Octopus Heat Pumps

mickyduck55

Alnat1 said:

I've gone for it but after a second visiting by the surveyor last week, it has been confirmed that we need planning permission for the 8Kw Daikin unit at our 4 bed detached. It will be placed centrally at the back of our house and we're told it exceeds the noise assessment. If a detached can't meet the requirements, how can anyone in a semi or terraced house expect to ever get one installed?

Luckily Octopus have said they will deal with and pay for the planning application, with no increase in our £3000 cost but that does mean we haven't yet been given an install date. We made the initial £500 payment at the end of September.

Octopus do seem to be really on this.

I had to apply for planning permission in April last year, I had to complete and pay for the process myself they were unable to help at all, I suggested that they should put in place some guidance as they have all the details of the install and equipment.  Filling in everything myself was a pain although largely a "tick box response" you would have thought I was building a housing estate in the middle of a conservation area.  My main issue was the requirement for scaled drawings, luckily I had  A1 scaled plans from a previous extension which I was able to annotate.
Good to see that they are making things easier for everyone.

Magnitio

mickyduck55 said:

Octopus do seem to be really on this.

I had to apply for planning permission in April last year, I had to complete and pay for the process myself they were unable to help at all, I suggested that they should put in place some guidance as they have all the details of the install and equipment.  Filling in everything myself was a pain although largely a "tick box response" you would have thought I was building a housing estate in the middle of a conservation area.  My main issue was the requirement for scaled drawings, luckily I had  A1 scaled plans from a previous extension which I was able to annotate.
Good to see that they are making things easier for everyone.

How did your installation go and is it performing as expected?

mickyduck55

Magnitio said:

mickyduck55 said:

Octopus do seem to be really on this.

I had to apply for planning permission in April last year, I had to complete and pay for the process myself they were unable to help at all, I suggested that they should put in place some guidance as they have all the details of the install and equipment.  Filling in everything myself was a pain although largely a "tick box response" you would have thought I was building a housing estate in the middle of a conservation area.  My main issue was the requirement for scaled drawings, luckily I had  A1 scaled plans from a previous extension which I was able to annotate.
Good to see that they are making things easier for everyone.

How did your installation go and is it performing as expected?

I am delighted with the finished install

 


There is a story though, the installation was a bit fraught, purely on my account!.

I had planning permission to put the pump in my garden alongside my garage wall.  This is 18m from the cylinder and Daikin spec says no more than 10m so after some discussion we decided to put it by my kitchen door.

At the end of day 2 it was mounted on the wall and plumbed into my cylinder... at the start of day 3 I asked them to move it.. aesthetically it was "industrial" and I  could not look at it for the rest of my life.  Nothing wrong with the install it was neat but the lagged pipes were visually overpowering!

To my face they could not have been nicer.. goodness knows what was said behind my back

They took it down moved it and replumed it .. absolutely amazing service.

The only major issue was the electrician had to virtually start again.  Extra help was sent to site to assist !

To answer your question by Friday evening I had a fully installed working system.

Internally the only disruption is I need to sort out my landing,.  Steel pipes were found running to one radiator which they did not want to leave in so I agreed they could cut the laminate to replace them.  There is very little sign apart from that they ever visited.  They even filled in my boiler vent with bricks I had so even that is neat and tidy.  The holes that were left from the initial install were also filled!

I'm not sure how well its working yet, I have had no heating since October so the thermal mass of my home is next to nothing so a lot to equilibrate.  Huge amounts of power used the first two days but has settled down yesterday and today looks Ok.

The system needs balancing properly as the whole place is at 19C.. I would like my living room a little warmer in the evening when I'm sat doing nothing and upstairs a little cooler


Initial install

Magnitio

@mickyduck55 I think you made the right choice by moving the heat pump. I'm sure that would have annoyed you had it remained where it was.
One of the reasons I didn't progress with an installation was that Octopus wouldn't put a heat pump on the roof of our extension, which would be out of the way and be only about 2 metres from the tank. Instead, it would have been right outside our back door.
Be interesting to hear how you get on once it settles in and cold weather returns.

MultiFuelBurner

Magnitio sauid:

@mickyduck55 I think you made the right choice by moving the heat pump. I'm sure that would have annoyed you had it remained where it was.
One of the reasons I didn't progress with an installation was that Octopus wouldn't put a heat pump on the roof of our extension, which would be out of the way and be only about 2 metres from the tank. Instead, it would have been right outside our back door.
Be interesting to hear how you get on once it settles in and cold weather returns.

I don't think I have sees a liquid to liquid ASHP on a roof yet (I presume you mean a flat roof what was the material) was the issue access for maintenance or that they would need scaffolding to install. 

Our heat pump will condensate and that pools around the heat pump and the like last week freezes so generally they need a concrete base which is difficult on a flat roof.

Genuinely intrigued perhaps you have a picture of where you would have liked it positioned.

Magnitio

MultiFuelBurner said:

I don't think I have sees a liquid to liquid ASHP on a roof yet (I presume you mean a flat roof what was the material) was the issue access for maintenance or that they would need scaffolding to install. 

Our heat pump will condensate and that pools around the heat pump and the like last week freezes so generally they need a concrete base which is difficult on a flat roof.

Genuinely intrigued perhaps you have a picture of where you would have liked it positioned.

It is a flat roof. I have seen a few ASHP on a flat roof, which is normally easy to access for maintenance and will typically have existing drainage. The issue is getting the unit onto the roof, which small firms probably do without question, but Octopus would need to do a health & safety assessment and maybe get specialist equipment in to lift it.

mickyduck55

Magnitio said:

MultiFuelBurner said:

I don't think I have sees a liquid to liquid ASHP on a roof yet (I presume you mean a flat roof what was the material) was the issue access for maintenance or that they would need scaffolding to install. 

Our heat pump will condensate and that pools around the heat pump and the like last week freezes so generally they need a concrete base which is difficult on a flat roof.

Genuinely intrigued perhaps you have a picture of where you would have liked it positioned.

It is a flat roof. I have seen a few ASHP on a flat roof, which is normally easy to access for maintenance and will typically have existing drainage. The issue is getting the unit onto the roof, which small firms probably do without question, but Octopus would need to do a health & safety assessment and maybe get specialist equipment in to lift it.

TBH if they can mount it on a wall a couple of feet off the ground as they did mine initially there is not structural reason why it could not be mounted high or on a flat roof

MultiFuelBurner

@Magnitio

Servicing will be more difficult as well on a flat roof.

I can understand why Octopus refused.

Did that mean you didn't go ahead or you did with another installer and they have it on your flat roof?

Magnitio

MultiFuelBurner said:

@Magnitio

Servicing will be more difficult as well on a flat roof.

I can understand why Octopus refused.

Did that mean you didn't go ahead or you did with another installer and they have it on your flat roof?

I haven't gone ahead with a heat pump as yet. I cannot persuade her who must be obeyed to spend money on what she considers to be an ugly monstrosity, as well as losing space in the garden and airing cupboard. I can't even use money saving as an argument until the difference in price between gas and electric reduces. I shall revisit this at some stage.

Spies

Does anyone know if its possible to calculate heat loss of the property yourself? If I know the outdoor temp, the indoor temp and the amount of gas (in kwh) to maintain a temperature surely theres a formula that can provide me with an answer?