Heating engineer costs
@mike-patrick, glycol is a but pricey from what my installers told me, but it comes down to how much they poured in too, which I'm guessing they can't tell you in litre/gallon terms.
Tradesmen fees in the UK have never been "cheap", but I'm beginning to see a worrying trend emerge. Just last week, I spoke to an electrician about the prospect of him fitting our new Immersun power diverter. After a lot of deliberation on his part on the phone he "settled" on a fee of £450 + VAT to fit the unit. Madness.
It took me three hours yesterday to install myself (and yes, it's working).
Get a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Heat Pumps
Subscribe and follow our Homeowners’ Q&A heat pump podcast
There's a guide to rates of pay for the various categories of tradesmen published here just last month.
https://householdquotes.co.uk/tradesmen-labourer-costs/
It's not as comprehensive as I'd like because the rates should also differ according to the geographical region of the country.
But it's a offers a starting point if you want to challenge a high bill.
Posted by: @mike-patrickThere's £70 for glycol. This was to top up the system, not completely fill it. That seems expensive too. Any thoughts?
I checked at Stoves and Solar, who supply solar-thermal systems. Their glycol is £45 for 5-litres.
Choosing to buy from a different market outlet can be cheaper still.
Eg Tractorparts sell 5-litre Glycol for just under £31. Perhaps the agricultural sector uses more of the stuff.
I would expect an external system to use between 10-40% glycol in water.
Too much isn't a good idea because it has a lower thermal-capacity than the water.
In Devon I've dosed to 20%, which is satisfactory down to -8°C
Save energy... recycle electrons!
Another site which provides Tradesmen's rates is the Building Sheriff.
He keeps the town free of cowboys, you see!
You'll need to go down through the categories to find a typical price for each job.
And there's lots of jobs which aren't listed at all.
But Building Sheriff is compiled by tradesmen who actually understand the tasks which they're providing the costs for.
Save energy... recycle electrons!
Thank you to all for your responses on this topic.
I've now had that further conversation with the firm, the outcome of which is £50 off the bill and a need to find a different firm for any future work!
The guy sounded genuinely upset that I should consider the invoice amount excessive, although he did lose his rag rather quickly which precluded a longer discussion. He said there was a lot of time put in trying to source the replacement tank (time which wasn't charged for in the invoice). But in response to my question about the 9 hours labour for fitting he sort of admitted that the engineer on his own would have done it in 6 hours (rather than the 4 and a half each for him and the mate). We clearly were not going to agree that the correct labour charge would be for those 6 hours.
It will be a nuisance to find another heating engineer but it's not that I've lost the one local firm that really understands ASHP installations. I'm still looking for them. I can deal direct with Grant for the annual checkup of the pump and the pressure cylinder.
Lesson for me: Always get a written quote up-front.
Keeping fingers crossed that there are no more leaks in the system (all of which I put down to poor original installation work). For now it is working as well as it has ever done in the last 6 years.
Mike
Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP
- 26 Forums
- 2,221 Topics
- 49.3 K Posts
- 151 Online
- 5,881 Members
Join Us!
Podcast Picks
Latest Posts
-
RE: New Fogstar 15.5kWh upright solution
It could be an app working via Bluetooth or windows sof...
By Batpred , 27 minutes ago
-
RE: Midea ASHP – how to set weather compensation
@pash44pump - pull the data from the data loggers and s...
By cathodeRay , 2 hours ago
-
RE: How good is the app support for your heat pump?
We use the Vaillant app and it does everything we need....
By Judith , 4 hours ago
-
RE: Pump and Esbe mixing valve for UFH
So my next question is about calculating pressure loss ...
By AndyCoo , 4 hours ago
-
RE: 5 Star Service from Havenwise
@hcas majordennis is on the money for me in terms of wh...
By benson , 4 hours ago
-
RE: Low COP and unevenly heated rooms with 12kW Samsung AE120MXTPEH / AE260TNWTEH
Im going to try to take a practical approach to this, i...
By JamesPa , 8 hours ago
-
Even that may not be enough. Air can still collect, it...
By JamesPa , 8 hours ago
-
RE: Should Our Water Circulation Pump Be Configured to Run All The Time?
The Grant engineer has given you the correct informatio...
By Pirate Rich , 8 hours ago
-
RE: Large heat pump options for church building
I would look at the Panasonic R290 M series large units...
By Andy-e , 10 hours ago
-
RE: Havenwise App Help & Forum Support – Get the Most from Your Heat Pump
@hcas Thank you.
By Morgan , 11 hours ago
-
RE: Say hello and introduce yourself
There are few heat-network schemes in UK @chris12 but I...
By Transparent , 12 hours ago
-
RE: Aira Heat Pump: Stylish Scandinavian Heating
@steelbadger really interesting to see an Aira unit on ...
By MikeH , 12 hours ago
-
RE: Widespread failure of insulation installation
@jeff Along with a phone-in on BBC Radio Four today, mu...
By Toodles , 1 day ago
-
RE: What is the Heat Geek Guarantee?
@editor Thanks Mars, it is encouraging that Heat Geek a...
By colinc , 1 day ago
-
RE: Renewables & Heat Pumps in the News
Love the thought of it! simplification and sometimes me...
By Batpred , 1 day ago
-
RE: Help me keep the faith with my air source heat pump installation
@adamk Will not even get started... The power of the ...
By Batpred , 1 day ago
-
Sounds like you got it working for monitoring! With wel...
By Batpred , 1 day ago
-
RE: Are We Sleepwalking Into Another Race to the Bottom?
Thank you Aadil. We appreciate you taking the time to r...
By Mars , 1 day ago
-
RE: Isolating the system for a planned power cut
@batpred - that Solis installation page is too vague. ...
By Transparent , 1 day ago