Air source heat pump installation explained
Understanding your heat pump installation
Each installation is unique as it’s designed specifically for your home and requirements. A typical install can take 4 – 5 days. This estimate is more easily predicted after you’ve been through the design process.
We’ve also written a handy article about what you should look for when choosing your installer when you install a heat pump
Enquiry and consultation
Our consultants are here to assist you, whether you have a few simple questions or require a more detailed technical discussion.
On average, our customers talk to our team 3 to 5 times over 2 to 4 weeks before placing their order. This part of your journey will allow you have all the knowledge and confidence to continue with your journey. We will work at your pace.
Our consultants will ask you some questions. These questions will be about your home, lifestyle, and why you want a heat pump. This will help us make sure a heat pump is the right choice for you and your home. If your home isn’t ready foinstallation, our consultants will provide guidance on the necessary preparations. Fore example, you will need space to install a hot water cylinder.
Once we have all the information, we can create a system design that is suitable for your home.
Let the journey begin
Your journey begins by securing your order with a 10% deposit. In most cases, you can pay the deposit by phone using a credit or debit card. If you prefer, you can also make a bank transfer. You will then be sent a Contract and consent form, for you to fully complete, express sign and return.
Once deposit has been made, we will then register you with HIES Consumer Protection. We will send you an email to introduce your assigned member of our Customer Operations team. They will be your main contact until your installation is complete. The Operations team are responsible to ensure your journey continues smoothly and effectively. They will contact you at different times during your journey. They will set dates for technical assessments, installation, and any other updates needed.
Your assigned member will send you an email. This will keep you updated on your progress. They will inform you at each stage of the installation. They will also be available to take your calls and messages during your journey.
Agreeing an assessment and install date
Once we have a date from the installer, we will reach out to you. We will agree on a date for their visit to your home. During this visit, they will gather technical information and take photos. This will help our design engineers assess if installing a heat pump is possible.
For new build propertie swe can carry out the technical assessment and in house design process from detailed plans. We will need to visit the site or property to discuss installation and gather more information before the first fix.
New Build
If you’re embarking on a new build project, we understand project time scales are different depending on where you are with the build. We want to be ready and help with your project. To do this, we will finish your design as quickly as possible to get it approved.
This will allow the first fix to be done. This includes installing plumbing and cabling where needed before starting the installation. Once the electric and water connections are ready, you can finish the second fix. This includes installing and starting the heat pump.
Technical assessment
The visit is only for collecting data. The installer will also tell the design team about any challenges. This helps ensure the best installation of your new heating system.
You will probably have some questions for the installer. However, until the system is designed and planned, there are some questions the installer cannot answer right now.
At this stage of the technical assessment, the installer is required to be with you for approximately 2 hours. They will need to access every room in the property. They will take measurements like the thickness of your walls. They will check the levels of insulation and the condition of your windows. They will also inspect the insulation properties of your windows. Additionally, they will look at many parts of your plumbing and electrical supply. This will help them understand what your home needs.
Design heat loss calculations
The rate at which your home loses heat dictates the size and feasibility of the solution for your home. We will only ever install a heat pump in homes where the heat pump can efficiently overcome the heat loss in your home.
In most cases, after a successful heat loss calculation, our design engineers create a complete system design. This design gives installers a detailed installation plan. This will ensure that we create the very best outcome for you and your home.
This process makes sure you have a warm home with comfort at every level. It also involves you in choosing where the equipment, cylinders, pipes, and cables go. We will get your approval before we send the installation design documents to the installer. This way, there will be no surprises on installation day. It is important for both you and us to pay full attention to this process. This will help avoid delays and extra costs if design time is wasted.
At this point we will decide if the homes is suitable for a heat pump installation. If it is not possible to install a heat pump in your home, we will suggest ways to improve the insulation.
Quality check
We will run through the location of the heat pump, components, both inside and outside of your home. We’ll also discuss the options of the base for the outdoor part of the heat pump. It may be that the heat pump can stand on an existing patio area. At this stage, we can answer any specific technical questions about your system or the location of its parts.
Once we agree on everything, we will ask you to sign off. This will let us move on to the next stage and set an installation date.
Install products purchased, delivered and confirmed
Once payment is received, your system components will be picked and packed onto pallets ready for delivery. We take great care to make sure your system arrives at home complete and in perfect condition. This way, your installation can be finished smoothly. Delivery will be scheduled at a convenient time before you installation.
