TheMitchells

Udate - we called the installer out on Monday as we found there was a drip from one of the taps/joints at theback of the cupboard, as well as the pressure dropping. it must have been going on for a while as there was limescale on the insulation below. Seems the join between the filter and pipework was dripping slightly so he replaced the seal and it has now stopped dripping. Hoepfully the pressure will stay constant too. in regard to the water under the heat pump outside, after examining it for quite a while (in the cold) he spotted that when it goes into defrost mode, there is a drop of water coming from one point, along and around the unit, dropping down the front to where we can see it. he reckons by lifting one side of the unit fractionally, that drop will go where it is supposed to go, into the drain. So he will be coming back out with something appropriate on Wednesday (today) and fitting that.

I have two questions. 1. Since having the ashp installed at my parents, and once it was up and running okay, we have noticed the ground beneath the unit is usually wet with drops coming from the unit. should i be concerned and is this condensation, forming on the metal unit itself and dripping down? 2. The pressure guage was showing low yesterday, and for the last couple of weeks i noticed the top of the tall vertical radiator was cold. yesterday i bleed the air out of the radiator and it soon warmed up again. I hoped that would fix the low pressure but it did not, so today i opened the two black valves seen on the photo and the pressure went up to 1.5 which i gather is what it should be. Is it the air in the sysytem causing the pressure to drop? and is it normal for the pressure to drop occasionally? Ok - 3 questions! thanks in advance.

those prices look very good. it may be something i look at, if they stay good. Just watched the Youtube below. And certainly had not thought of the idea of just installing batteries. I always thought of them as purely as support to solar. But with the low cost of night time energy, i can see the benefit of installing batteries and using them to run the house while prices are high. And cheaper than solar currently.

ours only comes in 2 fanspeeds so not much to choose from. we keep then on low and only put one of the two fitted turned on, as they keep the room warm enough.

These have been added to parents kitchen as there was no room for a radiator. They certainly pump out the heat but they are quite noisy. however, as it works, i dont mind. And Dad's deaf anyway! 😄

strangely, i cannot easily find any good sites explaining why to use a continuous bead to prevent convection airflow, though I would/have done so myself. even On the Trowel chap said on one video i watched, that he would only do it on certain walls. Can anyone find a good page to explain? I've been trying to explain it to a friend who's retrofitting but i dont think he believes me. 😔

Mine is Grant. 10kW i think.

Good ideas. have been putting up with the cold from the kitchen cupboards for over 20 years and now we hope to move in a couple of months so I will not bother here. 😀 But i shall certainly look at do this at the next place if needed. The draught from the patio doors was worth doing as we still have 2 months of winter weather to put up with. Its only with the thermal camera that i realised how much of a draught there was. Typically, as soon as I stop the draught, the temperatures are going up! 😁

Success! after trimming the foam, there were hardly any draughts and the temp was much better. I still need to add sealant to the very fine gap alongside the vertical trim. But happy with result. 😁 And it was this cold! Our gorgeous Lab still enjoying her walks at aged 13 1/2!

i think thats the one the window installers used. they left me some when they'd finished. but i used it up on our renovation.

thanks, will get some of that for all future work. i used Polycell expanding foam polyfilla, as I didnt know any different. Did try to find something that didn't expand too much but there was not much choice locally. As usual, the description sounded like it would be ideal.

thats the one. small screen but otherwise, no complaints.

I love my current house but every winter we suffer from cold rooms and draughts. Most of it come from behind fitted units in the kitchen and other places where there is obviously penetrations. But the OH refuses to remove the cupboards so we can insulate (I agree it would be difficult so understand his reluctance). The heating is blown warm air and it is quick to warm up but also quick to lose heat. The build is timber, with some (not much) insulation, membrane then plasterboard on the inside, brick facade on the outside. I have watched the YouTube videos of Mindsparx, and it looks very similar to how he builds his place, but without the second layer of insulation. It was built by Americans for their Air force personal with good sized rooms, but I wish they had added the extra insulation and taped the joins.

For ages I have felt quite cold sitting next to our patio doors🥶, but I love sitting there to watch the birds outside. However, i finally really looked today and after feeling a cold breeze/draught in the corners, i got out the thermal camera and found in the actual corner, it was down to 1oC, its minus 5oC outside. So I pulled back the carpet and trim and found large gaps at the side. I watched the guys instal the doors in 2019 and saw them spraying in expanding foam around the frame itself so thought that should be okay. But it must have left some gaps. I have been out and bought some Polyfilla expanding foam and sprayed it into the gaps. I shall let you know how much of a change it is, after it dries and I get it all trimmed, ready for the carpet and trim. 😁If it works, i may have to look for more areas to fill - dont want to waste the majority of the can and I hate draughts!

