Posted by: @editor

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We were actually on the HVO trial a few years ago, and I have to say it’s a brilliant drop-in fuel. From a user point of view, it’s about as painless a transition as you can get from kerosene.

On supply, the picture is a bit more nuanced. OFTEC have been pretty clear that there is sufficient supply capacity, particularly because HVO is largely produced from waste streams like used cooking oil, including recycled oils from the food industry (think fast food chains), rather than relying purely on virgin crops like rapeseed or, as you put it, turnips and swedes. The issue isn’t so much availability... it’s cost.

The problem is that HVO isn't just easy to use in a boiler, it's also easy to use in trucks and lorries, so it's also being lined up to decarbonise heavy goods vehicles and mobile plant - diggers, farm equipment etc. It's also used to produce 'Sustainable Aviation Fuel' SAF, and currently there isn't a way to electrify aviation so to produce enough SAF will require vast amounts of HVO.

You put all of these different markets together, all trying to source HVO and there simply isn't enough genuine, used-cooking oil to go around.

There's been news articles where journalists have exposed that there's a growing problem of fraud, where virgin palm oil is being passed off as used-cooking oil and sold into the HVO market, to claim the product is sustainable, but when it's actually coming from palm plantations created from rain forest clearance.

Posted by: @temperature_gradient

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There's been news articles where journalists have exposed that there's a growing problem of fraud, where virgin palm oil is being passed off as used-cooking oil and sold into the HVO market, to claim the product is sustainable, but when it's actually coming from palm plantations created from rain forest clearance.

What a surprise!  If there is an opportunity to defraud another human, someone will exploit it!

Posted by: @jeff

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£9k grant to move from oil to heat pump on boiler upgrade scheme! 

It’s been really interesting to watch the reaction to this announcement. Critics and naysayers are saying installers will simply pocket the excess grant cash and still charge homeowners that amount thereby making a tidier profit, prompting Heat Geek to go on the defensive saying this won’t be the case. 

@editor, I hear that too. 

I can confirm that out of the next 14 booked installs we already have 2 customers that are having their oil boilers replaced in the next 3 weeks and they will be credited the full £1500 if we receive it in June, now to get this we, AAC Group must reapply for the grant in June and carry the cost until then. Both the grants are already certificated and both project will be complete before the Grant is confirmed. Now, I am not sure how many companies would be willing to complete projects 1-2 months ahead of the grant uplift availability but we are going to, so not only will we not be pocketing the difference, we will be enduring the short term costs to wait for the uplift. 

Also worth noting, unless the suppliers or manufacturers up their prices and pocket the difference before they sell the kit to us, we will be keeping the same pricing structure, this way we should win a lot of work if other installers do raise their prices just for the top up on oil systems, we would then be a clear £1500 cheaper in most installs as we will not be raising the costs just to soak the up the top up. 

If installers know what is good for them they would do everything they can to pass this grant top up on because if it increases the uptake of oil boiler changes by an (example 300%) the government would have the clear proof they need to show that topping the £7500 up even to £8000 would give a meaningful nudge towards the scale they need on all ASHP take up in this short term. ASHP installations are not cheap, just the unit and materials come out to around or more than the grant, without electrics, BWIC, labour or profit.

Inflation materials and OH costs are up 45% in the last 4 years its ridiculous to even plan for less than a 7% increase next year due to raw materials and compliance, this is just the relentless years of pandemic, slow growth, wars and typical red tape (endless paperwork in our bit) I know this applies to every industry but something needs to give and it looks like the Government just did give, if only for one area, a little bit for a short while!

So for once I hope none will take advantage of it and enjoy the win (for the oil boiler owner) 

Posted by: @editor

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Posted by: @jeff

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£9k grant to move from oil to heat pump on boiler upgrade scheme! 

It’s been really interesting to watch the reaction to this announcement. Critics and naysayers are saying installers will simply pocket the excess grant cash and still charge homeowners that amount thereby making a tidier profit, prompting Heat Geek to go on the defensive saying this won’t be the case. 

Critics and naysayers will be negative whatever the government says or does. Its both tiring and depressing.

For many of them this is just part of the concerted campaign of to ensure that the British public make a choice at the next election which causes another self-inflicted blow for the majority, whilst benefiting a minority.  Others probably are just that cynical/despondent and would have the same reaction whatever the colour of government. 

The former group have little or no morality and are acting only in their own self interest (or perceived self interest in the case of the minions, who are also being deceived).  For the latter group I feel sorry, and perhaps they should consider what it would be like to live in (say) Gaza or Teheran. 

