As heat pumps become an increasingly prominent fixture in UK homes, questions are beginning to emerge over the quality and value of their ongoing servicing contracts. One homeowner’s recent experience with a leading manufacturer, Daikin, raises broader concerns about transparency, accountability and whether annual maintenance packages are delivering the value homeowners are led to expect.
Mike’s Story: Two Services, Zero Screws Removed
Mike, a homeowner in the UK, and prominent member on the Renewable Heating Hub forums, is two years into a Gold service contract with Daikin for his Altherma monobloc air source heat pump. The agreement, priced at £345 annually, includes one maintenance visit per year along with fault diagnosis and repair cover.
However, Mike’s recent maintenance appointment (carried out at the end of April 2025) has left him questioning what exactly he is paying for.
According to Mike, the service lasted less than an hour, with most of the time spent indoors near the airing cupboard. The only work observed on the external monobloc unit was the removal and shaking of the Y-strainer. The engineer did not remove the casing, inspect the evaporator coil, check electrical components or carry out any visible cleaning.
“I watched the whole time,” Mike said. “No screws were removed, and no tools were taken to the monobloc other than for the strainer.”
This was not an isolated incident. The previous year’s service followed a similarly light-touch pattern.
The Discrepancy Between Service Reports and Reality
What makes Mike’s story particularly troubling is the disparity between what was observed and what Daikin’s official service report claimed was completed.
The 2025 maintenance report includes a long checklist of completed tasks: coil cleaning, electrical checks, system pressure checks, F-Gas tests and visual inspections of key components. Yet, based on Mike’s account, many of these items were never physically carried out.
When he raised the issue with Daikin, the company reiterated that their service reports reflect the “standard list of checks” included in the visit, not necessarily a bespoke record of what was actually done. Worryingly, Daikin hinted that servicing of systems can be a repetitive job that can lead to engineer complacency. Daikin has since offered to send a second engineer to repeat the service.
Inhibitor Oversight Highlights a Broader Issue
Beyond the superficial nature of the visit, a separate concern emerged around system inhibitors: the chemical compounds used to prevent corrosion and scale build-up in the heating system.
Earlier in the month, Mike’s system had depressurised following a cold night. Concerned about potential dilution of the inhibitor, he requested that the engineer check its concentration and top it up if necessary. The engineer declined, stating he had neither the tools nor the product to do so.
Daikin later confirmed via email that “system additives are not covered under service packages and remain the responsibility of the system owner.”
For Mike, this poses a significant question of practicality and safety.
“What about elderly or less able homeowners? How can they be expected to check inhibitor levels and refill these systems themselves?”
What Daikin’s Gold Package Does and Does Not Include
A review of Daikin’s Gold service package terms reveals a contract that offers a mix of preventive maintenance and reactive cover, but also contains a long list of exclusions.
The annual maintenance visit, typically scheduled between April and October, is meant to include:
- Cleaning of heat exchangers and filters
- Electrical and water pressure checks
- Inspection of system settings
- F-Gas compliance testing
- Safety checks on unvented hot water cylinders
Yet the contract also excludes:
- Testing or supplying system additives (e.g. inhibitor or glycol)
- Any third-party components (e.g. radiators, pumps, manifolds)
- Damage due to water supply, weather events or self-maintenance errors
- Physical cleaning or repair where “access equipment” is required
- Any parts deemed not critical to system function
In practice, the annual service visit appears to serve more as a visual inspection and data collection exercise than a hands-on technical intervention.
A Service Agreement – or an Insurance Product?
This ambiguity raises an important distinction: Is the service contract primarily about maintenance, or is it better understood as a type of insurance?
While the Gold package does cover callouts and repairs (including parts and labour for in-warranty systems) much of the physical care and responsibility for system performance appears to rest with the homeowner.
A Lack of Industry Standardisation
This case also underscores a broader problem: the lack of standardisation across the heat pump industry in terms of what constitutes a proper service. There is no universally accepted checklist or third-party audit of service delivery, leaving it largely to homeowners to verify that work has been performed correctly, often without the technical knowledge or access to challenge it.
Renewable Heating Hub has contacted several leading heat pump manufacturers (including Daikin, Vaillant, Mitsubishi Electric, Samsung, NIBE and others) to ask what their annual services include, whether they are delivered directly or via partners, and how service quality relates to warranty protection.
You can read this as a separate article here.
Looking Ahead
For homeowners transitioning to low-carbon heating technologies, trust and clarity are paramount. Contracts that promise peace of mind must deliver not only when things go wrong, but also in the routine care that keeps systems efficient and reliable.
Mike’s experience is not just a personal grievance, it’s a cautionary tale. It illustrates the need for greater transparency, clearer boundaries of responsibility, and possibly, independent oversight of service practices in a growing sector.
Until then, homeowners may be advised to ask difficult questions, closely monitor service visits, and scrutinise what’s checked on paper versus what’s actually done.
Share your servicing and maintenance experiences on our forums.
