@lucia, I appreciate the feedback, and we’ve received a lot of positive feedback about the format. It certainly is more “natural” in person versus online recordings. 

We’ll try to do more with Richard over the course of the autumn and winter.

The Homeowners' Q&A podcast is back... I've changed the format and have decided to one-on-one. Here's the latest episode, focusing on overpromising and misleading heat pump claims.

Topics covered:

→ The kW badge: why the number on the side of your heat pump is almost always a best-case figure measured at conditions that rarely exist in a British winter

→ "Your radiators will be fine": how zero and minimal disruption installs are creating a new generation of homeowners with rooms that never come to temperature

→ Buffer tanks: why they're still being slung in as standard, what they're actually costing you in efficiency and when they're genuinely needed versus when they're a sticking plaster for poor design

→ "Cheaper to run than gas": the electricity-to-gas price ratio and whether this claim can ever be made honestly

→ Warranties: why homeowners routinely don't know if they're covered for two years or ten... and whose fault that actually is

I’m a little late posting this, but it’s genuinely one of my favourite podcast conversations of the year.

As you all know, I spend plenty of time harping on about poor heat pump installation standards in the UK, so I wanted to find out what the situation looks like across the Atlantic. In this episode, I’m joined by JT Stewart (lead chair of the US Heat Pump Summit) to explore the American heat pump market.

The US is predominantly air-to-air rather than air-to-water, yet the similarities are quite extraordinary... incorrectly sized systems, inadequate design, poor installer training, aggressive sales practices and homeowners left struggling when things go wrong.

See how many similarities you can spot. It turns out our two countries may be competing for the same rather unfortunate prize!

🎥

This was interesting and seem like its very expensive over there, was a good one Mars  

@ashp-bobba, I thought it was an interesting parallel. 

For those that want to know more about A2A heat pumps, @ashpbobba is my next guest and his video drops this Wednesday! 

What a day yesterday! Two podcasts recorded, brilliant guests and a lot of laughs! I had an absolute blast chatting with George Clarke, Rob McGaughey and Ben Laverty.

In the first conversation, George and Rob explored what it will take to make low-carbon heating work in real British homes taking into account things like design, heat-loss calculations, quality installations, homeowner confidence and joined-up smart technology.

In the second, George and Ben tackled the future of new-build housing, from fabric-first design, heat pumps and overheating to skills, affordability and the bold thinking needed to create genuinely sustainable communities. George Clark then went off on a glorious, full-blooded rant about new towns!

Both episodes will be coming to the Renewable Heating Hub YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts… as long as that happens to be Spotify, Amazon or Apple Podcasts.

Our episode with George Clarke and ScottishPower’s Rob McGaughey is out now, tackling what it really takes to make low-carbon heating work in real British homes, from thoughtful design and better building fabric to heat pumps that are properly installed, commissioned and operated to deliver the comfort and performance homeowners deserve.

Come for the low-carbon homes. Stay for George Clarke’s rant on new towns. 😂

Ben Laverty and I had a hoot chatting with George about why Britain needs to build better and he certainly didn’t hold back.