I've Starting My Heat Pump Journey with Octopus: Quote, Survey and Planning!!

[@dannysegal150]

Please do some research - avoid the 9kw daikin heat pump. Its just a de-rated version of their 16kw pump (firmware limited). It struggles to modulate down in the 'shoulder' months - when the outside temperature are about 7-12 degrees. Its minimum running output is about 900w - and so your house can overheat in these months and the pump will be constantly cycling. Cycling makes the running very inefficient. I recently had a heatpump fitted by Octopus - they were pushing for me to have the 9kw unit but after my research I pressed for the 8kw one - which is a much better heat pump and it modulates right down. If you do a google search you will find a lot more info on these 2 pumps.

[@bryanhindle8307]

I have the 11kw pump and it will run as low as 750w. At temperatures of around 12c it will cycle about once a hour which turns out to be not much of a problem as I get a COP 4.8. ( SCOP for the year was 4.34 )If he can improve his heat loss and get a 8kw all well and good but the savings will be relatively small.

[@markkunes9711]

Presumably your proposed heat pump location is a long way from your nearest neighbours 'habitable room' I had to have a noise assessment carried out to be included in my planning permission. The whole process from strat to finish of my first contact with Octopus took 1 year due to various delays, they drew the elevation drawings for the planning permission for instance which took a while. Been running since July and working well. Had one radiator leak which they fixed within 24 hours of my reporting it. My shower pressures are lower than I expected - they fitted a pressure reducing valve to 3 bar which didn't exist in my old Worcestor Bosch Combi system. They are looking at ways to improve the flow. I have been impressed with whole Octopus Team, from sales, Installers, after care. The equipment took up more room than I expected - I only thought Pump and Tank but there is also pressure relief vessel and buffer tank.

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@markkunes9711 its a long way from the neighbors, done a quick calculation and it seems fine.

[@David-bl1bt]

Yeah, I placed a deposit with Octopus in January...I'm STILL waiting for tge install. They have moved the goalposts many times, they just don't know what they are doing. They change their mind d weekly. They are saying that I need planning permission because THEY SAY that my neighbours window is 4 metres away...I have proven by accurate calculation that it is excess of 5 metres....they just WILL NOT listen. British gas, andctwo other company's have quoted me, none of them raised ANY objections. Octopus are a nightmare to deal with.

[@southwestsellers5475]

Good luck with your install. You may want to think about more battery storage. We have a 1930s built detached bungalow and a 6kW ASHP, During the cold spell in December 2023 we used 42kWhs in a day. We only had a COP of just over 2 when the temperatures hit minus 5. We have two 10kWhs of batteries 19.4kWhs useable.

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@southwestsellers5475 thank you. Was the 42KWH the input or the output?

[@southwestsellers5475]

@@drchrisjbarnettgreentech Input

[@wobby1516]

I’ve like you solar, 27 kwh of battery storage and an EV. As of early this year Octopus energy installed a Diakin Heat pump which as of now is working perfectly. Our house is also a three bed semi but of a later vintage being just 11 years old with a heat loss of just 4.8 kWh. So far this year including charging our EV we’ve used 3450 kWh @ 7pence per kWh. My friends has just had solar and a battery installed his battery is made by Duracell and is just over 5 kwh but four can be stacked or wall hung outside and they are just £1500 each. The welsh government is way behind yet they want us to dump gas.

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@wobby1516 the Duracell are the same as puredrive, so that's what we are looking at to expand our battery What battery system do you have?

[@Di2_GP]

Hi, how big is your house? £9.85k for the install seem pretty low? My house has 4kW heat loss and I got quoted £11.5k My house EPC is D. Thank you

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@Di2_GP its a 3 bed semi. Its about 7-8meters wide and 10-11m long.

[@Chris-hy6jy]

How old is your gas boiler? If it's still in good condition, I'd keep it and not spend a penny on any of this stuff!

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@Chris-hy6jy it 8 years old so it out of warranty. There are always lots of house renovations going on, so can probably sell it. Overall the money savings will make it worth while

[@ifilmit3512]

I am 60 miles away from you on the west coast. Tried to get Octopus to install a heat pump in my place. Very keen at first then told me they are not fitting ASHP's in west Wales as the houses are too old and the pumps cost too much. Another company told me my 170 year old solid wall detached house would need a 16Kw. See what happens.

[@ObsidianWalker]

Checkout the Heat Geeks.

[@pmbpmb5416]

Barely any heat geeks in Wales yet

[@ObsidianWalker]

I’d have got the Heat Geeks in.

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@ObsidianWalker had a look at them, but a lot more expensive especially with their guarantee. If it was a complicated install, then it might have been worth it

[@pmbpmb5416]

From anecdotal info it seems the big energy suppliers are moving in with a model of taking firstly only the easy work which is subbed out to installers at a cheap rate . The result is poor installations with poor pre planning .

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@pmbpmb5416 yes, that why i went with octopus as they seemed to be training their own staff and have their own facilities to do in house training.

[@pmbpmb5416]

They are , with a but , which is if it’s too time consuming or difficult it turns into a no .

[@nicksimmons7234]

No way do you need 8k heat pump!

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@nicksimmons7234 it seems a bit high, but that what the maths came out with. We don't have installation in the walls and with some open fires. The estimate of our energy use was pretty accurate

[@philipbroggio9315]

What is the design flow temperature ? Ours was designed at 50⁰c@-1.8ext but we found this was too hot so we run at 40⁰c@-2/25⁰c@15⁰ext. sCOP 3.75 so far .

[@drchrisjbarnettgreentech]

@@philipbroggio9315 50C,