70 days of use over the winter, oil only cost us £500 year before.

samtheman1k

Interesting, I would ask around though...this company could be deliberately misinterpreting the rules for their benefit...would be interesting to find out more on this...

samtheman1k

Ok, I have done a quick bit of research, mainly from here:

http://info.cooling4industry.co.uk/blog/_archives/2007/9/20/3242271.html

In short, if it contains more than 3kg of refrigerant, then yes, it needs inspecting every year, UNLESS, it is a hermetically sealed unit, i.e. airtight, which I think most air-to-water type systems are? Pretty sure the Ecodan is as it comes as a 'plug and play' unit. In this case, the limit is 6kg.

However, the Ecodan, only contains 2.4kg of refrigerant, so is exempt anyway. Check the label of your HP and it should tell you how much it has, or post which one you have and we'll have a look.

albyota

Tech Specs for the Heatking

6000 units 8000 units 9000i units 12000 units 13000i units
Unit Weight (unpacked) 87Kg 110Kg 115Kg 173Kg 178Kg
Refrigerant Type R407C R407C R407C R407C R407C

Refrigerant Charge 1700gms 3500gms 3500gms 6800 gms 6800gms

albyota

samtheman1k is correct the Mitsubishi Ecodan (officially the UK leading brand) is a hermetically sealed system, therefore no F-Gas regs apply, incidentally there is little or no maintenance required to be fair, however the manufacturers do like to insist that it has periodic inspection to protect the 3 yr warranty, however, using a Mitsubishi AEI with MCS accreditation, REA and BESCA installer gets 5 years warranty.

muckybutt

ours is the 9000i