When I signed on the dotted line for a £22,000 air source heat pump installation in July 2023, I thought I was doing everything right. I did my research. I checked credentials. I picked an installer that, at the time, was listed on Heat Geek’s own website as a certified/verified company. I wanted to do my bit for the planet and secure a future-proof heating system for my home.
Instead, I’ve been left with a cold house, spiralling bills, a drawn-out Section 75 battle with my credit card provider, and an education in just how unaccountable this industry can be when things go wrong.
This is the story of my installation with EPC Improvements Ltd, why it failed and why homeowners across the UK need to start asking much harder questions before signing up to a heat pump.
The Installer I Trusted
I chose EPC Improvements Ltd because they were visible, endorsed and, at the time, listed as a Heat Geek certified installer. That felt like a safeguard. Surely if you appear on a platform that preaches technical quality and consumer trust, you’re competent?
The system they sold me was a Samsung AE120BXYDEG, 12 kW, for just over £22,000 (including the £5,000 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant). That’s not pocket change. It’s the kind of money families sink into a kitchen extension or a car. You expect it to work.
From day one, it didn’t.
A System That Never Delivered
The signs were immediate. Rooms that never warmed up. Radiators lukewarm even when the heat pump was supposedly running flat out. Bills climbing instead of falling.
EPC’s response? “It’s working at 350% efficiency.”
But the numbers don’t lie. A year’s worth of data showed me what was really happening: approx. 19,703 kWh heat out from about 8,850 kWh in. That’s a seasonal COP of around 2.2, almost half of what was promised and far below what’s needed for cost-effective low-carbon heating.
The causes were glaring once independent eyes looked at it:
- Undersized radiators that physically couldn’t deliver the heat.
- A badly arranged buffer tank that dumped 8-10°C of temperature before water even reached the radiators.
- Pumps that weren’t fit for heat pumps, one of them installed in the wrong place and literally pumping back into the buffer.
- Glycol dosed into the system, choking flow rates further.
- Sloppy commissioning and controls left on default, with no clear optimisation for the property.
This wasn’t cutting-edge renewable technology. It was bodging with expensive parts, and it’s not hard to understand why many families simply give up long before this point.
Living With the Consequences
Imagine paying £22,000 to make your home greener and more comfortable, and ending up colder than you were with your old boiler.
Imagine trying to tell your installer something’s wrong and being told it’s “all in spec.”
For months, we lived with a system that couldn’t heat the house. We plugged in fan heaters to stop freezing corners. One radiator even tore off the wall and caused an injury because of poor fixing. EPC brushed it off.
Every winter night I looked at that outdoor unit humming away and thought: this isn’t progress, it’s fraud dressed up in MCS certificates.
When the Industry Looks Away
Here’s what really shocked me: there’s no clear route to redress when this happens.
I went to MCS. They sent polite acknowledgements but no practical path forward. I tried RECC. I tried Trading Standards. I tried my home legal cover, but denied because the contract value was “too high.”
Even Heat Geek, whose badge EPC had traded on, initially told me they couldn’t help unless it was an install going through their platform. So much for consumer safety nets. Fine print everywhere.
I paid £800 out of pocket for an independent assessment from Andrew Millward, a Heat Geek Elite installer. Only then, with his technical report in hand, did Heat Geek HQ start engaging. By then, I’d been living with this mess for a year.
Section 75: A Lifeline With Strings
My only real weapon has been Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act… the right to claim against your card provider for breach of contract.
But even here, the system isn’t built for heat pumps. Card providers want “2-3 comparable quotes” for remedial work. That works if you’re replacing a bathroom. It doesn’t when you need bespoke hydronic redesign.
I prepared a detailed Statement of Works with two options:
- Option 1: minimal remedial work (flush system, relocate pumps, fix/remove buffer, resize only undersized rads).
- Option 2: full overhaul (replace every emitter, overhaul hydraulics, possibly replace the heat pump).
Despite sending identical evidence packs to three firms, only one (Sun-lite Group) engaged constructively. They, alongside Heat Geek HQ, have been willing to talk about a realistic repair path.
But my card provider still insists on “quotes.” Installers are understandably reluctant to provide them without site visits, which the card provider won’t fund. So I remain stuck in limbo.
What My Case Exposes
This isn’t just my story. It’s a snapshot of an industry problem.
- Accreditation means very little. EPC were “certified” when I hired them. Their work was dreadful. The certification didn’t protect me.
- There’s no consumer escalation. MCS and RECC don’t offer practical remedies. Heat Geek’s map once listed dozens of installers, but course completion clearly isn’t the same as competence.
