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[Solved] How many people are happy with their ASHP and do you believe them?

Deltona · 2026-05-20T21:42:28Z

It's easy for social media to warp perception and I only know one person in real life with one. He thinks it's great because he's spent umpteen thou on it (with PV and batteries), but then shows me all the mistakes his plumber made fitting it. The house isn't very warm, install looks awful, house is uninsulated. When you read online some say they are overjoyed. You ask how long have they had it and they say a month, that month being April. Or that they got it for free, yesterday. It's a £500 Chinese unit with a 1yr warranty. Maybe it cost £30k so therefore I am entitled to be happy no matter what. ROI of 20yrs by which time it'll be clapped out and need replacing and have £10k spent on servicing and other faults. So I hit Google with 'how many are happy?' 79 to 94% came the reply which sounds very positive. I reversed the question and got "15% to 20% of owners report being unhappy or frustrated" which is different, but not far off really. I was sent a survey to fill in about my new install. I'd never had one. Are the aforementioned people the ones being asked in the surveys? I watched a video where an Irish vendor said that their customers complained their electric bills had gone up massively. He then asked about the gas bills and they said 'What gas bill? We don't have one anymore.' So do you think that some 80% have genuinely had a better system than a new, properly specced and fitted gas combi would have given them? I'm not interested in your opinion of your system, you form an extreme minority. What about the majority of ASHP owners? Are they really happy and how would we know? Is there a way of finding out? I doubt it, but would be really interested to find out.

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Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

Last Post by Batpred 2 months ago

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Batpred

(@batpred)

Noble Member Member

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 1095

28/05/2026 10:33 am

@majordennisbloodnok 🤣

Yes, I was referring to the majority of cases, and also ignoring our own exception! We buy over twice what we consume. Just so we can export to turn the bill around..

By the way, with the favourable Ormuz wind, we are about to recover the initial export paperwork costs.

8kW Solis S6-EH1P8K-L-PLUS hybrid inverter; G99: 8kW export; 16kWh Seplos Fogstar battery; Ohme Home Pro EV charger; Vaillant Arotherm Pro 7kW; 100Amp head, HA lab on mini PC

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TechnoGeek

(@technogeek)

Estimable Member Member

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 177

28/05/2026 12:59 pm

We have had our Heat Pump for 3 years and 3 Winters of varying severity. Now that I have resolved the energy cost issue (batteries and solar) and am now able to run the HP 24/7 to get the best performance, I can honestly say yes to this question.

5 Bedroom House in Cambridgeshire, double glazing, 300mm loft insulation and cavity wall insulation
Design temperature 21C @ OAT -2C = 10.2Kw heat loss, deltaT = 8 degrees
Bivalent system containing:
12Kw Samsung High Temperature Quiet (Gen 6) heat pump
26Kw Grant Blue Flame Oil Boiler
4.1Kw Solar Panel Array
34Kwh GivEnergy Stackable Battery System

👍

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Deltona

(@deltona)

Trusted Member Member

Joined: 8 months ago

Posts: 54

Topic starter 31/05/2026 12:25 pm

I think we've strayed some way from the original point and that it was answered in the first few posts. That's an observation, not a criticism, it's how conversations go.

I largely agree with most points made and to sum up, we'll never know. Once you scratch beneath the surface it's a complicated question.

When asked if their HPs are 'better' then better than what? I mean, what was your starting point? Clapped out, poorly specced and badly set up Combi? Well, that wouldn't be hard to improve on. A new modern, correctly specified and set up Combi would have also got an 80% thumbs up when the gas bills went down.

See when you bring that option into the equation the gap narrows substantially.

A well designed and fitted full ASHP system built from scratch in the right house will be better than the equivalent gas one, but we rarely see those and they are expensive. They should have been putting them in new builds (with insulation, solar and batteries) years ago but the legislation is only just being put in place this year to force housebuilders to do it. This should have been the governments first move, they're the best places for one.

I was watching a Scottish ASHP fitter put one in his newish house and it's a compromised system so will never be as good as it could be, the only reason he's doing it is to showcase his talents. It's under a window which is against a regulation (IIRC) and he's leaving all the restrictive plastic piping in as it's been well hidden and doesn't want the mess.

@JamesPA says "Of course hrst pumps aren't just about saving money or carbon. Correctly installed and operated they deliver a higher standard of comfort. However nobody talks about that for some reason."

Which is incorrect, both fulfil that requirement and in their own way, equally economically too. In fact, I'd say a good gas boiler is even better at comfort as it's range is greater.

I think the Eco or carbon thing can be argued, but i'm not going to as it would be pointless and eventually way out of my knowledge base. The reason is you have to factor in the making of all these renewable energy products in the first place, then the recycling aspect and the fact we're making ourselves look clean, whilst the associated pollution is in a different part of the World. So when you look at it on a global perspective it changes.

On that note, I was reading they've found uses for used wind turbine blades which is good news.

Personally speaking i've done enough good for this planet (and continue to do so) without needing an ASHP to increase the smugness. I think i'm right in saying this is like the trading of carbon credits, offsetting your toll on Earth.

I'm not anti- HP, if you see my other thread you'll read how I arrived here. It's just that we, (our house) nor anything else is ready for one just yet, but I hope one day it will.

It's taken a while to respond as I just haven't had the time, nor the wherewithal or energy to do so. You have to remember this is your hobby, your obsession, not mine.

That's what i've come to realise it is for many. Like many other things which can be just a basic need, to some they are much more and they feel the need to talk about them constantly. That's why I put a clause in the first post and as you can see, someone just couldn't resist ignoring it.

Cars are the same thing. Most are just happy it gets them from A to B without breaking down or using too much energy. To others they are much more than that. Race cars advertise the manufacturers of the parts they use. Road car users used to copy that and have a 'stack' down the door:

If you look under your posts you do the same thing, listing your spec etc.

Nothing wrong with that either, just another observation, but the fact it's peoples hobbies and obsessions puts a bias on the figures.

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Batpred

(@batpred)

Noble Member Member

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 1095

31/05/2026 2:29 pm

@deltona

When we list the kit we use, it is meant to help give the context to our contributions. And personally I also do it to facilitate others looking for an opinion or help on any of it, they can help easily find my previous contributions.
I have found the forum very helpful to understand what worked and what did not for each contributor.
And I am now much more confident that heat pumps are in many cases the best option for heating a home.
It is no surprise most owners of an ashp posting here are proud of having one.

8kW Solis S6-EH1P8K-L-PLUS hybrid inverter; G99: 8kW export; 16kWh Seplos Fogstar battery; Ohme Home Pro EV charger; Vaillant Arotherm Pro 7kW; 100Amp head, HA lab on mini PC

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