Posted by: @transparent

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We'd really need a mock-up of a heat-pump installation so that we demonstrate faults and installation short-comings.

I have access to a cardboard heat pump, full sized but obviously not functional.  It's a slightly downsized Vaillant 7kW machine.

That said I think we need to have a singular focus on the damage that the heat pump industry is doing to its own market and (for consumers) how to differentiate the chaff from the good guys.  Until that message gets out and the industry or the public take action we have achieved a very valuable (but in the big scheme of things small) amount with the limited audience we have,  but nowhere near enough to 'move the dial' (as @editor likes to say)

Posted by: @toodles

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The supply of such a high capacity of power on an exhibition stand would not come cheap either!

We'd only need it for a few minutes at a time.

Posted by: @scalextrix

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I suppose a firewall that leaves one HP remaining operational would also be "educational".

I already have sufficient (portable) battery capacity and a collection of off-grid inverters which would leave 'our' stand live 😉 

You'd be surprised how little 'high power' demand you can put onto the local LV grid to create quite substantial voltage dips.

This shows the effect of adding one storage battery (4.2kW for 30mins) and one EV charger (3.6kW for an hour) to the grid during an Octopus Free Electricity hour.

I included that diagram in a submission to DESNZ a couple of weeks ago. 😆 

Posted by: @jamespa

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I have access to a cardboard heat pump

That's a strategy which DESNZ hasn't considered.

The advantage of a cardboard ASHP is that you can at least obtain heat by setting fire to it on the living room floor when there's a widespread blackout.

More seriously, it's possible to create a very attractive mock-up demonstration using strings of 'pixel LEDs' to mimic flows of electricity and water.

Posted by: @jamespa

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Is there any way to use next year's installer show, informed by your experience and the material we have here, to challenge the industry to step up.  It seems to me to be the obvious forum, public enough to make an impact but at the same time closed enough that the truth can be outed

I can definitely rally support and we can make plenty of noise, but this part of the industry feels like an immovable object. It’s going to take more than pressure alone to bring about real change. That’s why I keep coming back to the legal route. If organisations like MCS, HIES, RECC, the cert bodies (and even some of the bigger installers) start losing cases and paying out serious settlements, we’d see standards improve almost overnight. That’s the pressure point. I’ve already identified a potential firm that looks like a good fit, and I’ll be sounding them out next week.

Posted by: @transparent

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We could ask MCS to pay for a RHH Forum Stand next to theirs.

Massively unlikely 😂 

One of the funniest moments for me at Installer this year came right as I’d arrived. I was in the lobby chatting to Damon Blakemore when I spotted Ian Rippin (Mr. MCS himself) striding past with purpose. Given our heated exchanges over email and DM this year, I braced for a face-to-face. But when he clocked me just a few metres away, he suddenly found his shoes absolutely fascinating and pulled a sharp 90 degree turn to avoid me. Safe to say, MCS aren’t going to support anything we do.

That said, there’s a very real chance Flexi-Orb would be open to hosting us. If there’s interest, I’m happy to pitch it to them.

Posted by: @jamespa

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A presentation/panel discussion in addition would be even better.  Why not - its a voice of the consumer which should matter.  Perhaps the title could be provocative eg 'Does the Heat Pump industry have a death wish and what can it do about it - a consumer viewpoint', or even stronger 'The heat pump industry is toast unless it changes radically - the consumer viewpoint'.  These guys, including the good ones IMHO, need seriously shaking out of their complacency.  When government grants cease, which might well be as little as 3.5 years hence, where will they be?

I really like this angle… it’s perfect for Installer, because it speaks directly to installers whose livelihoods are on the line. In the new year I’ll speak to the guy who books the talks and panels, and we can shape this into a proper panel session.

The truth is, the industry is teetering. Yes, the anti-heat pump press amplify horror stories, but as @pirate-rich keeps reminding me, this isn’t just noise, it’s an epidemic. The current direction simply isn’t sustainable. Standards in design and installation are shocking, and things need to improve fast.

Look no further than Octopus rolling out systems designed and installed to run at 55C to save on costs, upgrades, insulation and disruption. That’s expensive to run, and it will come back to bite the industry hard. Cutting carbon from boilers has to go hand-in-hand with highly efficient systems. There’s little point in ripping out a boiler just to replace it with a heat pump that limps along at a SCOP barely above 2.

Posted by: @editor

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That said, there’s a very real chance Flexi-Orb would be open to hosting us. If there’s interest, I’m happy to pitch it to them.

From my perspective absolutely.