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[Sticky] Renewables & Heat Pumps in the News

 
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Renewables News
Last Post by Transparent 1 hour ago
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 Transparent
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06/05/2026 8:41 pm  

Posted by: @editor
↑

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.

What material was the pipe made from?
Was it a metal or a plastic?

Was it just the insulation which was sawn through, or the pipe itself?

 

Posted by: @editor
↑

the monitoring argument only works if homeowners know what they're monitoring for, and most don't.

If this had been a sewer pipe below ground, the Building Control Officer would normally request that 

  • the trench is dug to a depth which he stipulates (usually 500mm min for a 110mm pipe), and with a minimum fall of 1 in 40, which is 1½°
  • the bottom is filled to a depth of 50mm with pea-gravel to support the pipe and prevent stones puncturing it; pea-gravel is what you get from a 10mm sieve
  • the pipe is laid in place and the fall checked with a spirit level
  • the sides of the pipe are packed with pea-gravel, leaving the top of the pipe clearly visible

 

The pipe must then be inspected by the surveyor, who will check the total depth of gravel and the fall-angle.

If it passes, the pipe is then covered by pea-gravel to at least 50mm above.

That top layer is covered with porous fabric – the same stuff used to prevent weeds growing in a gravel path. That prevents soil/dust falling into the pea-gravel surrounding the pipe.

The trench is then back-filled with the appropriate material, depending on what the finished ground is to be.

The exception to that is where the surface layer is to be a driveway over which a car must pass. In that case the fabric layer is first covered with run of load-bearing paving slabs which are supported by ground outside of the trench. The concrete slabs are effectively placing the pipe within an underground tunnel.

The paving slabs are then covered with 100mm (min depth) of 803 Aggregate. That's the same stuff which is normally used as a sub-base for driveways.

 

That's standard practice in the construction industry.

It would be an excellent starting point from which they can create a similar rule-set for heating pipes.

 

The issue of external pipe insulation, whether above or below ground was well known by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) before heat-pump installation grants were devised.

BEIS spent £14m on a Trial in which three areas, each of 250 homes, were selected to take part in a free Heat Pump installation called The Electrification of Heat. The Programme Manager was Alex Hobley, and the site data was collated by the Energy Catapult, who wrote a Report for the Secretary of State. That was Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP until Jan'21, and then The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP to Sept'22. The energy side of BEIS became DESNZ in Feb'23.

The Energy Catapult Final Report was further curated in order to identify the wide range of problems which occurred. You are asked to register in order to download that PDF, but it's worthwhile doing so.

Deficiencies with MCS and their 'standards' are stated. What isn't fully reported is the input from ASHP manufacturers who were aghast at the shockingly poor level of work from the preferred Professional Installers who BEIS had 'vetted'. The manufacturers were so concerned that they were sending their own engineers to trial sites to re-pipe and rewire systems. BEIS didn't pay for any of that corrective work, even on sites where the entire installation was ripped out and started again from scratch.

Despite the clear warnings, and before the Final Report was published in Dec'22, BEIS went ahead with launching the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in May'22. Thus the BUS started without the regulatory controls being revised and enforced. So what was the point of throwing £14m at the 'Trial'?


This post was modified 1 hour ago 2 times by Transparent

Save energy... recycle electrons!


   
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