Heat Pump Installation in Sunderland | Vaillant & Primary Pro | Heat Geek Elite

Join us on a recent heat pump installation on a 1980's property in Sunderland, led by our Managing Director, Mark.
We'll guide you through the entire installation process, providing valuable insights and explaining how we used top-quality products from Vaillant and Primary Pro to create an efficient and sustainable heating system.
From start to finish, you'll see firsthand how our expertise and premium products come together to transform outdated heating systems into modern, energy-efficient solutions.
Whether you're a homeowner or a business owner, our videos are packed with practical tips and expert advice to help you make informed decisions about your heating needs.
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For more information about our products and services, visit our website at www.greenhomeheating.co.uk.
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[@JamesJenks-rg5ml]

Very tidy job, the switch info on the distance is a good one to learn

[@pt6423]

It's a pity you are so far away in County Durham otherwise I would ask you to do my install. Greetings from South Bucks. Keep up the good work.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Thank you, I’m pleased you enjoyed the video. It’s a little outside of our area unfortunately. Hopefully you manage to find a good local installer.

[@user-dc8eb6xc5r]

Great video mate fair play to owning up on your mistake 👊🏻

[@snecklifter]

Great video. Nice one for openly talking about the isolator location being incorrect. Every day is a school day indeed and when you share stuff like this we all learn. One minor bit of feedback would be to perhaps do less talking to the camera and instead point it at the stuff you are talking about. No offence but most of us will be more interested in footage of the kit etc. Footage of the support bracket you talked about at the rear of the pump would be good too. Thanks for uploading this.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the feedback. I’ll try to show a lot more of the equipment and even the Vaillant app in the next one 👌

[@craigmcgregor5463]

Interesting to watch. Thanks 🎉❤

[@glisterservices]

Great video mate! Loved the honesty with the isolator outside! Glad i watched and learnt from it for my install! Great work 🫶

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Glad you liked it 👌

[@normanboyes4983]

Nice install.👍

[@colingoode3702]

A tidy installation that with good level of attention to detail. It's pity you are at the other end of the country or we may have asked you for a quote when our time comes. Personally, for better aesthetics, I would have wanted the external pipework in trunking or, in a dummy rainwater pipe. I would also have moved the shed & relocated the HP to hide it more, but that's just me because I don't want to see or hear a big grey box in my garden. I have loads of space down the side of my house but it's only 1m wide & probably not enough to meet the airflow clearances needed so alternative locations are going to be an issue for me. Could that new HW tank have gone in the loft? I'm just thinking about our house where the existing airing cupboard is quite small & has a dumpy 36" x 18" IMI Hercules tank &, my wife would not want to loose the linen storage above it. I appreciate that the loft trap door would have to be big enough for the new tank to go through but I assume the existing platform in the loft (for the now redundant gravity cold water & F&E tanks) could take the weight of the new HW tank without any extra cost or need for structural surveys & the like. As an alternative to a HW tank, I'm thinking about a SunAmp thermal battery. Nice & compact with more HW capacity than we have now that I could charge from the Heat Pump, solar diverter, overnight cheap rate electric or a combo of all three. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[@7dayplumbingservices195]

Very nice job , no buffer no glycol so super efficient? I am new to heat pumps, only qualified few weeks ago , and going on the Vaillant course in May . The MCS reg seen quite admin heavy for a small 2plumbers business..I would like some advice on pricing.

[@johnc4323]

Did customer give a reference to what regulation states 1.2m max distance for isolator?

[@arnovdmeer]

Nice installation, could show how you optimized the radiator valves to create the correct flow to heat the different types of rooms with the ideal temperature?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Thanks. We usually remove most of the TRV’s from radiators to make sure the majority of the system remains open to get the correct flow rates. We then use testo temperature clamps to check the DT is correct across all of the radiators and make sure it’s all balanced nicely. If a radiator is slightly oversized we might leave a trv on to help limit the room temp in that room.

[@B0jangle5]

Great video and a very neat install, even the electronics. Was the water running into the hot water tank at 12:45? I have a similar cupboard near my bed which I'm thinking of using for a hot water cylinder but concerned about noise of water running through the pipework?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Thank you. At the time I was explaining the cylinder cupboard the hot water cylinder was charging.. There shouldn’t really be any noise at all coming from the cylinder cupboard apart from the valve moving positions once the hot water is satisfied.

[@UpsideDownFork]

Seems an unusual place to site the pump? I'm sure there's a reason but would be good to explain in the video.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@UpsideDownForkthe location was where the customer requested it to be as its least intrusive on the garden. Usually we keep them against a wall but if we had we wouldn’t have been able to get enough airflow without moving the shed.

[@UpsideDownFork]

@@greenhomeheatingltd Thanks for the quick reply. The customer is always right I guess! Very nice looking installation!