Access to the storage area is important. Some heavy products will be delivered using a wheeled trolley. This trolley can only move over a flat surface. If you have any fencing that would restrict essential access, please have this removed before we arrive. If you have a nice lawn, we will try to avoid it. However, if there is no other way to access the area, you need to provide boards. These boards will help protect the lawn from damage.
You do not need to help unload the equipment from the delivery vehicle. Everything will be taken care of.
Installation
Your installation team will arrive at your property, prior to any works begin. They will run through exactly what they are going to do and when. They will try to keep disruptions to a minimum. They will talk with you about the times you will be without heating or hot water while the work is done.
The installers will follow the installation plan created by our design team, in line with the Design Document. They will confirm the location of the heat pump system, and the location of all internal components. They will then lay carpet protector in all the areas in which they will be walking and working.
The installers will keep you informed as to what work has been done and what will happen next. Likewise, when a job spans over several days, they will tidy up at the end of each day.
Some customers are surprised by how much equipment and space a heat pump system needs. There are many parts to a well-designed system. But don’t worry, the installation will be neat and tidy when it’s done.
At this stage of this process, you are required to pay the remainder of the balance of the total cost. Please feel free to ask any questions.
Handover
The installer will explain how to carry out basic maintenance.
The installers will set up your system as per the design, for maximum efficiency. Nothing is left for you to set or adjust. You might want to change a few things based on the season or your lifestyle. This includes when the heating turns on or off, and when the hot water is heated.
You will get a tutorial on the controller. This will help you learn how to use your new heating system. Feel free to ask any questions you have. It is very important to us that you are happy with your new heating system. After explaining how everything works, they will hand you pack containing all the associated paperwork, manuals and guides.
MCS registration and aftersales
They will register your system with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). Once the system has been registered for warranty, we will issue you with your guarantees and all completion certificates. This will be posted to you on a USB storage stick for your ease and convenience. Your installation is now complete! You can now enjoy many years of low carbon heat. You might also save money by switching to a dedicated heat pump tariff. Our colleagues at EDF can help with this.
However, this is not goodbye! We will keep in touch to keep you up to date with any information that might benefit you and your installation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the timeline for installation after placing an order?
What determines the size and type of hot water cylinder, I’m going to get, and can I use my existing one?
The process of specifying the right hot water cylinder begins with understanding the hot water demand for the property. We look at how many people live in the property. We also consider how many baths and showers could be used at the same time. The next stage is to specify the type of hot water cylinder.
If we provide a new hot water cylinder, it will look similar to a traditional one or may be an integrated unit. An integrated unit has a stainless steel hot water tank. It comes in sizes of 180 or 230 litres. The unit includes the internal part of the heat pump. It has a smart look and is easy to install. It has a small size of just 600 x 600mm. This means it can fit through airing cupboard doors and will fit well inside the cupboard. All access to service components is from the front making it easy to maintain.
The type of hot water cylinder is only suited to hydro-split and High temp systems that consist of an indoor and outdoor unit. It is not comparable with monobloc systems (Daikin). In some cases, you may keep your current hot water cylinder. We will look into this early in the consultation and design process.
Are heat pumps noisy?
Most people will only be familiar with old air conditioning units which are extremely noisy. You will be surprised how quiet they are! Customers often visit our showroom and ask if we can turn the unit on. They then realize it has been on the whole time. Some units have received the quiet mark certification. This means they are among the quietest on the market.
I’ve been told that if I have solar thermal installed you don’t change the cylinder?
What dictates the distance that the Heat Pump can be located from a boundary?
In the unlikely event that the noise assessment suggests 42db or above, planning permission would be required. A reading of 42db or higher is only possible in a shared courtyard. So, in most cases, noise is not a problem.
Air flow is important. If the chosen location has less than 200mm of space behind the heat pump and less than 1,000mm in front, there won’t be enough air flow. This will prevent the heat pump from working efficiently
Can the outdoor unit be located inside a shed or outbuilding?
Can I have the heat pump further down the garden?
Any delay to this not being ready and holding up the installers may incur additional charges. We want to avoid this by making sure all pre-installation requirements are noted in your design documents.
What are we responsible for and what we are not?
Can a heat pump work with solar panels and under floor heating (UFH)?
