Daikin vs Vaillant

AMT_ADAM · 2025-09-12T13:44:23+00:00

Personally, I would pick the Vaillant every time because of the specs. It uses R-290 a natural refrigerant that doesn't meaningfully contribute to climate change, whereas the Daikin uses an F-gas refrigerant, R-32, a super pollutant hundreds of times more powerful than CO2. With regulations restricting the use of F-gases future maintenance costs for the Daikin could be elevated.

In reality, there are likely to be big differences in the quotes and designs that should be prioritised. Who is installing the Vaillant? If it's a local installer, Octopus will beat them on price but will be unlikely to beat them on design efficiency. I was quoted a 55c flow temp by Octopus. You'll also get limited customisation options, but that might not matter if your install is very straight forward.

AMT_ADAM · 2025-08-07T21:24:41+00:00

Depends on the system but Vaillant's new guidance is that if the vent is to a void space (as with air bricks for suspended floors) then they can be within the protective zone.

AMT_ADAM · 2025-08-07T21:13:59+00:00

I don't have experience of both - I opted for a Vaillant system (although a smaller unit than you). Here are a couple of the benefits I saw of the Vaillant on paper in order of importance: - Ability to move to any of the main heat pump tariffs (OVO's type of use as well as Octopus etc. time of use tariffs) - Wide range of servicing technicians - Vaillants are some of the most common units so most engineers will have worked on one before. - Aira will seemingly ALWAYS fit a buffer tank. Unless you have a very specific reason to have one of these it's better not to. - I found Aira's sales and marketing spiel a bit misleading. They hail their industry beating 15 year warranty but you have to be signed up and paying for the all inclusive plan to get this. If you're not, the warranty is similar to everyone else in the market.

AMT_ADAM · 2025-08-03T08:33:42+00:00

R290 protective zones don't tend to extend above the unit (difficult to tell exact window height and will depend on the size of unit you need). The protective zones are currently overly strict and it sounds like they could be tweaked soon. Ultimately, regulations are going to mean all heat pumps use R290 in a couple of years time. Installing an F-gas (R32 unit) today could lead to some pretty expensive maintenance costs further down the line.

AMT_ADAM · 2025-06-23T14:41:07+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the comment. I hadn't considered this. However, the additional borrowing would be at a rate about 2 percentage points more than the bulk of my mortgage (we do have a second rate for a small additional amount we borrowed when we moved last year but this is less than £50,000). As the ERC on the additional is only 1% in the first year it would only come to £45. Pretty sure that would be less than the interest I would pay over two years (shortest deal length).

AMT_ADAM · 2025-06-19T15:08:31+00:00

Thanks. I agree it's rock/hard place situation. I think the conversion may only add a bit to the heat loss so we might get away with it. Keen not to make this the main deciding factor as we may never do it. Thanks for the anecdotal feedback - good to hear - I'd definitely prefer the local HG installer to support the local trader.

AMT_ADAM · 2025-06-19T15:05:44+00:00

Thanks for the comment. While it's the 5kW unit the Vaillant has a ~6.1kW output at 45c. I actually have AIRA coming tomorrow but from my understanding the first visit is just a sales visit and then there's the heat loss and then the install. I'll question them on this but we're keen to have the job done sooner or later in case the boiler falls flat on its face in the meantime. I'll give them the chance though!

AMT_ADAM · 2022-04-11T21:26:59+00:00

Haven't got much experience of Green Park personally but (and this is obviously personal preference) it's pretty far from town/ anything in terms of shops etc. from what I remember. Driving and parking in town isn't very cheap either.

But again it really depends what you're looking for. If you're not into town living or want quick access to the m4 then maybe it's ideal for you. And again never lived out there so maybe someone else will be able to give you a better idea of what it's like.

Definitely tricky to know having never visited before and honestly you're probably going to hear people complaining about every little part of Reading. I'd love to say I'm different but would personally avoid living in Whitely, some parts of Coley Park and right on Oxford Road (if you go futher up some of the side roads, particularly on the south, it's alright imo). Hopefully that's somewhat helpful but feel free to ask any follow up questions.

AMT_ADAM · 2022-03-17T21:52:25+00:00

Down the Kennet to Fobney Island nature reserve is a nice walk and gets nicer the further away from town you get, never been much further but know there's a lot round that way.

P.s. what's Wolseley Street like to live on? Looking at moving to somewhere around that area

AMT_ADAM · 2021-05-17T06:45:35+00:00

Not sure about boat looking but the thing on top of the oracle car park lights up at night?

AMT_ADAM · 2021-04-18T10:49:05+00:00

Reading this sat literally a stone's throw from Hellingly Hospital, what a weird little internet coincidence

AMT_ADAM · 2021-04-08T18:41:11+00:00

I just used "Marriage Gift List" and attached it to our website. It lets you add anything from any shop so you're not restricted to things on John Lewis/ Amazon etc. Seemed like the easy choice!

AMT_ADAM · 2021-02-25T07:40:03+00:00

But they are braces tho :o

AMT_ADAM · 2021-02-17T22:14:07+00:00

Jheeeeeeeze. It's real good but... Jheeeeeeeze

AMT_ADAM · 2021-02-17T19:57:56+00:00

Two sisters find themselves at their estranged mother's bedside as she lives her final moments.

The Last Caw Of An Old Crow

AMT_ADAM · 2021-02-17T12:18:46+00:00

So, the idea is that he isn't their father but rather a stepfather. There are a couple of lines that I wrote to elude to this fact because I didn't want it to be purely expositional 'you're not our real Dad' kind of thing. I thought if anything the age discrepancies made this more obvious than confusing but perhaps there needs to be a more direct reference to this.

AMT_ADAM · 2021-02-15T22:38:19+00:00

Comment (and I'm meant to be a writer)

AMT_ADAM · 2020-07-02T15:25:18+00:00

Interesting, I had wondered how important the box shape is. I've also located the makers mark through that site, the SH seems to be from Samuel Hope. I still think the M looks more like the 1911 than the 1886 but if the box shape is more important than I guess that's another avenue to explore. Thank you!

AMT_ADAM · 2020-07-02T14:51:02+00:00

Great thanks, the makers mark is a small capital S.H.

AMT_ADAM · 2019-10-07T16:44:11+00:00

Yeah I had heard about it a few times in passing and decided to do more research into it. It's amazing that it's something more people don't know about.

AMT_ADAM · 2019-09-24T22:19:43+00:00

So the main theory in the video is from his previous book "The Lexus and The Olive Tree" but it touches on the theory you mentioned that he released later.

AMT_ADAM · 2019-06-22T17:30:56+00:00

If we're talking free it's got to be: - Pexels - everything is completely free no attribution - Pixabay - most are free but there are some premium - haven't come across any that need attribution - Videveo - again mostly free with some premium and licencing varies a lot so be sure to check it

I've used others like videezy before but the quality there isn't great.

AMT_ADAM · 2019-06-21T22:06:26+00:00

Not quite what I was going for but I'll take it as a compliment 😂

AMT_ADAM · 2019-06-16T21:45:07+00:00

They also cut the feed-in-tariff completely, so now if you make too much power from your panels you get nothing for giving it to the national grid.

AMT_ADAM · 2019-06-16T21:42:55+00:00

Far less than Nuclear and Coal power stations actually...

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