Octopus Heat Pumps

Spies

Reed_Richards said:

That is good news.  Can you cite the source of your information, @Spies?

This isn't where I originally saw the information but it's here

https://mhclgmedia.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/21/warm-homes-plan-and-heat-pumps/#:~:text=The changes, which are being,1m of the property boundary.

The_Green_Hornet

Reed_Richards said:

That is good news.  Can you cite the source of your information, @Spies?

Help to save households money and deliver cleaner heat to homes - GOV.UK

JoshinLeeds

Has anyone had a structural survey for putting a cylinder in loft for an octopus heat pump and how much did it cost? 

Reed_Richards

Two potential problems:

1. The loft is outside the heated fabric of the building so any heat lost from the cylinder is wasted.
2. A full cylinder is very heavy and so probably needs to be positioned over a supporting wall (if you have one).

JoshinLeeds

Reed_Richards said:

Two potential problems:

1. The loft is outside the heated fabric of the building so any heat lost from the cylinder is wasted.
2. A full cylinder is very heavy and so probably needs to be positioned over a supporting wall (if you have one).

I didn't think about it needing a supporting wall. My loft has been strengthened and insulation board is on rafters, I guess I could dry clothes at least.

FreeBear

Reed_Richards said:

Two potential problems:

1. The loft is outside the heated fabric of the building so any heat lost from the cylinder is wasted.
2. A full cylinder is very heavy and so probably needs to be positioned over a supporting wall (if you have one).

Third potential problem - Length of pipes between the heat pump and cylinder.

When I looked at the installation manual of one HP (Daikin I think), a maximum of 10m was permitted. And whilst a tank will loose around 80W per hour, this is based on it being within the habitable envelope. Up in a cold draughty loft, the losses would be higher. Then you still need need to get the tank up there - They tend to be quite bulky, so the size of loft hatch may scupper that idea before it even gets off the ground.

mickyduck55

FreeBear said:

Reed_Richards said:

Two potential problems:

1. The loft is outside the heated fabric of the building so any heat lost from the cylinder is wasted.
2. A full cylinder is very heavy and so probably needs to be positioned over a supporting wall (if you have one).

Third potential problem - Length of pipes between the heat pump and cylinder.

When I looked at the installation manual of one HP (Daikin I think), a maximum of 10m was permitted. And whilst a tank will loose around 80W per hour, this is based on it being within the habitable envelope. Up in a cold draughty loft, the losses would be higher. Then you still need need to get the tank up there - They tend to be quite bulky, so the size of loft hatch may scupper that idea before it even gets off the ground.

Daikin do say 10m... Octopus installed mine 18m from my cylinder. Probably not the most efficient it could be but it still does work.

rjmachin

JoshinLeeds said:

Has anyone had a structural survey for putting a cylinder in loft for an octopus heat pump and how much did it cost? 

Octopus installed my cylinder/task up the loft.   Upgrading from a combi boiler, I did not have a tank before and there was no space in the fabric of the house to store one.

I did not need (or was asked to get) a structural survey.

Octopus created a wooden platform in the loft to install the tank on.

It is quite a big platform, spread over multiple joists and raised up.

Reed_Richards

If you are installing a tank in the loft it is important to give it as much support as possible.  I have an old unused platform in my loft but it's only supported on two joists so it was probably just for a small header tank.

JoshinLeeds

rjmachin said:

JoshinLeeds said:

Has anyone had a structural survey for putting a cylinder in loft for an octopus heat pump and how much did it cost? 

Octopus installed my cylinder/task up the loft.   Upgrading from a combi boiler, I did not have a tank before and there was no space in the fabric of the house to store one.

I did not need (or was asked to get) a structural survey.

Octopus created a wooden platform in the loft to install the tank on.

It is quite a big platform, spread over multiple joists and raised up.

That's quite interesting, they haven't offered to do anything like that for me and were insisting on a survey.

I wish they could just put the cylinder under my house in the space where the boiler currently is but they said it needs to be head height (I'm not sure why they can't use a horizontal cylinder)