Hello folks! New to this forum. Looking for people to connect with who may be interested in a heat pump and water cylinder setup. Based in Bristol 🙂

Posted by: @steven

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Hi! 🖐️ Just had our heating overhauled a couple of weeks ago, replacing an ancient Camray 5 oil boiler with an 8kW Samsung Mono HT Quiet (AE080BXYDEG) and all new rads throughout — 8 up from 6. Mid-terrace, built 1900 — relatively leaky but improvements ongoing.

So far so good. We were without heat since October, with only portable heaters and immersion for water (£££££), so having our heating back feels like luxury.

I'm heavily invested in Home Assistant, so I'll be looking to get the heat pump integrated as soon as possible.

Hi @steven, any chances you have some time to give a little feedback/review on your heat pump, there are not many in the wild(on forums).

How do you find it so far, any access to data, modulation, COPs? Thank you.

@steven I have recently installed a 5kW Samsung and use open energy monitor to monitor it. I have started integrating things with home assistant and would be interested with your progress in integrating the HP.

Hi Mars and Everyone,

My name is TechnoGeek a.k.a Gary and I am new to the site and have been looking for a forum with like minded people to share thoughts and ideas with as my lovely Wife gets very bored and thinks I am a Geek lol!

We are based in a 5 bedroom house in a small village in the county of Cambridgeshire where we moved to in 2016.

Our (mine really 😀 ) renewable journey started out as an efficiency exercise, replacing all the old double glazing for up to date modern double glazing, sorting out the loft condensation issue requiring new roof ventilation to enable 300mm loft insulation to be fitted and finally a new Grant Vortex Blue oil boiler with oil meter to be fitted (initially to make oil reordering easier). This reduced our fuel consumption down from approximately 1700 litres per year to 980 litres per year.

In addition, the previous owners had an evacuated solar tube hot water system fitted which after me personally servicing it got it back to running during the summer. Most of the time this subsidises the boiler DHW generation but can provide all our hot water between mid May to mid August. This is the component the initially ignited my renewable's interest.

Based on all the climate change reports over the years and the arrival of my first Grandchild I made the decision to do my bit and de-carbonise our house as much as possible in the hope my Grandchild and her generation will live long enough to see their 40th Birthdays. Luckily we have no mains gas so I just have to focus on the heating and transport area's of our lives.

In May this year I had my ASHP fitted which is a 12Kw Samsung High Temperature Quiet Unit. Unfortunately due to the volatile oil and (currently high) electricity costs I opted not to take the Governments grant to enable me to have the ASHP fitted in parallel with the oil boiler. The system is configured ( my installation engineer gained a few more grey hairs in the process ) to enable me to run either the ASHP or the oil boiler depending on which is the cheaper at the time. I hope the day will come when I am using the ASHP 100% of the time and I can decommission the boiler all together.

So far I have been using the ASHP to help generate hot water along side to solar system which is working great. This cost is approximately same as using the oil boiler / solar so am happy so far. My first Winter with the pump will be the most interesting while I set the weather compensation more accurately and compare running costs as I go (the oil meter mentioned above now has an even more important job! ).

Sadly due to the solar array on the roof coming to the end of its working life I have now decided to decommission the system this Winter and upgrade the DHW storage tank to a modern unit to improve the ASHP efficiency (currently ~2 COP) and potentially allow the use of an additional technology such as solar PV's to help generate hot water all year round in the future, not just in summer.

My Wife also had to renew her work lease car in May so I successfully convinced here to go all electric and she loves it especially not having to go to the petrol station anymore! We still use my diesel vehicle for long distance journeys but because I am home working this vehicle is lucky to see daylight once or twice a month when it comes out of the garage.

The move to an electric car for me has opened a whole new world of opportunities due to the electricity tariffs available for EV owners. I am now planning on having a large home battery and inverter installed so I can charge this up with cheap electricity during the night along with the car and then use the power during the day. Based on our consumption and current electricity prices this will save us over £850 a year and will pay for itself in 6-7 years 🙂 . I could add solar PV's in the future if I decide but will see.

I hope to speak to some of you over the coming months until then take care!

Gary

Posted by: @technogeek

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I am now planning on having a large home battery and inverter installed

As you're a self-confessed Geek, why would you want such a storage battery installed for you?