In neither case do the critics and naysayers typically offer a realistic alternative proposition.  They know (or think they know) what they don't like but don't know (or don't agree on) what they do like.  We have been here before and it is costing almost all of us a lot of money according to every informed analysis.

Really interesting piece on external insulation, and echoes issues with our own install: https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/heat-pump-households-losing-74-a-year-to-a-problem-that-should-never-have-happened/

Why am I not surprised? 

This bit of 'heat pump installation' really is the construction industry, and I think we all know that there is a proportion of scammers/corner cutters in the industry, and people who are just totally ignorant of the importance of choice of materials/detailing etc.  Proper insulation for underground hot water pipework is very expensive and, by repute, a pig to work with. Why wouldn't you just shove any old insulation in a bit of conduit?

There is only one solution to this particular issue IMHO, the householder needs to monitor.  No amount of training will ever fix this sort of nonsense and, once its capped off, its impossible to detect other than by waiting for it slowly to fail, by which time the installer has done a runner.

Caveat emptor.

An article on funding for heat pumps in case anyone is interested. 

https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/paying-for-heat-pumps/

On the challenge of older home owners with little savings or income, one potential model is to do something similar to care fees currently. Once the person dies and the house is sold some of the money could repay the cost of a new heat pump in a similar way to care fees now. It is an accepted if not universally liked model so is not without issues but it does help fund ever increasing taxes to pay for heat pump grants as we ramp up to 600,000 heat pumps a year. There is no easy answers without more taxation. 

Posted by: @jamespa

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Why am I not surprised? 

This bit of 'heat pump installation' really is the construction industry, and I think we all know that there is a proportion of scammers/corner cutters in the industry, and people who are just totally ignorant of the importance of choice of materials/detailing etc.  Proper insulation for underground hot water pipework is very expensive and, by repute, a pig to work with. Why wouldn't you just shove any old insulation in a bit of conduit?

There is only one solution to this particular issue IMHO, the householder needs to monitor.  No amount of training will ever fix this sort of nonsense and, once its capped off, its impossible to detect other than by waiting for it slowly to fail, by which time the installer has done a runner.

Caveat emptor.

Ha, guilty as charged on the caveat emptor front. We were textbook poorly educated consumers. We didn't caveat anything 😉. We didn't even know what to look for, let alone look. We essentially handed over a significant sum of money, trusted that qualified professionals would do qualified work and then spent seven years slowly piecing together why the thing never quite felt right. 

Which is precisely why I find the "monitor more" argument both completely correct and slightly maddening at the same time. You're right that no amount of training certificates fixes this after the fact... once it's capped off underground, it's invisible. But the monitoring argument only works if homeowners know what they're monitoring for, and most don't. We certainly didn't.

Remarkably, our latest video dropped today and covers exactly this, including a moment at around 10:19 where @pirate-rich and @chas-b pull back what was underneath our driveway. The pipe we'd paid £780 plus VAT for (factory-insulated, purpose-built heat loss pipe) had been sawn and cable-tied back together in the ground. No proper coupling. No sealing. Just sodden, water-logged insulation sitting underground bleeding heat for years.

So yes, caveat emptor, absolutely. But I'd argue the bigger systemic failure is that homeowners are being asked to bear the burden of an industry that still hasn't fixed its own standards problem.

Posted by: @editor

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So yes, caveat emptor, absolutely. But I'd argue the bigger systemic failure is that homeowners are being asked to bear the burden of an industry that still hasn't fixed its own standards problem

I agree but Im certain it never will at this level and particularly with this type of fault.  The construction industry has been dodgy forever and this particular fault is unlikely to be discovered until its well too late.  I can honestly see no alternative to monitoring by the customer for workmanship issues of this kind.  We can hope for a structural fix to system design, I dont think we can hope for a structural fix for dodgy builders.

@jamespa After all, they are ‘burying their mistakes’ - out of mind…. Toodles.

Posted by: @toodles

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@jamespa After all, they are ‘burying their mistakes’ - out of mind…. Toodles.

Exactly so, the best temptation to cut corners or not to find out in the first place what corners matter.  Also part of a job that is likely subbed out and doesn't occur often, so the main contractor doesn't necessarily have a trusted relationship with their subcontractor.

Basically ripe for the wrong outcome.   Obviously the very best contractors will do it themselves or carefully monitor their subbies.  Middle ranking less certain and bottom end no chance.  The only person with the motivation is the customer given how long this fault would take to become apparent.