Renewable Energy Installer April 2015 | страница 12

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Heat pump lifespan - extended warranty
and beyond
Heat pump specialist Bob Long highlights two key barriers which persist in
curtailing the widespread deployment of heat pumps
A
s often happens with my monthly
article, the content is decided by yet
another real-life event, from the heat
pump world.
We received a call from the owner of a
property with a broken-down heat pump at
a location near Preston. The heat pump had
been installed four years prior and had cost
significantly more to run than expected.
The heat pump is of Italian origin and the
UK agent currently offers little assistance. The
problem with this heat pump was traced to
the electronic control board, which refused to
power up the circulating pump. Although it is
possible that a new board could be found in
Italy, an anticipated lengthy time factor would
not have been acceptable.
The facts are confined to the reality of two
elderly and cold householders, in need of a fast
remedy.
In view of this situation, a new heat pump
was offered at an attractive price and the offer
reinforced with a five year extended warranty.
The property owner, a retired accountant
by profession, quickly calculated that the cost
of replacing the heat pump would negate all
financial gain. Having considered all available
options, they have decided to buy a new oil
boiler!
Their argument is based upon straight
forward arithmetic, underpinned with the
uncertainty of the unit’s actual life span and,
12 | www.renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk
sadly, their low level of trust in heat pump
technology.
Although a five year extended warranty
is a well-received and bold commitment, it
still only caters for a third of the anticipated
lifespan.
Unfortunately, due to numerous factors,
this installation was not eligible for RHI
payments. Had this not been the case, I am
sure the heat incentive payment would have
swayed their decision.
For the heat pump industry to flourish,
this sort of occurrence should simply just not
happen!
The intention of the RHI to reward low
carbon alternatives is indeed quite obvious,
but implementation seems to have ‘lost the
plot’ somewhere in its delivery.
To obtain the RHI payment property,
equipment and installer must comply with
a raft of complex rules and paperwork,
together with paying numerous fees to various
regulating bodies.
And, whilst it makes complete sense
to reduce thermal losses, it should not be
mandatory to make insulation of the property
a definitive factor in obtaining RHI. The value
of insulation is without argument an essential
requirement in any home and applicable to
all heating economics, but indeed a separate
issue to the economics of a heat pump.
Less than adequate insulation will
currently exclude an applicant from obtaining
the RHI, yet a property with poor thermal
integrity would actually achieve a higher level
of carbon reduction by fitting a heat pump.
To outlaw these properties through the
stringent rules of the RHI doesn’t appear to
make much sense.
The necessity for transition to heat pump
technology is simply due to electrical energy
rapidly becoming the common denominator of
all power in UK.
There is currently no cheaper electrically
powered heat source than the heat pump, and
this situation is going to prevail long into the
foreseeable future.
My criticism is not levied at our
tradesmen - quite the opposite. I am criticising
manufacturers, with over-complexity in the
majority of heat pumps, and a cumbersome
RHI that financially benefits only a few, while
excluding many.
Heat pumps should display a simple
‘dashboard’ quantifying the amount of
renewable energy delivered, and display the
result in a single kW/hr figure, at an easily
accessible location.
This is the ONLY value the RHI should be
interested in, leaving the installation work to
the professionals. The technology to provide
this real-time information is tried, tested and
available, and could potentially rationalise our
industry overnight.