If you have a look at the topics on the Energy Storage section of this Forum, you will quickly acquire sufficient knowledge to do this yourself.
The result will be system which pays for itself in 3 years rather than 6-7 years.

Start with the discussions on the topic My experience with the Seplos Mason box, which describes a strategy favoured by many DIYers.

You do not require consent from your DNO to install inverters/storage that does not export back to the grid.

@transparent yes I could install such a system myself however I am not a certified electrician that can sign my own work off so may run into problems when we come to sell the property in the future due to lack of certificates / paperwork. However I am still in the planning stage for this part of the project ie trying to convince the boss aka the Wife of its merits 😀

Have a look through the growing library of energy storage topics @technogeek.

We're not suggesting that the 240v mains connections be made by yourself.
You still require a certified electrician to install the trip in your consumer unit to connect to your inverter(s).
That means you receive the wiring test form and a Part-P certificate.

But the vast majority of the 'work' is on the other side of the inverter. Most commonly, the battery(ies) will be operating in the range 47-55v DC.
You do not require any authorisation to work at those voltages.

The topics here will introduce you to a whole range of protection devices (fuses,trips, relays) which you can install yourself.
What you need will depend on what you wish to run from the stored energy.

@transparent thanks for the info will take a look. Only just finding my way around the site at the moment 🙂

Hello, found the forum and the related you tube videos, really helpful on my renewables journey. I've took the plunge and had a 12KW Vaillant ashp fitted after all the mental struggles about who to fit it and what size system to have etc.  Well the the system is in and although it 'works' my confidence has been shaken a bit due to my experiences with Vaillant support and my installer's knowledge (who is Vaillant approved).  I'll do another post about what I'm worried about.  Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to this community's knowledge as I learn more myself.  Thanks for reading.

Thanks for those comment @mark3robinson and welcome to the Forum.
Vaillant have successfully built up a large number of approved installers.

Whether it's heat-pumps or gas boilers, their products are the mass-market Ford Fiesta within a wide range available from other manufacturers.

They're 'nothing special', but cheaper than most, allowing installers make a quick sale, then move on to another customer.
There's no shortage of work, which is what installers like.

As such it's my overall impression that Vaillant have attracted a higher proportion of poor installation companies than other brands have.

If I were looking for an installer, I'd be wary of a company that seems to offer Vaillant as its main/sole option.

As a corollary, if I were wanting to run an investigation on poor quality installation work or sub-optimal system specification, then I'd be able to find plenty of examples amongst Vaillant-only dealers.
That's the price which Vaillant pay for building up such a large market-share.
It's not a reflection on their products, availability of spares or potential for operational efficiency.

If you want to explore that further, then read the topic about a 5kW Vaillant ASHP installation, and decide if you'd like to start a topic about Vaillant installations in general.

Posted by: @technogeek

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Only just finding my way around the site at the moment 🙂

stored energy - up to you of course but wanted to offer a contrasting view. I'm also a self-installing geek type. But I decided home storage batteries was a DIY bridge too far for me, so I bought. One key factor for me was I really wanted them to be outside. Also at the time I started (4 years ago) DIY storage battery was still perceived as risky.

solar - I've also been on the same journey. a solar thermal that I DIY fixed (3 times!) then eventually had ripped out and turned the roof over to PV. I recommend you simply get as much PV as your roof will fit (subject to your funds of course!) . At that point you will need to have a DNO conversation. But with an EV, an ASHP and a storage battery, you will be able to really optimise your usage, exporting very little.

@transparent thanks for that. If it was meant to make me feel better, it didn't work.  Finding an installer is difficult, price wasn't the only consideration, there were plenty of cheaper options.  I've found lots of people happy with their Vaillant systems on facebook etc.  I don't think my installation is a disaster (I could have Stockholm syndrome thou), I just think a little more care could have been taken around some of the details and maybe slightly bigger pipes on the primary plumbing (which I accept is more than a detail) but the current 28mm may be fine, maybe not, I hope to find out though forums such as this.  Vaillant support has been really disappointing, but I'm hopeful with a bit tweaking (and hopefully no surgery) I can get the system to perform well. Although it would be nicer if all was good straight out of the box