Damaged Installation of ASHP

Scaffman60

Good morning 

I recently had an Air source Heat Pump installed and the fins was damaged on completion. I notified the company and an operatives visited and tried to repair them. A small amount was not repaired due the excess dent, they explained this will not effect the performance or any warranty etc. I asked for this to be replaced but they are not willing to do this and offered £100 compensation and free service. What are my rights and can I insist this is replaced. This was one of many problems we had during install unfortunately and still not happy with noise level

photos post repair 

QrizB

I don't think there will be any significant effect on performance or efficiency, if the only damage is as shown in your pictures.

Those fins are thin and fragile and the only way to return the heat pump to "as new" condition would be to replace the entire evaporator.

I'd accept the £100 and free service.

km1500

In my view they clearly damaged the evaporator fins on installation and should we place the evaporator or whatever part it's necessary to get new fins

You wouldn't accept for example a badly scratched bumper on a new car even though it does not affect performance

CFELH

The fins are there for a reason. The increased surface from the fins maximises heat transfer and contributes to the overall efficiency of the heat pump. A small patch covering a few percent of the evaporator area may not have much of an impact, but a large area of damage will. Contact the manufacturer and ask them to guarantee in writing that the damage will have no impact upon efficiency, I’ll bet they won’t, and that should guide your next move.

Scaffman60

Thank you for all the comments, gives a lot to think about 

benson1980

In addition to the above, I'd also consider the value of their offer of a free service. You allude to quality issues and therefore I personally would attribute very little monetary value to this i.e. would it be done properly. Unlikely, particularly if they are doing it for no renumeration.

Do you have a final installment outstanding? Hopefully you do, and have a bit of leverage.

Regarding the damage, that is significant and I'd be asking for a new unit/replacement parts all day long for that, personally speaking. 

fisher66

The photos give me the impression that quite a section of the fins have been damaged. I wouldn't accept this. Demand a replacement. If they have managed to damage the fins to this extent what else might have been damaged that you can't see. 

Cressida100

No way would I accept this. It would bother me every time I looked at it. To be honest no amount of compensation would stop me worrying about whether that damage would affect it's use. 

akwexavante

Demand a replacement and nothing short of that or your money back.
How did you pay? If you paid even as much as a penny for it with a card, better still a credit card rather than a debit card threaten to back charge for the whole amount paid to get your money back that way. Contact your card provider to find out how to do this.