Octopus Heat Pumps

maf20

Interesting. The installer who came round to our house said it wouldn’t work and the heat pump was only going to be about a total of 6 metres from the boiler 

Reed_Richards

By "boiler" so you mean the DHW cylinder or the place where your old boiler had been?

stripling

maf20 said:

@Spies just done an instant quote with British Gas. Almost double what Octopus are quoting. 

Back to the drawing board…

BG's quotes aren't fixed - mine reduced considerably when they did the heat loss assessment. They then quoted for a Daikin but mentioned (because I asked) a Valliant would be be at least another grand +. 

stripling

@maf20 Do you not have a garage?
Or can you not make a base for the pump in the garden but nearer the house? One guy on YouTube got his put on the front of his house but I guess that's not everyone's idea of ok. He got stick for it in the comments but he was ok. 
But 6 meters is fine - I was told that more than 12meters and you have to think about it carefully. 

I'd go back to them and question it. 

FreeBear

Installing a heat pump at the front (assuming there is a suitable spot) may need planning permission if an Article 4 directive is in place, in a conservation area, or a listed building. Not an insurmountable problem if the local authority is agreeable - Central government are pushing for planning departments to relax rules a little so that net zero targets can be achieved.

The heat pump specs I looked at generally specify a maximum of 10m of pipework to the DHW tank. That would be one sticking point for me. That said, I do have an alternative location that could be used at the expense of a longer pipe run to the bathroom. Boils down to trade-offs and compromises.

matt_drummer

FreeBear said:

Installing a heat pump at the front (assuming there is a suitable spot) would need planning permission I believe. Not an insurmountable problem if the local authority is agreeable - Central government are pushing for planning departments to relax rules a little so that net zero targets can be achieved.

The heat pump specs I looked at generally specify a maximum of 10m of pipework to the DHW tank. That would be one sticking point for me. That said, I do have an alternative location that could be used at the expense of a longer pipe run to the bathroom. Boils down to trade-offs and compromises.

No, the front of the house is permitted development as long as you follow the rest of the rules.

I know because my heat pump is on the front of the house, it's the only place the council couldn't object to!

maf20

Reed_Richards said:

By "boiler" so you mean the DHW cylinder or the place where your old boiler had been?

Meant DWH cylinder 

Reed_Richards

I have no experience of running pipes from a heat pump through a garden.  Presumably they would need to be very well insulated, buried and enclosed in a protected shielding so you don't accidentally put a spade through them at some point in the future.  They will lose some heat and the heat will most likely attract rodents like field mice and voles.  Field mice sometimes attempt to overwinter in my loft and they love to chew on any foam pipe insulation, but don't attempt the foil-covered phenolic type.      

FreeBear

matt_drummer said:

FreeBear said:

Installing a heat pump at the front (assuming there is a suitable spot) would need planning permission I believe. Not an insurmountable problem if the local authority is agreeable - Central government are pushing for planning departments to relax rules a little so that net zero targets can be achieved.

The heat pump specs I looked at generally specify a maximum of 10m of pipework to the DHW tank. That would be one sticking point for me. That said, I do have an alternative location that could be used at the expense of a longer pipe run to the bathroom. Boils down to trade-offs and compromises.

No, the front of the house is permitted development as long as you follow the rest of the rules.

I stand corrected. I'll go back and edit.

Shortsy

Reed_Richards said:

maf20 said:

If octopus won’t install a heat pump for me, who is the next cheapest/best to them?

I’ve been quoted £4.1k to pay by Octopus. But, they won’t install it on the side of my house and I’m struggling for wall space at ground level

So wall-mounted would be brackets fixed to the wall, fork lift to raise the heat pump onto the brackets.  Scaffolding to work on the heat pump and install the pipes and change any interior settings.  Then more scaffolding every time it needs servicing?  That must add a hefty premium to installation and servicing costs.  

Interested in this. It would be great to know the maximum height that a pump can be serviced from a ladder before scaffolding is essential. It would be a deal breaker for me to need scaffolding for every service, although maybe not as a one off for the install. My side return isn't wide enough for the pump to go at ground level but it could maybe go at around 2.5m off the ground and have access from a quiet public side footpath over the fence.
The only other option I'd consider is at the front, so would be interested to see examples that have worked.
Either way, I wouldn't contemplate it until the planning rules change to avoid a planning application ... which seems pretty likely next year.