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Rodents! A word of warning for heat pump owners

 
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Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)
Last Post by Transparent 2 months ago
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 Tim441
(@tim441)
Honorable Member Contributor
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 398
Topic starter 19/10/2025 2:03 pm  

Useful and timely reminder!


Listed Grade 2 building with large modern extension.
LG Therma V 16kw ASHP
Underfloor heating + Rads
8kw pv solar
3 x 8.2kw GivEnergy batteries
1 x GivEnergy Gen1 hybrid 5.0kw inverter
Manual changeover EPS
MG4 EV


   
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 madbilly
(@madbilly)
Active Member Member
Joined: 1 year ago
Posts: 17
07/01/2026 2:39 pm  

Hi everyone 🙂

I found this thread searching about rodents eating pipe insulation. The insulation on the outdoor pipes for our heat pump is being eaten, presumably by rodents (but I imagine it could also be birds pecking at it). I initially wasn't sure so I asked the installer (it was only installed ~1 year ago) and they said it was rodents, but I was surprised they didn't offer any solution - note my post here is NOT about my installer! 😀 I'm actually wondering why pipe insulation isn't made to be rodent proof when it's going to be outside? It seems obvious to me. Shouldn't it be a requirement of MCS certification that insulation on outdoor pipes must be resilient to vermin?

Now I've seen Mars' video I'll bear in mind asking them to check inside the unit at the next service.

Cheers 🙂



   
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Toodles
 Toodles
(@toodles)
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07/01/2026 3:09 pm  

@madbilly Sounds good; MCS requiring rodent proof insulation as a basic requirement. What we need first is a requirement for MCS to bare their teeth - never mind the rodents! Regards, Toodles.


Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.


   
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JamesPa
 JamesPa
(@jamespa)
Illustrious Member Moderator
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 4634
07/01/2026 3:19 pm  

Posted by: @toodles
↑

@madbilly Sounds good; MCS requiring rodent proof insulation as a basic requirement. What we need first is a requirement for MCS to bare their teeth - never mind the rodents! Regards, Toodles.

Im sure there are plenty of gags to be had linking MCS and rodents of various types!

 


4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.


   
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Toodles
 Toodles
(@toodles)
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07/01/2026 3:37 pm  

@jamespa I think I was being very restrained really!😉


Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.


   
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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4474
07/01/2026 3:56 pm  

@madbilly, MCS requiring rodent-proof insulation? Hysterical. MCS can’t even require installers to insulate pipes properly in the first place.

In fact, if MCS were in charge of pest control, they’d certify the rats as long as they paid their annual membership fee.

@jamespa, I'm trying very hard and restraining myself from the inevitable MCS/rat comparisons. 


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Toodles
 Toodles
(@toodles)
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07/01/2026 3:59 pm  

@editor Come on Mars, cut out the restraint and amuse us all! Toodles.


Toodles, heats his home with cold draughts and cooks food with magnets.


   
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Transparent
 Transparent
(@transparent)
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07/01/2026 4:28 pm  

Posted by: @madbilly
↑

I initially wasn't sure so I asked the installer (it was only installed ~1 year ago) and they said it was rodents, but I was surprised they didn't offer any solution

Two thoughts:

1: Let's ask @david-s if Primary Pro insulation has any rodent-proof feature.

2: What about painting the external insulation with something distasteful, such as Stop & Grow?
or a similar remedy normally used to discourage children from biting their nails?


This post was modified 3 months ago by Transparent

Save energy... recycle electrons!


   
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 simonwig
(@simonwig)
Active Member Member
Joined: 6 months ago
Posts: 9
29/01/2026 5:48 pm  
@transparentansparent @david-s 

Just bumping this thread as I've noticed rats/mice starting to chew on the Primary Pro insulation on my ASHP. Has anyone any ideas/solutions to effectively dissuade them?

Thanks

Simon 

 



   
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Mars
 Mars
(@editor)
Illustrious Member Admin
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4474
29/01/2026 6:16 pm  

@david-s, can you please advise on Simon's comments above?


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 David Smith
(@david-s)
Active Member Contributor
Joined: 2 years ago
Posts: 14
29/01/2026 7:32 pm  

@madbilly

Nothing is rodent-proof. Even Steel is not rodent-proof, as many Farmers will advise when they find them in their silos and other areas

All the wires and pipework that get damaged due to rodents 

What about the heat pump itself, and inside the warm 

Regarding external insulation, rodents and other animals like softer insulation and use it for their nests. Coating with something they don't like? what wwould that be, ( please don't say a poison as this was mentioned by one Dairy farmer using Primary Pro to insulate his pipework on the production line 🥺)

The problem is the rodents, not the insualtion as 100% they will be eating other things and getting into all sorts of places. What's needed is to remove the rodents, traps or other ways

 

I had an issue with water rats and used the same rat eyre and that sorted them

Screenshot 2026 01 29 at 18.06.41

Creator of Primary Pro and Condensate Pro


   
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Majordennisbloodnok
 Majordennisbloodnok
(@majordennisbloodnok)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 1728
29/01/2026 8:11 pm  

I only have the start of an idea; it’s certainly not thought through and I only offer it here as a potential starting point for others to pick up or discard as they see fit.

Fibre optics are very vulnerable to rodents, even when encased in some conduit. As a result, it’s quite common to then run that conduit through a larger and tougher tube before burying it. The problem is where the tube has to come out of the ground, since rodents would love to get inside and use it as a burrow. The answer is generally to stop up the opening with wire wool; something that could be chewed but is of sufficient quantity that it simply becomes too unpalatable for the rewards and so puts the rodents off.

My initial thought was to stop up all the gaps with wire wool and that’d keep the heat pump internals rat-free. However, whilst wire wool is also commendably porous for free movement of air, it also rusts and so wouldn’t be suitable with all that condensate around let alone the regular rain and snow. Nonetheless, I still wonder if another more corrosion-resistant metal “wool” could potentially be of use here.

If so, I also wonder if the insulated pipe could then be encased in some of it, at least near the ground.

As I say, just a starting thought and nowhere near a fully fledged suggestion.


105 m2 bungalow in South East England
Mitsubishi Ecodan 8.5 kW air source heat pump
18 x 360W solar panels
1 x 6 kW GroWatt battery and SPH5000 inverter
1 x Myenergi Zappi
1 x VW ID3
Raised beds for home-grown veg and chickens for eggs

"Semper in excretia; sumus solum profundum variat"


   
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