Northwest Ireland Installer Recommendations

[Shaun McD]

Hi all, 

 

Very much on the fence to DIY v tender out the heating system supply & install for our new build. Naturally there are some massive RISKS to a hobby diy IT professional taking on the task, regardless of savings available! I am basically writing off any hope of warranty for one! A major PRO that has come out of a few months research and conversations with local professionals is that it will indeed save a chunk of money, but also will allow for best practice install in materials choices and equipment choices, e.g. having pumped manifolds with blending valves is not on the list of options for local professionals, with some going as far as saying they would not warranty the job if I insist on having them installed! Another recurring issue is around GSHP v ASHP, with several local installers basically pricing themselves out when I push for ASHP. I have had no less than 3 installers tell me that I MUST install the next size up ASHP v GSHP, with some suggesting that this is even on the low side. Maybe its my simple non professional brain, but I understood 6kw to equal 6kw regardless if ASHP or GSHP, and all they really changes is the amount of input energy to get 6kw, not that an ASHP will need to be 8kw to output 6wk of heat!

With this in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for installers either local, or willing to travel for such an install? Feel free to private message if you would prefer not to share private contact info, but would appreciate any help on trying to find people happy to do the job and know how to do it well!

[sharpener]

GSHPs can run under more favourable conditions, have recently read somewhere that brine temperature can be 9C all winter cf -2 OAT, this will give a better CoP. Maybe that is behind what you have been told.

 

ATB  with your project, if you have the time and a bit of plumbing experience I am sure it is not beyond an IT professional and with help from this forum will be instructive and rewarding.

[Shaun McD]

3 minutes ago, sharpener said:

GSHPs can run under more favourable conditions, have recently read somewhere that brine temperature can be 9C all winter cf -2 OAT, this will give a better CoP. Maybe that is behind what you have been told.

 

ATB  with your project, if you have the time and a bit of plumbing experience I am sure it is not beyond an IT professional and with help from this forum will be instructive and rewarding.

 

We have a GSHP in our current build which we chose at the time, around 7 years ago. Fully agree that the CoP WILL be better with Geo, and concepts like borehole recharging only help that further. The issue however is the initial capital to install v ASHP, specifically in highly insulated and air tight houses. I just cannot make the maths work unless we get incredibly unlucky with ASHP unit and weather, that the higher CoP by the GSHP will come close to offsetting the higher capital costs. I have tried to have these conversations with the local installers and its clear that they want to opt for the more general idea that better CoP is the only consideration to consider. All of this combined with ASHP units needing replaced at 5-7 years, terrible real world CoP values for ASHPs etc. for them make the option very clear. I think however the data they are using is skewed, and like everything else bad new travels far. The majority of installs over recent years here are ASHP so of course there will be some bad designs resulting in machines running constant, giving both high bills and reduced life of machine. Based on the research I can find, and seems backed up heavily by this forum, a well designed ASHP system, while never achieving the CoP of GSHP, and lasting an acceptable life of 10-15 years, will pretty much always be the cost efficient option. 

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the DIY option, I feel like it is partly crazy but also maybe the best option ha! The heating system can pretty much be designed on here from what i can see, just need to get some understanding of regular plumbing best practices now too! Soil pipe vents, water hammer, etc. its a long and daunting list!

[sharpener]

46 minutes ago, Shaun McD said:

I have tried to have these conversations with the local installers and its clear that they want to opt for the more general idea that better CoP is the only consideration to consider.

 

Sounds like groupthink to me. No-one I have spoken to pushing for GSHPs in Devon.

 

Edited May 24, 2023 by sharpener

[Shaun McD]

3 hours ago, sharpener said:

 

Sounds like groupthink to me. No-one I have spoken to pushing for GSHPs in Devon.

 

Yip pretty much, have only found one installer who is keen on ashp and i am struggling to get a response from him! Hoping someone in the forum has a recommendation to reach out too!

[sharpener]

The two firms I have had in came from the "find an installer" service from Vaillant and Daikin. You could contact Lana.Mills.ext@vaillant-group.com direct to see if she can help. Don't have a contact at Daikin and their installer was indirect via a distributor I went to visit, took a lot of chasing as you have found too.