[@B0jangle5]

@@greenhomeheatingltd Ok, good to know. I think my concern comes from a small house with a massive boiler. Will need to find some people with a valiant and have a listen :)

[@raydavison2972]

That looks like a pretty neat installation but I hate the external pipework, surely it could have been fitted within the cavity wall? One question I have is why is there a need for an internet connection? Another way for officialdom to reach into our lives? I also have an issue with the siting position of the heat pump itself. Possibly not your choice, but if I were the home owner I would have moved the shed forward and had the heat pump against the back wall. As it is he has lost all flexibility over what he does at that corner of the house. He can't swap the shed out for a bigger one if needed in the future or if he did away with the shed, the heat pump will be standing in the middle like an afterthought!

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Thank you. We have done the external pipework in trunking before but we find this method gives better protection. We let the customer decide which way they prefer it doing though. He also chose the location as to what suited his plans for the garden best and also gave the best airflow around the unit. The internet connection allows us to remotely fine tune the system by dialling in the weather curve and also gives the customer access to an app to let them see how the system is performing.

[@raydavison2972]

@@greenhomeheatingltd Thanks for the reply. I thought the position may not have been your choice but I think the owner may regret hos choice later. I guess it can be changed if needed if at a cost. And maybe I am too much of a conspiracy theorist regarding the internet connection but I know legislation has recently been passed to allow the government to insist on remote access to 'connected' white goods in the future (Fridges, washing machines) in kitchens to verify that they are eco friendly and control when they can be operated

[@andrewtaylor641]

How come you had to fit piping on the outside? Was it not possible tonuse the current boiler piping to the cylinder?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hi, the heat pump has been located on the other side of the house to where the old boiler was so needed a new route to the cylinder cupboard.

[@bjjcjc]

How big was the pipework to the customers radiators in this install? A major roadblock for ourselves re going down the heat pump route is that we have 10mm microbore from a manifold to radiators so would involve alot of upheaval ripping that out

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hi, The pipework on this one was all 15 and 22mm through the heating system. Do you have 10mm copper pipework. Depending on what size radiators it is supplying sometimes you can get away with 10mm but the installer would need to do the calculations. We recently installed a system that has 10mm coming off a manifold to all radiators and it’s working extremely well.

[@UsernameTm]

@@greenhomeheatingltdcould you share some more videos on the surveying and heatloss calc part of the design and also how to get the correct flow and volumes in the system? Cheers

[@keithkennedy2409]

What is the distance that the unit can do on a defrost from outdoor unit mono block to inside water cylinder I was getting a nibe heat pump and was told max distance was 12 meters that run looks a lot longer so I made need a split type ?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hi, the Vaillant can be around 20m for the primary pipework.

[@keithkennedy2409]

Thanks for the reply

[@granthutchinson5937]

Did the house already have 15mm pipes to the radiators?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Yes this house was all 22mm and 15mm pipework to radiators already. If you have 10mm copper pipework this can work but the correct calculations need to be done. 10mm plastic is more difficult.

[@TheRonskiman]

@@greenhomeheatingltd Nice tidy install. When we renovated our house back in 2004 we used a mixture of John Guest plastic and copper. The heating tee's off in two different directions at the boiler, the original house is fed via 22mm plastic, this feeds a zoned manifold, and then individual 15mm plastic to each radiator, the other half of the house is done in copper. As we have 15mm plastic, but each rad has its own feed and return do you think this will be an issue due to the inserts? I can't see how this is different to 10mm microbore, as the ID of the inserts is 9mm. I realise the zoning will need to go though.

[@granthutchinson5937]

@greenhomeheatingltd Thanks, and yes, I have 10mm copper drops to all the radiators.

[@flatcap6263]

Any chance of information on how the system deals with preventing the outside pipes freezing in winter

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hello, We use antifreeze valves on our installations and fit them at the lowest point. If there was ever a power cut during cold weather conditions it would open and drain the system of water to prevent it from freezing.

[@T22ngs]

Did you have to use antifreeze inhibitor?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@T22ngs we used antifreeze valves on this job not glycol.

[@richardlewis5316]

No mention of the cost of the installation and the annual running cost compared with the original system. If the cost of the HP installation is about £15K the payback in running costs could be more than 10 years

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hi Richard, sorry I should have added that in. The total cost was just over £5000 to the customer. A similar system with Vaillant boiler and unvented cylinder would have been £6000+ for the same standard equipment and controls. The heat pump has been running at a combined efficiency of 450% so is already saving him on running costs as well.

