The last service on my Ecodan in November 2024 cost £333.65, which included a mileage fee of £63.00 (+ VAT). Tell me that isn't extortionate! I am desperately looking for a service agent closer to Derby to at least save some mileage costs, but I can't find one. If anybody can recommend somebody close to Derby, I'd be grateful.

@morgan yeah, that’s a crazy price. And what exactly did they do and how long were they there for?

Posted by: @editor

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@morgan yeah, that’s a crazy price. And what exactly did they do and how long were they there for?

@editor

He 'checked' some 'stuff' such as filters and measured the antifreeze content. That's pretty much it so far as I could tell.  He seemed to spend most of his time waiting for the system to power on after a couple of occasions powering down.  He was here on site for little more than an hour.  I get the impression most are unimpressed with the servicing costs but if I can find someone closer I can at least shave off the mileage expense.

@morgan I think my Daikin engineer is based in Weybridge, or at least that is where the service office is based - I suppose the engineer may be ‘attached’ to this area, I didn’t ask him about that. Either way, the invoice shows the VAT and it also shows a ‘Restocking Charge”?! The grand total amounts to £345 for the year ending March 25. (That is for the Gold Service Contract).

The engineer spent approx. 1 hour here and much of that was indoors in our airing cupboard where the Magnaclean and secondary pump etc. are situated. He did show me the very small trace of black accumulated on the Magnaclean and he also remarked that the whole system was running very cleanly and ran with very low resistance. He spent a short time with his head in the monobloc outside but I did not feel it right to stand over him whilst he worked.

I feel he probably did all that was required for an annual service but, that fee is still extortionate! Without an annual service the warranty is void of course - they have us all over a barrel!

Yes Mars, all power to your elbow to have the charges brought down to more reasonable levels - it strikes me that the fee is more than double that which it ought to be! Regards, Toodles. (Expecting my Daikin invoice anyday now for the next year…)

I didn’t take one out and surprisingly Boxt didn’t try to sell me one. I’m sure they will correct that oversight. The Vaillant guarantee says:

During the first year from date of installation the guarantee covers your product against manufacturing defects on the original components

for both parts and labour. In order to continue receiving the benefits of this guarantee for the balance of the term it is a condition that the

product is serviced annually by a fully qualified BPEC and preferable MCS certificated Engineer in accordance with the manufacturer’s

instructions.

hopefully I can find a local btec engineer to look sternly at the filter for a low price. As the only part that is in contact with the guaranteed parts is the water in the heat exchanger I would hope they will have a hard time arguing that it was anything in the system that caused any failure.

@adrian I think that the company might argue that if the pump isn’t ‘serviced’ so the mechanism may be checked for wear and tear with a view to carrying out any required preventative maintenance, you have not complied. But, Wot Do I No? Regards, Toodles.

I'm at the riskier end of things.. with 2 heat pumps at different properties. Both installed 2020.

Recognising the risk to warranty but also somewhat sceptical of whether a warranty pays out several years down the line or finds an escape one way or another. And less than impressed with what a "service" does in many cases.

So effectively have chosen to self-insure and self maintain. Not ideal but also not impressed with idea of £500+ annual cost for 2 pumps.

I definitely would prefer to pay someone if cost was reasonable and had confidence in what they actually do!

Not recommending this strategy as everyone needs to assess risk tolerance, willingness to clean filters etc

@tim441 

My ‘riskier end of things’ is I lose my warranty and RHI payments if the ASHP isn’t serviced.

@morgan ‘They’ do rather appear to have a grasp of our ‘short and curlies’ don’t they? I really feel that a pound a day for an engineer to make a ~60 minute visit once a year is very steep. I realise (and this is the main reason as the Service Companies would tell you) that I am insuring against a hefty charge for a mechanical breakdown that might involve a great deal of expense otherwise but, at least, in the early years of the heat pumps life, the chances of such a catastrophic failure should be minimum … shouldn’t they?! Regards, Toodles.

The one thing that’s clear from the comments so far is that most of us are addressing risk. Let’s be honest, what’s often called “servicing” isn’t really servicing at all. Checking a few settings, beeping around on the control panel and maybe glancing at filters or glycol levels isn’t worth £250+.

The truth is, many homeowners aren’t paying for a genuine service. They’re paying for an insurance policy to keep their warranty intact. Maybe I’m being overly cynical, but I’m not impressed with where this industry is heading. It feels like we’re being pushed into a forced annuity income model for installers, and that’s not right.

The warranty on our heat pump was only three years, and we’ve not had it professionally serviced for three years, since the warranty ended. I do all the checks myself (barring the glycol levels).

@editor Mars, totally agree. I think when I responded to the how did your install go section I outlined my frustration on this issue. British Gas were my installer and when I signed up for the pump I was told there would be a maintenance contract offer , but they were working on the details. Fast forward 2 years and they say they will not be offering one. Yet as everyone has noted we have to have at least an annual service to keep the warranty up. BG say they will do a one off service visit for £200 + vat, £240!

I notice that Octopus at least have a fair offer , a contract for £109pa.

I complained to Which magazine, because their report on heat pumps failed to mention the extortionate maintenance pricing, which throws a big cloud over the economics of heat pump ownership. I further wrote to my MP about this, raising the issue that if ofgem is setting targets for heat pumps to be installed they should also be ensuing customers were not abandoned after install. (I mentioned previously, in a post on this site , how  useless BG are in their after sales support.) Moreover I pointed out to my MP that if the government are serious about heat pumps and they don’t want a complete and utter disaster they must ensure manufacturers and installers are under obligation to have affordable maintenance arrangements. I did urge him to raise the issue with Ed Milliband and his department. 

I got the usual anodyne reply from my MP. 

So if you can get some leverage behind this it would be good. And I would urge everyone to write to their MP, if we make enough noise maybe we will get heard. Also we could use petitions government and the change U.K. websites to create petitions to raise these issues and also to find more people and their experiences. I suspect there are a lot of inefficient heat pumps out there because of the poor installations , poor post sales/post install support and frankly what appears to me to be a very poor understanding by installing companies and manufacturers of their devices.

Just finally to add, I had a completely new heating system installed, that’s to say a complete repipe, all new rads, cylinder etc. YET BG offer no maintenance on anything other than the heat pump. Not the cylinder , not the pipework.YET AGAIN if I were a gas boiler system cover, everything would be covered! And an affordable annual maintenance contract would be offered.

@terry1812 oh I dodged a bullet there! I had the BG surveyor  come round and I started with saying that their policy is to replace all piping! I send him straight on his way. 
The only explanation I can think of was that there are people in BG that wanted to prove that heat pumps are terrible.