Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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@fiona, we do have a glossary thread to better understand the rather large amount of jargon ( https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/forums/postid/51923/). We also have an introductory article (Heat Pump Basics & Installation Guide | Renewable Heating Hub) to help you become quickly familiar with the basic concepts underpinning much of the advice generally bandied about on this forum.

@editor - just a comment - these aren't easy to find unless you know to look for them.  Is there some way that this could be improved?  @toodles article on rad balancing should probably have the same status.

@jamespa, we have got this topic, which all the mods can update with whatever they think is relevant, important, etc.

https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/forums/rules-terms-of-use/recommended-topics-for-new-members/

Posted by: @editor

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

Yes bang on and maybe I can illustrate that by way of example.  I don't have a heat pump yet, maybe never will, but I did have solar installed back in 2018.  So I'm sufferring from post traumatic solar disorder.  Ok, so I might be exagerating but let me explain.  Overall I'm happy with my solar install and the money I save but I was given an illustration of the expected savings at the time of purchase.  A significant contribution to the saving was from the use of the solar diverter which takes excess electricity that I'm not consuming and puts it into the hot water immersion heater.  So I get free hot water.  What I subsequently realised was that the estimate for that saving was based on the price of electricity which at the time was 11-15 p/kWh.  Yet my house had always used gas for heating hot water which was around 3p/kWh back then.  So the estimate for savings from the diverter was upto five times what I actually realised.  

This only became apparent when I sat down several years after the install and tried to work out when I'd break even and compared my savings with the projections I'd received at purchase.  It was only when Putin invaded Ukraine and subsequent spike in gas prices that I started to see anything like the projections I'd received. 

But hang on, as part of the handover of the solar panels,  I had received a lovely certificate from an organisation called epvs which stands for energy performance validation. This certificate states that "the installer has the competency to carry out accurate performance calculations, estimates and monetary savings". i.e. the estimates I had received were based on a calculation provided by epvs.   I contacted epvs and to cut a long story short, they ignored my main point.   I realised that without anyone to hold them to account, I was wasting my time and their main purpose was to provide solar installers with some marketing in return for a fee. 

epvs are still going and provide validation for heat pumps.  I won't be using them as part of my decision making on whether to get a heat pump.

Some more examples of those that really should be benefiting from the transition being let down 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp3zlp9gyqdo

These are the people who shouldn't have to worry about heat loss calculations, balancing radiators etc. 

They just need a reliable company to JFDI, excuse my language. 

I really do fear what will happen when heat pump installations ramp up...