Not sure what ASHP they have - will see if they are the same.

Welcome to the forums Alastair and we look forward to receiving updates along your ASHP journey.

Posted by: @alastair

We have found a couple of ASHP users in the neighbourhood and in the next week or so will be going to have a look at their installations and a chat about living with ASHPs with our house type/climate. Exciting!

Not sure what ASHP they have - will see if they are the same.

We have had a couple of great conversations. One person had a 7 year old ASHP and had lived with ASHPs for 15 years in Scandinavia and another person had a new Daikin installed this summer and had worked as a heating engineer. Both had loads of information to pass on but the things that struck me most were:

• The temperature it is commissioned at doesn't have to be the temperature it is set to. I might be a bit confused here, but I think both systems were set up to heat at 21C but both users set their thermostats at below 20C. I was originally under the impression that the heating would run at the commissioned temperature and it would be wrong to set it cooler, but that was obviously me making up problems where none exist.
• Generally, aside from not constantly turning the units on and off, just use the system as you would a normal heating system i.e. either set a timer and/or a desired temperature and walk away. 
• The compressor from older systems is inside and can have quite a hum whereas newer models (at least the ones we've seen) have a compressor in the outside unit and are pretty quiet.
• Try and install the outside unit on a sunny wall as the heat from the sun can be used reducing the need for the fan to turn on and reducing possible noise.  
• Tinker with the TRVs to begin with to get each room how you want them and then leave them alone.
• Make sure a powerflush is part of the install, particularly if you have fairly old (or microbore) piping.
• Daikin came across very positively both in terms of their units but also after sales care too.
• As we know, make sure your insulation is tippety-top for the best efficiency (although the systems still work with insulation still needing to be done)
• Neither person had any problem in recommending switching to a heat pump. 

Update on this. We have the solar PV and GivEnergy battery install scheduled for very early January and the Daikin 9kW Monoblock scheduled for mid-February. Cavity wall insulation is scheduled for December. We are very excited. Having come from an EPC A-rated house to a D-rated house the last few months have just felt wrong (and expensive). It'll be good to start making the changes we want to get a warm, efficient and renewable based home.

On top of all this though we also had a gas leak and our heating and hob were turned off a couple of weeks ago. We've done the sums and it makes no sense to fix and then rip out, so it's duvets and waterbottles (and hoping things don't get too cold!) for a couple of months: it'll make the heating from the heat pump seem all the more glorious when it gets installed. Right? 😀 

Wow @alastair, that is a very exciting, albeit cold, transition to renewable heating and your heat pump. Seems you've got a good plan and timeline in place, and hopefully it all goes according to schedule. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Happy New Year all

I'm going to blog about the process that we are going through so that we have a record, and also in the hope that some of the information we have found can help others. The first post is here: https://ajgdevelop.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/retrofit-1-context/

The next instalment - with some resources that some may find useful:

https://ajgdevelop.wordpress.com/2022/01/05/retrofit-2-preparation/

Part 3: the decisions we made

https://ajgdevelop.wordpress.com/2022/01/08/retrofit-3-choices/

Part 4: The installation is done!

https://ajgdevelop.wordpress.com/2022/01/21/retrofit-4-physical-installation/

Part 5 of the blog - took a while to find the time to write it ..... We had a thermal survey done!

https://ajgdevelop.wordpress.com/2022/03/08/retrofit-5-cheese/

Very revealing @alastair. Years ago I nearly got stuck behind the bath by squeezing myself round to reach a big hole just as you describe and stuff it with loft insulation. Builders just boxing round the stink pole and  giving no thought to heat loss 🙄. I have the same cold draught coming from the boxing in my current bathroom.