If i recall correctly, the system has a 2 year warranty which shuld cover any problems I have. We have noticed water dripping from the inside of the unit most days, with fairly damp concrete below the unit. I have told them and someone is coming ouot sometime to check. the boss said its probably just condensation. there is a pipe which goes to the outside drain from inside.

Our records indicate that your Air Source Heat Pump is due to be serviced in December 2025. Yearly servicing of the heat pump is essential to meet the needs of the warranty and prevent breakdowns. Our maintenance contracts include the below: • Heat Pump annual inspection and service • Hot Water Tank annual inspection and service where applicable • Check System is operating within optimum conditions to maximise efficiency • Check electrical components are wiring • Clean Filters and Coils • Check and lubricate motors and bearings • Telephone support Monday – Friday 09:00 – 16:00 hours The charge of the yearly maintenance contract is £250.00 plus VAT It does seem rther a lot for inspection and a little cleaning of the filters and coils, and lubricating of bearings. As they took nearly 3 weeks to get the settings correct and provide adequate heating and hot water after installation, I just do not have confidence they will do anything correctly. Think I'll go elsewhere. There has to be others around. Thanks for the comments.

After finally getting the ashp system installed and working, I have been sent details of the companies servicing quote - £250 plus vat. Is this a normal cost? I have emailed several local firms asking if they do ashp servicing and how much, but only one replied to say they dont do them. Before I accept the installers price, I'd love to hear if its about right. After all the problems we had getitng the system working properly ( nearly 3 weeks of call outs and promises that it will work fine now - it didnt) - I dont really have much confidence in the company that installed it. I'd rather find anothe local company that could come and do it. cheers.

Just been listening to a podcast with the founder of One Zero Energy company, Howard Johns, who has ideas for making as many houses as possible more energy efficient, quickly without having to pay huge upfront costs. He reckons he can do ashp, battery, solar, cavity and loft insulation in 2 weeks for around £21k (less the BUS grant). But he wants to do lots more, including arranging better finance for those who dont have that money but still need the equipment. Listen hear or read the notes, https://www.houseplanninghelp.com/hph366-could-a-home-energy-transformation-pay-for-itself/ Sounds a very interesting chap with plenty of experience and a real committment to helping as many people as possible. wish I lived closer to him 🤔would certainly be interested in his ideas.

Are you able to give a rough idea of total cost in building the garage? I think it looks great.

I cannot recall exactly but it may have been this company https://www.hes.co.uk/electricaire-c-251.html Their sticker was on the unit and I know I rang them. They also do parts. I miss the old heater. It was so quick to warm the place up when turned on. I doubt it was very economical but it worked and was easy to use.. Good luck finding some help. We took it out and kept the bricks, broke up the rest and took it to a scrap metal dealer. I think we got £8 for the metal. The insulation was pretty horrible. I bagged it up and it went to the local refuse incinerator.

it was full of fridge gunk! I doubt it had been cleaned out for ages. Thanks for all the comments, will move it further away from the wall and will get that trunking on the pipes. I need to do that to all the new radiators in whole house as all of the pipes come down from the ceiling/attic. But thats a job for the New Year! Too much choc to eat and bottles of wine to drink for the next week!😄 Merry Christmas everyone!🎄🎅

While the ashp was installed at parents place, the warm water pipes dropped down behind the fridge to the under counter kickboard heaters. (It is a tiny kitchen so we were restricted on what could go where.) Then this week, Dad reported problems with ice at the bottom of the fridge. On checking, the condensation drain was solid ice so all the moisture was running to the bottom of the fridge and freezing. After defrosting and cleaning the drain, i checked and water was draining away well. My question is whether it is the warm pipes at the back that is causing the ice to form? Or was it just coincidence that we noticed it now (several weeks after the install). Should I cover the pipes with insulation? Thanks.

Could you not line one wall with cork tiles? They are ideal for absorbing noise??

The Commissioning chap came round yesterday, checked the system and listened to our tales of woe. He said that the flow temperature was 10oC lower than recommended and the water temp was only at 44oc when it was specified at 50oC. But apart from that, all was okay. After some tweaks to correct the temperatures, he left. The house is warm enough and Dad seemed to listen to his advice re maintaining a fairly constant temperature, rather than trying to turn off things then expecting them to warm up when turned back on. (Even though I had explained the same several times before - but then I'm just his daughter! What would I know........) So we spent £7k, plus a £7.5k grant from the Government, and from start to finish it took from 11th November till 3rd December to install and make it all work satisfactorily. Not really the best advertisment for ASHP's but if it keeps the old folks warm enough and saves some money from the old system, then I'm happy.