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Post-Traumatic Heat Pump Stress Disorder

Government Schemes, Regulations, Training, Planning & Organisations

Last Post by JamesPa 3 minutes ago

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 3903

Topic starter 11/01/2026 2:45 pm

This was never supposed to be like this.

Heat pumps were sold to homeowners as a safe, sensible step forward... cleaner heating, lower running costs and proper consumer protection if something went wrong. Trust the process. Trust the accreditation. Trust the logos. Trust MCS.

And yet, over the years, hundreds of households have been thrown under the bus.

At Renewable Heating Hub, we don’t just see statistics... we see the human fallout. We receive emails and DMs from homeowners who are cold, exhausted and emotionally broken by systems that don’t work as promised. People who did everything right and still ended up trapped in homes that never warm up, staring at electricity bills that trigger dread rather than comfort.

We’ve heard from couples pushed to the brink of divorce. From parents ashamed their children wear hoodies indoors. From people in social housing who feel utterly powerless, stuck with systems they didn’t choose, can’t fix and can’t escape. Some of those messages have bordered on suicidal despair. And that is not something anyone should ever associate with… heating.

My wife and I are not therapists. We’re not equipped to counsel people in deep emotional distress. All we’re trying to do is help people be warm, feel safe in their own homes and stop haemorrhaging money. Yet time and again, homeowners come to us because the system that promised protection has vanished when they needed it most. We do what we can, but time and time again the system fails them.

This is why I’ve coined the term Post-Traumatic Heat Pump Stress Disorder (PTHPSD). Not to trivialise PTSD, but to name a real, repeated pattern of trauma caused by prolonged cold, financial fear and institutional abandonment. For the people living through it, this isn’t theoretical. It’s daily life.

And here’s the thing, this isn’t just about bad installers. It’s about what happens after things go wrong.

Homeowners are told to contact their installer. Then the MCS. Then the consumer code. Then the certification body.

And what actually happens?

They’re bounced. Passed. Deflected. Exhausted.

MCS positions itself as the body that “sets the standards” and “ensures installations are of the highest quality.” But when hundreds of households are living with cold, unstable, expensive systems that are clearly not fit for purpose, those words start to sound hollow.

Because standards that aren’t enforced aren’t standards... they’re marketing.

We’ve repeatedly asked MCS to define what a high-quality heat pump installation actually means in practice. What performance should homeowners expect? What minimum outcomes must be met? Where is the line that says this is acceptable and this is not?

There is no clear answer. No benchmark. No usable definition homeowners can point to and say: this fails the standard.

And that’s the real betrayal.

Without clear, enforceable standards, homeowners can’t argue, they can only complain. And complaints disappear into a maze designed to protect the system, not the people living in cold homes.

Thousands of installs are excellent. Many installers do outstanding work. Heat pumps absolutely can (and do) work brilliantly.

But we cannot keep abandoning the people who were failed.

This issue goes far beyond individual cases. It raises serious questions about installer oversight, consumer protection, regulatory accountability and the government’s responsibility to address the harm already done, especially when public money has funded so many of these systems.

That’s why this video exists.

Not to attack heat pumps.

Not to undermine decarbonisation.

But to say, clearly and unapologetically: you don’t get to sell reassurance and then disappear when lives start falling apart.

If you’ve lived this, the cold nights, the arguments, the anxiety, the feeling that no one is responsible, you’re not alone. And you’re not imagining it.

Watch the video. Share it. And help force a conversation that should have happened years ago.

This topic was modified 5 hours ago by Mars

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Post-Traumatic Heat Pump

johnbroome

(@johnbroome)

Active Member Member

Joined: 9 hours ago

Posts: 6

11/01/2026 3:00 pm

Such wise words. The grant we received helped. But we genuinely got our heat pump because we wanted to make a difference from an environmental perspective. If we have strayed beyond 18 degrees in the house our bill goes way beyond what we can afford. We heat the main room with a log burner. The rest of the house is sooooo cold. Not what we envisaged. I'm so glad I found this forum!