- Servicing is a Wild West. My annual “service” was basically an invoice. No checks, no documentation, no refrigerant testing. Unlike gas boilers, there’s no statutory service standard.
- Remedial work is toxic. Many competent engineers avoid it. It’s risky, messy, time-consuming. Everyone talks quality on social media, but few step up when a family’s freezing in a badly designed house.
- Finance processes don’t fit. Section 75 assumes like-for-like quotes. Heat pumps don’t work that way. Without independent, recognised assessors, consumers are stranded.
The Human Cost
This isn’t just about kilowatts and flow rates. It’s about trust.
I thought I was making a responsible choice for my family and the planet. Instead, I’ve spent two years fighting, documenting, emailing, chasing, all while paying for plug-in heaters to do the job a £22,000 heat pump couldn’t.
The emotional toll has been huge. The financial toll is worse. And I’m one of the lucky ones. I had the time, the technical curiosity and the persistence to push this far. Many families just give up.
What Needs to Change
If the UK is serious about scaling up heat pumps, the following must happen:
- Accreditation must mean accountability. If an installer fails, there must be a clear path for consumers to get redress, not just a polite email.
- Independent assessments must be formalised. We need a network of engineers who can provide recognised, insurer-grade reports on bad installs. At the moment, they barely exist.
- Servicing must be standardised. Annual service should mean something, not just a hose-down and an invoice.
- Finance providers must adapt. Section 75 and insurers need to recognise that heat pumps aren’t bathrooms. They should fund expert site surveys and accept technical reports in place of “like-for-like quotes.”
- Buffers must stop being a crutch. In my case, the buffer tank masked a bad design. It looked fine on paper, but in reality it was strangling flow and dumping energy. Buffers have their place in specific contexts, but in most domestic installs they’re just disguising poor design.
Where I Am Now
As I write this, I’m still chasing quotes for Section 75. I’m still living with a system that under-delivers. And I’m still waiting for the industry to show me it cares more about homeowners than about paper compliance.
If you’re considering a heat pump, demand clear design calculations based on your desired room temperature (in our case 22.5-24°C, installers often assume 18-21°C suits everyone) and emitter schedules that use MARC-confirmed radiators. You don’t need to do the maths yourself, but be aware of one crucial point: a radiator quoted at 1,000 W at ΔT50 will only deliver about 295 W at typical low-temperature operation. So I’ve found that a room with a 600 W heat loss needs about 2,500 W of radiator capacity to be safe. In multi-storey homes, aim for a slight over-delivery on the ground floor because heat rises. Insist on a proper commissioning plan, and if an installer tells you “the buffer will sort it,” walk away, because no family should have to pay £22,000 to sit in a cold house and fight for years to put it right.
And as it stands, it looks like I might have to pay another £10,000 to get it rectified, which takes me north of £30,000 for this installation.
Editor’s note
Every week at Renewable Heating Hub we hear from homeowners who are frustrated, confused or in some cases devastated by the performance of their renewable heating systems. Almost without exception, the root cause can be traced back to one issue: a poor installation.
When you step back and look at the recurring patterns, a story emerges. Systems sized on guesswork rather than heat loss calculations. Buffers thrown in as sticking plasters rather than as part of a thought-through design, as is the case in Drei’s installation.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
The truth is that a properly designed and installed system can and should perform exceptionally. But “getting it right first time” requires expertise, planning and a commitment to doing things properly rather than taking shortcuts. Unfortunately, there are still too many installs being carried out by people who don’t fully understand the nuances of the technology, or worse, don’t care enough to apply best practice.
This is why we are doubling down on education, case studies and independent advice for homeowners at Renewable Heating Hub. We want people to go into this transition with their eyes open, aware of the pitfalls but also of the extraordinary benefits when it’s done correctly. That’s another reason why we’ve written The Ultimate Guide to Heat Pumps.
If you are a homeowner thinking about making the switch, or if you’ve already had an install that isn’t living up to expectations, I would encourage you to reach out. We can point you towards the right people and, just as importantly, help you avoid the wrong ones.
Our mission is simple: to help homeowners cut through the noise, dodge the pitfalls and get the system they deserve… one that’s efficient, reliable and future-proof.
If you’re at the start of this journey, or if you’re already wrestling with the aftermath of a bad install, don’t go it alone. Contact me directly at editor@renewableheatinghub.co.uk. Sometimes the right recommendation at the right time can make all the difference between a story of frustration and one of success.