Welcome to the forum @mentallentil... glad you finally delurked, even if the circumstances aren't great.

I can confirm this, unfortunately. I was made aware recently by a homeowner in a similar position to yours, and I reached out to Patrick directly. Vito Energy has closed. The news was deeply disappointing to me on a personal level. Patrick appeared on our podcast on several occasions and was, in my view, one of the most technically capable and genuinely principled operators in the UK heat pump market. Losing a company of that calibre is a blow the industry can ill afford right now.

I can only surmise that the broader market conditions played a significant role. It is no secret that the domestic heat pump sector has been under serious commercial pressure, consumer confidence has been fragile and too many good businesses have found themselves caught in a difficult market at the wrong moment. 

For your immediate situation, your priority is getting your annual service sorted with another competent engineer. 

@editor Thanks for the info Mars. I was a little overdue for the service so just went directly to Vaillant, they were actually cheaper though I'd have preferred to go with Vito. My slight worry is that I've heard that Vaillant engineers can mess around with the settings which I don't want as the heat pump is working great with high efficiency.

Oh-er. That's not good.

The Vito Energy website is still currently live (as of 27may26).

I have no prior knowledge of them, but it appears they not only did installations using their own in-house staff, but also arranged and oversaw those undertaken by 3rd party contractors.

It is unfortunately the case that the better installers, who expend more time and effort, will exist on lower profit. The almost non-existence of regulatory oversight and inspections by MCS and Building Control officers, favours those who aren't so meticulous, and offer no post-installation support or maintenance contracts.

@mentallentil your instinct to protect a well-optimised setup is sound. The practical answer is straightforward: before they arrive, document everything. Screenshot or photograph every setting on your controller... flow temperatures, weather compensation curve, hot water schedules, the lot. That way, if anything gets changed without discussion, you have a baseline to refer back to.

It's also perfectly reasonable to tell the engineer upfront that the system is running well and performing efficiently, and that you'd like to be consulted before any settings are adjusted. A good engineer should respect that. 

The service itself (refrigerant checks, filter cleaning, pressure readings, etc.) is entirely separate from system optimisation. The two shouldn't need to interact at all if the system is healthy.

I'd be curious to hear how it goes.

Posted by: @mentallentil

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My slight worry is that I've heard that Vaillant engineers can mess around with the settings which I don't want as the heat pump is working great with high efficiency.

Tell them not to, it's your heat pump, after all!

Posted by: @transparent

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Oh-er. That's not good.

The Vito Energy website is still currently live (as of 27may26).

I have no prior knowledge of them, but it appears they not only did installations using their own in-house staff, but also arranged and oversaw those undertaken by 3rd party contractors.

It is unfortunately the case that the better installers, who expend more time and effort, will exist on lower profit. The almost non-existence of regulatory oversight and inspections by MCS and Building Control officers, favours those who aren't so meticulous, and offer no post-installation support or maintenance contracts.

 

Yes the website is still live, I used it to send them a message before I realised they were finished - the only clue was that when calling, the phone line was permanently engaged. This is not good, I had to go to company House to see that they had been liquidated, it seems like it was very sudden - almost Mary Celeste.

We used 3rd party contractors to do the actual work with Vito Energy doing the heat loss survey, all the paperwork, the finances and the commissioning. The contractors ljrenewableheating (who were excellent) no longer have a website at all, so I don't know what happened to them.

The installation was expensive (£12,000 for a 4 bed house), but we wanted all radiators replaced and size optimised with also a more expensive cylinder for solar thermal hot water, there was also a lot of new pipework as some rooms either never had radiators or the radiators were in the wrong place. All in all the process and the heating system couldn't have been better with a much more comfortable house and much cheaper to run than the gas boiler, so I would have recommended them if they were still around.

Posted by: @editor

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@mentallentil your instinct to protect a well-optimised setup is sound. The practical answer is straightforward: before they arrive, document everything. Screenshot or photograph every setting on your controller... flow temperatures, weather compensation curve, hot water schedules, the lot. That way, if anything gets changed without discussion, you have a baseline to refer back to.

It's also perfectly reasonable to tell the engineer upfront that the system is running well and performing efficiently, and that you'd like to be consulted before any settings are adjusted. A good engineer should respect that. 

The service itself (refrigerant checks, filter cleaning, pressure readings, etc.) is entirely separate from system optimisation. The two shouldn't need to interact at all if the system is healthy.

I'd be curious to hear how it goes.

Yes, I'll do all that and watch them like a hawk.

@transparent and they also had a growing MCS umbrella scheme, so it's a real shame they're gone.

Posted by: @mentallentil

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The installation was expensive (£12,000 for a 4 bed house), but we wanted all radiators replaced and size optimised with also a more expensive cylinder for solar thermal hot water, there was also a lot of new pipework as some rooms either never had radiators or the radiators were in the wrong place. All in all the process and the heating system couldn't have been better with a much more comfortable house and much cheaper to run than the gas boiler, so I would have recommended them if they were still around.

I think you've hit the nail on the head. Vito (and installers of that calibre generally) do charge a premium, but what you get is a properly engineered system, not a box-ticking exercise. Your install sounds exactly like what a heat pump installation should be: rooms properly assessed, radiators sized correctly, pipework laid out with intent. That's the difference between a system that performs and one that limps along and gives the whole technology a bad name.

The concern I have looking at where the market is heading is this: as minimal-disruption and low-cost install models proliferate, the price pressure on quality installers becomes immense. And that's a dangerous dynamic. A cheaper install isn't inherently a bad one, but the corners that tend to get cut (heat loss calculations, radiator sizing or replacement, commissioning) are precisely the corners that determine whether a heat pump actually delivers on its promise.

There's no guarantee a premium price means a premium outcome. But with Vito, and the handful of installers I'd put in the same bracket, your odds were considerably better. That's what the industry loses when companies like this go under.

Its very sad news, they had a good reputation and I hope things start to look up for the many companies that offer the more bespoke services

Posted by: @mentallentil

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My slight worry is that I've heard that Vaillant engineers can mess around with the settings which I don't want as the heat pump is working great with high efficiency.

Sorry to hear about your installer going into liquidation. 

We are planning to get a Vaillant as well. Having had a Vaillant boiler, I rate their support as excellent. For heatpumps, I sense the same quality. 

I understand my installers will be able to service it but good to know that, if they focus on new installs in the future, we could get Vaillant to service it. Curious about how you find it.