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trebor12345

(@trebor12345)

Reputable Member Member

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 113

11/01/2026 3:12 pm

Mars

Excellent article. Love the term Post-Traumatic Heat Pump Stress Disorder (PTHPSD). I also monitor my HP "Like a Patient on Life Support".

Hitachi Yutaki SCombi Heat Pump
(Indoor Unit ) RWD-3.0RW1E-220S-K
(Outdoor Unit) RAS-3WHVRP1

2024 build bungalow
Southern england
179 m2
High level of insulation
Underfloor heating
All 12 circuits are fully open all the time
1 thermostat in family room
7KW heat pump
50 litre buffer tank (4 port)
3.6KW solar panels
Energy used by heating 2527 KWh - 7527 KWh (SCOP 3.5 approx)

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JamesPa

(@jamespa)

Illustrious Member Moderator

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 3914

11/01/2026 3:27 pm

Posted by: @johnbroome

↑

Such wise words. The grant we received helped. But we genuinely got our heat pump because we wanted to make a difference from an environmental perspective. If we have strayed beyond 18 degrees in the house our bill goes way beyond what we can afford. We heat the main room with a log burner. The rest of the house is sooooo cold. Not what we envisaged. I'm so glad I found this forum!

Sorry to heat that - it should be possible to improve on this situation.

'The rest of the house cold' suggests you are not heating the whole house, which will very likely cost quite a lot more than if you were to heat the whole house with the flow temperature correctly adjusted. Done right you should be more comfortable, the whole house should be warm, and you should be paying about the same as with gas/oil. You have to forget almost everything you learned about operating boilers (much of which was wrong even for boilers) and adopt a completely different (and more comfortable) approach.

If you want to start a new thread with a bit of a description of your house and heat pump set up, people on here will doubtless have some suggestions. Also can I suggest you read this introduction to get you used to some of the concepts.

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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johnbroome

(@johnbroome)

Active Member Member

Joined: 9 hours ago

Posts: 6

11/01/2026 3:43 pm

@jamespa Hi James - thanks so much! That sounds like utopia! When we first had system installed we tried to get everything around 20 degrees but the electricity rocketed. We got it to about 18 degrees and cost was ok but more recently we have gone even lower to try and save money. We are keen to try and get an expert in and get to the bottom of it and try and go again! I posted this earlier: https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/forums/renewable-heating-grounds-source-heat-pump-gshps/gshp-woes-midland-based-engineer-recommendations/#post-55921 - and thanks again for positive words!

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JamesPa

(@jamespa)

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Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 3914

11/01/2026 7:29 pm

Posted by: @johnbroome

↑

@jamespa Hi James - thanks so much! That sounds like utopia! When we first had system installed we tried to get everything around 20 degrees but the electricity rocketed. We got it to about 18 degrees and cost was ok but more recently we have gone even lower to try and save money. We are keen to try and get an expert in and get to the bottom of it and try and go again! I posted this earlier: https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/forums/renewable-heating-grounds-source-heat-pump-gshps/gshp-woes-midland-based-engineer-recommendations/#post-55921 - and thanks again for positive words!

OK, I see from your other post that this is quite an old installation and things have recently changed which suggests a fault. I believe @editor is looking for an engineer who may be able to help. If not then a fuller description of the symptoms may enable those on this forum to make some suggestions.

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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johnbroome

(@johnbroome)

Active Member Member

Joined: 9 hours ago

Posts: 6

11/01/2026 7:46 pm

@jamespa Thanks James - and yes yes - am v grateful to the @editor and to yourself too! We have been at wit's end! V happy to find this forum.

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JamesPa

(@jamespa)

Illustrious Member Moderator

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 3914

11/01/2026 8:01 pm

@johnbroome

As I say I think you probably have a fault which needs fixing. However there may also be an opportunity to tweak how it's run. The understanding of the best way to run heat pumps has progressed a lot over tge past few years. If you want to tell us a bit more about your setup, house, the rest of tge heating system and how it's operated there may be some suggestions you could try.

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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