- PV solar and Heat pumps. Creating your own electricity and storing it in batteries can be a good idea. This is especially true if you have an electric heating system, like a heat pump. Many people have misunderstandings about using solar power to run a heat pump in winter or at night. The best way to view your electricity bill is to look at it over a full year. Don’t try to figure out what it powers at any specific time. This can change every day. This way, you can see how many kWh of electricity you produced and used in 12 months. You will also see how much money you saved. Right now, there is no feed-in tariff for new PV installations. It is better to store extra electricity in batteries for nighttime use. This is smarter than sending it to the grid for free. If you do not have batteries, you can use an immersion diverter. This device turns on the immersion heater when there is extra electricity. It heats your hot water instead of sending the electricity to the grid for free.
- Thermal solar is used to heat domestic hot water. It does not help with space heating at all. Domestic hot water is a 365-day requirement, thermal solar can produce between 40-60% of that need. Even on cloudy days, it will preheat the water before the heat pump gets it up to temperature. If the thermal solar panels heat the water to 25°C, they have brought it halfway to 50°C. This means they cut the cost of heating the water in half. To use thermal solar panels with a heat pump, you need a hot water cylinder. This cylinder should have two heating coils. If you already have thermal solar installed, we can use your existing cylinder in the majority of cases.
How long is my quote valid?
Can I control my heating and hot water with an app?
Can I use my existing Nest / Hive / Tado / Honeywell control for my heating?
Can I keep my iBoost?
I have a vented system; can I change it to an unvented system?
What shall I do with my old oil tank and oil?
We can also provide you with the details of a national company that can remove it for you at additional cost.
Do you do general building and groundworks?
If you want to bury pipe underground, you need special pre-insulated and protected pipe. This will add to your material and labor costs. If you mention this during the first inquiry, we will include it in your original quote. If you decide to bury the pipework after the original quote, we will give you a new quote.
Will you build a base for the heat pump?
Technical Assessment - What does it involve?
What it isn’t – You will likely have many questions for the installer. However, until the system is designed and planned, there are some questions the installer cannot answer right now. Any questions you have will be written down and sent to the design team. Once the system design starts, a member of the design team will contact you with accurate answers.
Glossary
This is the temperature of the water the heat pump is circulating through your system. We set this as per your design to get you the greatest efficiency possible. The lower the leaving water temperature the more efficient the system.
Outside Ambient temperature
In weather, ambient temperature refers to the current air temperature —the overall temperature of the outdoor air that surrounds us. When indoors, ambient temperature is called room temperature. The standard average outside ambient temperature in the UK is 7°c and this is the temperature that most heat pumps systems are designed to work at optimum efficiency. However, we design your heat pump to work at optimum efficiency at -2°c. This means that you will have lower running costs compared to a system designed for optimum performance at 7°c.
Weather Compensation
Weather compensation control system can help the heat pump to work more efficiently and reduce electricity consumption. It monitors both the internal and external temperatures and adjusts the heat pump leaving water temperature accordingly. It can adjust the system leaving water temperature to match a heat output closer to the needs of the home, adjusting the system before the house starts feeling too cold or too hot.
Coefficient of Performance (COP)
COP (Coefficient of Performance) is a measure of efficiency. The efficiency of any machine or system can be calculated as the ratio of amount of work done by the machine to the amount of work given to the machine. In the case of a heat pump, its efficiency is the ratio of useful heat energy produced to electrical energy consumption. A COP of 2.5 means that the heat pump supplies 2.5 times as much heat energy to the system as it consumes in electrical energy.
The first law of thermodynamics tells us that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and this makes it hard to understand how a machine can generate more energy than it consumes. You’ll even find the odd Internet forum where someone states this and claims heat pump efficiency of more than one is “scientifically” impossible. The answer here is that COP measures how efficient a heat pump is at turning electrical energy into usable heat. It doesn’t do this by creating energy or being more than 100% efficient. It does it by using heat energy already present in the outside air. COP will be higher when outside air temperature is higher, as less electrical energy input will be needed to generate a given heat output.
Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF)
Where COP gives us efficiency of a heat pump at any given time, SPF gives us the same but for annual performance of the heat pump. Outside temperature is obviously lower in winter and higher in summer and this affects the amount of work the heat pump needs to do. At lower outside temperatures the heat pump will need more electrical energy to produce a given heat output, meaning that the system is less efficient.
As a result, the COP will be different through the seasons and SPF encompasses this by considering the annual performance of the system. The SPF of a heat pump is the ratio of annual heat generated to the annual electricity consumed for the operation of the heat pump.
As a formula this is calculated as:
SPF = Total heat output per annum / Total electricity consumed per annum
SPF tells how efficient a heat pump is on average.