Heat pumps should be one of the most efficient, reliable, environmentally-friendly and comfortable ways to heat a home in the UK. Yet every week, homeowners message and email me with the same story: cold rooms, spiralling electricity bills and a sinking feeling that something has gone very wrong. And after reviewing hundreds of installations through the Renewable Heating Hub community, a clear pattern has emerged. The same mistakes appear again and again: predictable, preventable bodges that sabotage otherwise good systems.
That’s why this video is essential viewing for anyone planning, installing or already running a heat pump. It breaks down the real-world bodges I see every single week, including the one mistake that almost guarantees poor performance: an incorrect heat loss calculation. Most people assume heat loss is just a formality, but it’s the foundation of the entire system. Get it wrong and every decision that follows (heat pump size, radiator outputs, flow temperatures) collapses.
Another big issue explored in the video is why so many heat pumps in the UK are the wrong size. Oversized units short-cycle in mild weather and wear themselves out; undersized ones limp through cold snaps and burn through electricity.
Then there’s the radiator problem, one of the most misunderstood aspects of low-temperature heating. The video digs into why radiators that worked perfectly fine under a boiler can completely fail under a heat pump and how misreading Delta T output ratings leads to freezing cold rooms and inflated bills. It also exposes the hidden energy cost of poorly insulated external pipework, something most homeowners don’t even know to check until it’s too late.
Finally, the video explores the commissioning process, the invisible stage where many installations are quietly ruined. From skipped weather compensation setup to incorrect flow rates and missing documentation, poor commissioning is one of the biggest causes of bad efficiency and high running costs.
If you’re about to get a heat pump installed, or if you already have one that isn’t performing, this video will give you the questions that separate good installers from the bad ones. It’s not about naming and shaming… it’s about arming homeowners with knowledge so they can avoid the bodges that plague so many UK installs.
Watch the full video below, join the conversation on the Renewable Heating Hub forums and make sure your installation is one of the good ones, not another avoidable horror story.
