Heat geek design consultation worth paying £250 for?

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82120793#Comment_82120793

Yes; I twigged that mine was costing me ~£89/year for doing nothing.

prowla

I've got a British Gas one booked for the day after tomorrow; will see what they have to say…

prowla

I went through the Heat Geek proposal in their website and my £3k (extra to the £7.5k grant) turned into a £12k (extra to the £7.5k grant).

The annual savings are estimated at £140 (on a pretty accurate £630 current bill guess).

So, it'd be 85 years to pay for itself in savings; however, the system would only have a 5-7 years guarantee, so I guess they're not confident it would survive that long.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82123132#Comment_82123132

Granted that's a not insubstantial cost.

How much would it cost for a new gas boiler along with any other remedial works (new radiators, re-plumbing etc on a like for like basis)? You need to factor this in and deduct from the overall cost to evaluate the extra (extra above what you would have to pay anyway when replacing your heating system) cost of a heat pump over a gas boiler heating system. If the cost of a fully installed new gas boiler system (without the benefit of a grant) were £10k for boiler, new radiators and a complete re-plumb, then the additional costs you are considering are only £2k, not £12k.

I believe the annual savings are understated at £140/year. Gas standing charges are £110/year, which can be removed if you no longer require gas, before even considering unit cost savings.

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82123224#Comment_82123224

I get what you're saying, which is why I'm getting an alternative quote.

The A2W heat pump is the only driver for the re-piping, water cylinder, and radiator replacement.

I'd be happy keeping my current radiators, or even completely doing away with them.

So, that £10k cost of replacing them like-for-like is not a given.

Also, if replacing boiler, radiators, and a re-plumb costs £10k, then why does doing like-for-like with a heat pump cost £19k?

(A Worcester Bosch Greenstar costs £1560 (inc. VAT, from Screwfix) and a Valiant aroTherm Plus 5kW is £3193 (no VAT, Heat Pump Warehouse), so approx £1500 more.)

I do take your point about the standing charge though, so that would reduce my 85 years to 45!

Reed_Richards

Also, if replacing boiler, radiators, and a re-plumb costs £10k, then why does doing like-for-like with a heat pump cost £19k?

Manifestly it should not, it ought to be the about £1500 more that you calculate. Most likely the problem is that @NedS is being too optimistic with their £10k estimate. But I think Heat Geek offer performance guarantees and the cost of having to return to a proportion of their clients when the system does not meet the guarantee first time must be priced into everybody's quotes.

prowla

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82123670#Comment_82123670

If so, that's a heck of an uplift to price in to cover their consultancy being erroneous.

Reed_Richards

I think tradespeople often incorporate a "reluctance factor" into their quotes if they don't really want to do the job.

happydogparent

Can share my experience, had Heat Geek, Aira and Octopus out to quote for ASHP, Heat Geek were head and shoulders above in term of the survey and supporting information. I had a bunch of questions about suitability (1950s build) and the perceived risk of not being warm enough / high running costs. Very responsive and the heat loss summary was very useful/comprehensive. BUS grant knocked 9k off leaving 6k for 12kw Vaillant unit, new HW cylinder and pipework. The zero disrupt option is a choice, I opted to replace some rads which were 40years old. It's an additional cost but done for aesthetics and comfort rather than purely payback. Not on mains gas and oil prices made it an easier decision. Install was painfree and now up and running. 250l HW costs about 15p (Octopus I Go) and now looking at battery to offset winter usage. It's a significant investment but savings on running cost, servicing and maintenance mean it's worth it for enhanced peace of mind. Their support went well beyond the survey and £250 for someone's time and expertise is well worth it compared to just the sales patter I got from the competitors.

Netexporter

Good to hear how I imagine a Heat Geek quote might go can be the reality.