Search with Wattson

Notifications

Clear all

Joining the Renewable Heating Hub forums is completely free and only takes a minute. By registering you’ll be able to ask questions, join discussions, follow topics you’re interested in, bookmark useful threads and receive notifications when someone replies. Non-registered members also do not have access to our AI features. When choosing your username, please note that it cannot be changed later, so we recommend avoiding brand or product names. Before registering, please take a moment to read the Forum Rules & Terms of Use so we can keep the community helpful, respectful and informative for everyone. Thanks for joining!

[Sticky] Renewables & Heat Pumps in the News

Mars · 2022-04-28T14:13:36Z

If you come across any newsy articles or posts that are of relevance to users on these forums, please post them here.

Page 31 / 31 Prev

Renewables News

Last Post by Mars 4 hours ago

365 Posts

32 Users

180 Reactions

29 K Views

RSS

Jeff

(@jeff)

Noble Member Member

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 592

17/04/2026 2:55 pm

Not sure if this has already been posted and I haven't read the report. Just posting in case anyone wants to read

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/17/thermostatic-radiator-valves-can-reduce-energy-consumption-in-air-source-heat-pumps-by-6-8/

ReplyQuote

JamesPa

(@jamespa)

Illustrious Member Moderator

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 4651

17/04/2026 3:50 pm

The original paper is 84 pages long so deserves a good read, which I intend to do.

The key question, which is not stated in the summary, is 'what is the control' ( in the sense of what is the comparison relative to). Without understanding that, which will require reading the paper, the summary is totally meaningless.

A quick skim suggests that the TRVs reduced room at least some room temperatures in which case the control may be s poorly balanced system or one where the WC was poorly adjusted. If so the conclusion is plausible and may be useful as a way to reduce commissioning time, otherwise I would also want to understand the mechanism for the reduction before trusting the summary, because conservation of energy says that the reduction must come from somewhere!

I will read the paper itself in the next few days but it would be foolish in the extreme to take the summary at face value without a deeper dive into what the paper actually says.

I must say that I find this sort of slop annoying in the extreme. The guys at Salford have a very expensive and valuable facility which could be used to answer questions that could change the way we install heat pumps. Instead the summary, because it omits to specify the control, says nothing but will mislead many.

This post was modified 10 hours ago 5 times by JamesPa

This post was modified 9 hours ago 2 times by JamesPa

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.

ReplyQuote

Judith

(@judith)

Prominent Member Member

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 512

17/04/2026 4:49 pm

@jamespa I too will have a browse on the full 84 pages. But one thing jumped out at me on the summary, the radiators were sized to true room need giving a total 4% over-size of system. That might be much more accurate than a real heat loss survey and install. So in their experiment the TRVs don’t have turn down much and are just balancing and the savings are wrt some too warm rooms. That’s the prejudice that I will bring to my reading(!)

But if they model it that might allow an extrapolation to worse situations.

2kW + Growatt & 4kW +Sunnyboy PV on south-facing roof Solar thermal. 9.5kWh Givenergy battery with AC3. MVHR. Vaillant 7kW ASHP (very pleased with SCOP 4.7) open system operating on WC

ReplyQuote

JamesPa

(@jamespa)

Illustrious Member Moderator

Joined: 3 years ago

Posts: 4651

17/04/2026 5:28 pm

Posted by: @judith

↑

@jamespa I too will have a browse on the full 84 pages. But one thing jumped out at me on the summary, the radiators were sized to true room need giving a total 4% over-size of system. That might be much more accurate than a real heat loss survey and install. So in their experiment the TRVs don’t have turn down much and are just balancing and the savings are wrt some too warm rooms. That’s the prejudice that I will bring to my reading(!)

But if they model it that might allow an extrapolation to worse situations.

Another thing I noticed in my quick skim was a graph showing steadier temps with ordinary trvs than with smart trvs which made me wonder whether the ordinary ones were acting in analog mode not on off, perhaps because the room was almost balanced. If this is the case it would be really interesting.

I'm sure there is interesting stuff buried in here it's just a pity that the summary is meaningless, because that's the only bit most will read.

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.

ReplyQuote

Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 5 years ago

Posts: 4498

Topic starter 17/04/2026 10:00 pm

I've just seen reports confirming that Freedom Heat Pumps, the company originally founded by @grahamh back in 2010, is closing down.

According to an update from the business itself (via Certas Energy), following a detailed strategic review they have decided to wind down operations in response to "significant structural changes in the heat pump market". It's not administration... they're managing the transition to minimise disruption for customers and installers.

The Companies House figures back this up and show a worrying trend: turnover fell from £15.7m in 2023 to £11.8m in 2024, then dropped sharply again to £5.8m in 2025, flipping the company from profitable to loss-making.

I have to say this isn't a great sign for the heat pump sector as a whole. It feels like there's been far too much optimism about rapid scaling and adoption from a pure business perspective, while critical issues like installation quality and real-world performance get sidelined. Until the industry properly addresses those, consumers won't feel confident making the switch, no matter how many incentives or targets get thrown at it.

Get a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Heat Pumps

Subscribe and follow our YouTube channel!

ReplyQuote

Page 31 / 31 Prev