[@richardlewis5316]

Thanks for such a quick response. I must assume that the 'cost to the customer' took into account government grants of about £7500 so the true cost of the installation would be about £12000. It is this cost which has to be used to show savings which should include the cost of electricity to run the HP. For future installations the subsidies/grants/tax credits will not be available. I currently heat my 3 bed detached house and hot water for about £1500 pa with a combi boiler so about 8 years of heating and hot water just to cover the HP installation excluding the running cost.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@richardlewis5316 yes that’s correct that’s the cost after the grant. I agree once the grants are no longer around it’s going to be expensive to install, the main expense is in the initial system set up. Heat pumps should be cheap to swap like for like after that point. If your boiler is perfectly fine it’s definitely going to be a cost, but if it’s an older boiler like this one that initial expense was going to have to be paid anyway for a new system so this customer actually saved money getting a heat pump over upgrading their system. Heat pumps generally cost more than combi to combi installations but system conversions and full installations can work out cheaper (with the grant and no vat, while it lasts)

[@David-bl1bt]

It looks a really neat and tidy job, well done. Top marks for owning up to a mistake, others would have kept this quiet, so kudos for that. In interesting and informative video with lots useful info. I didnt notice a buffer im wondering did you fit one? The two pressure vessels are a bit of a blot on the landscape, luckily hidden in the cupboard. Im surprised vaillant dont have an unvented with one built-in. Could the heatrae megaflow be used instead or does it have to be a vaillant brand? Can existing controls be integrated into the vaillant system? I have 'Wunda' underfloor heating on the ground floor so i would prefer to use their app contyol that i am familiar with. Im toying between the vaillant and a Daikin, he latter being considerably cheaper....any thoughts or experience with daikin heat pumps?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hello, Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed the video. We try not to install buffers at all if possible. Sometimes a volumiser is needed if the system does not meet minimum volumes needed but this one was fine. We find going open loop will give you much better efficiencies so that would mean removing the blending valve and individual control of the downstairs underfloor system. Then just control it from Vaillant’s main control which I would definitely recommend paying the extra for over daikin. I have the same set up in my own house. I good installer should be able to work out the output of the floor then size the upstairs radiators to suite so it all runs at the same temperature. I hope this helps.

[@geoffmansfield2668]

Where (or with whom) did you do your training?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Hi Geoff, our main training for heat pumps was via the Heat Geek course. I have been on lots of other heat pump courses but they are pretty rubbish unfortunately.

[@geoffmansfield2668]

@@greenhomeheatingltd so ‘Heat Geek’ is good, most others are poor?

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@geoffmansfield2668 the others I have attended have been pretty poor. I have hear of a few other low temp design courses that are supposed to be good such as Kimbo Betty but I have not been on it myself.

[@michaelwinkley2302]

You lost me at oversizing the heat pump.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

Could you please explain what you mean? The heat pump is a 5kw unit for a house with 4.75kw heat loss. And the design temperature of 45 degrees is what was achievable without the customer changing all of his radiators and costing him extra money. This system will easily be over 400% efficient over the year.

[@michaelwinkley2302]

The Vaillant might have a 5kW label on it but at that design temperature it will output 5.8kW as per its technical specifications. The 3.5kW version would be quite marginal at that design temperature, probably needing more radiator upgrades. By only looking at Vaillant you're making a choice of either oversizing by 25% or struggle to meet peak heating at design temperature. There has to be a heat pump out there that better fits the design parameters than one that will likely low power cycle quite often.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@michaelwinkley2302 yes this unit will output around 5.8kw at design temp. The customer really wanted a Vaillant unit though and this was the best fit for the job. The 3.5 unit only gives around 4.2kw at the temperatures we need but the it is essentially a restricted 5kw anyway so you might as well upsize to have the faster hot water recovery and the same minimum outputs. What makes would you recommend for in between sizes? I’m always happy to look at other options but the Vaillant has been such a good unit we tend to stick with it where ever possible.

[@michaelwinkley2302]

It's hard to recommend a specific brand because not enough manufacturers actually list their technical specifications with enough detail to make an informed choice. A quick search suggested that Baxi list their specs to the same standard as Vaillant, but I've not looked to see whether they'd have a heat pump that would meet this particular scenario. Most seem to only publish A7W35 despite MSC and NBHC guidance being A-3W45 design temperature. Some do seem to list A-5W45 maximum and nominal (which seems odd). Honestly, the manufacturers probably need to make it easier for your industry, since most installers aren't as informed as you are.

[@greenhomeheatingltd]

@@michaelwinkley2302 I agree. The size on the badge can be a bit confusing. I think posting the lower level of modulation would be really good as well. There are a few brands out there that may do a heat pump closer to the maximum output needed for this scenario but I know the Vaillant would still manage to outperform it over the year with the better technology and controls. I have heard brands like NIBE are good but it’s getting the time to do the training to fully understand and optimise them.