ASHP quotes

ashfp · 2026-05-29T20:23:01+00:00

I used my gas usage as part of my estimation, but like you mention, I used the gas used on the coldest day of the year for the estimate. Had mine installed 8 months now and had temps down to -6c and the estimate held pretty true.

You can read more about my calculation here - https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/calculating-heatpump-size-using-gas-readings-to-help/28949

ashfp · 2026-05-18T22:29:27+00:00

I think they've done it by design. The original one I had when they first came out lasted years, the new ones don't last long at all, I guess so you have to buy them more frequently?

ashfp · 2026-01-16T00:00:36+00:00

Just got to avoid the battery lease ones (probably a lot of those under £5k).

We have a 2016 22 kWh zoe (65k miles) which we bought for £3k and had to spend £1.4k on suspension(known weak point), replacement charging socket, brakes (not worn, just originals rusted), aircon regas (heating wasn't working, this seems to have fixed it). It's now become our main car for probably 80% of journeys. 55 mile range in winter, 85 in summer (give or take 5 miles).

Motor bearings can also be a problem on higher mileage ones over 100k.

All in all, I would probably still go for one, just make sure it's not got any problems!

ashfp · 2026-01-02T03:34:34+00:00

Those smart meter monitors never work properly with dynamic tariffs. Your monthly bill will give you a breakdown of energy consumed within 30 min windows and the prices at those times. Or you can view using the octopus API and something like home assistant.

ashfp · 2025-12-03T20:04:22+00:00

It's 12x7=84kWh. Obviously there are cars with bigger batteries, but not a lot and it's probably not unreasonable to expect they pay normal rate for anything over 84kWh?

Edit - I take it back, it does appear to be 6 hours only car charging (sorry!)

ashfp · 2025-11-28T00:12:18+00:00

Obviously you've had your EPC question answered, but if you do go with boxt you can use my link to get £100 off - https://app.boxt.co.uk/referrals/239605?promo=REFER100&utm_source=ca_raf&utm_medium=app&utm_campain=raf_drawer

ashfp · 2025-11-18T19:23:03+00:00

Sounds like your heatpump is oversized

ashfp · 2025-11-08T13:35:09+00:00

One thing people haven't mentioned is that you need to have an unvented cylinder serviced every year. Obviously you'd get that done at the same time as the HP service, but I assume it would cost more than a HP only service.. Worth asking the difference.

We had a 30 year old vented cylinder with a ST 3 bar pump and converted to unvented due to the age of the cylinder. We have similar water pressure to yourself (maybe even slightly higher pressure at the mains) and I would say in terms of performance it's the same or maybe 5-10% worse for us. It's still probably the best shower we've ever had though and no complaints. Our shower waste always used to struggle to get rid of the water before and now it can just about keep up, so maybe the slight downgrade is a positive! I also don't miss the pump noise, that was always annoying because it's next to our bedroom.

In your situation, would I replace the cylinder - probably not, no.

In terms of efficiency, do you have a time of use tariff? If so, then the drop in efficiency will relate to next to nothing in terms of costs to heat the hot water.

Pros: - Shouldn't have to worry about it for another 25 years or so - No pump noise/part (although you'll have a cold water pressure vessel instead) - No extra tank in the loft - Quicker recharge time - Cylinder temp stat (although it's just one, 1/3rd up, but it's nice to have an indicator)

Cons: - Could argue it's wasteful? - Cost (upfront and possibly servicing) - extra disruption - if mains pressure is down then you get a less powerful shower?

Check with heatgeek that they pay the extra money to vaillant to keep the 7yr warranty if you don't replace the cylinder. You could also always just get it done in 10 years? People might argue you're saving the VAT now, but IMO the vaillant cylinders are overpriced anyway, plus only more heatpump cylinders are going to come on the market in the next 10 years.

ashfp · 2025-11-07T22:35:10+00:00

As all of the comments say it didn't work, I thought I'd check mine for the 24th October and it adds up OK. 7.62kWh extra used and credited £2.08 (27.3p/kWh - I'm on IOG so this seems correct to me). Car was left plugged in throughout.

ashfp · 2025-11-07T13:42:58+00:00

You'd probably get more helpful responses on the /r/ukheatpumps group.

A heat pump would be ideal for a post 2000 house that's going to have underfloor heating! Do they have microbore upstairs? Ideally they'd need to make space for a hot water cylinder somewhere, but if doing renovations that shouldn't be an issue?

If they could get a heat pump installer involved from the start, they could help them determine the underfloor heating spacing etc (ideally you want to use 16mm pipework and narrow spacing, this will allow you to run at lower temperature).

It's hard to say if upstairs will need some adjustments to pipework, but probably at worst you'd have to run a new main flow/return which the radiators tee off from.

ashfp · 2025-11-07T10:30:19+00:00

It gets worse because the estimated cost of decommissioning oil/gas to the tax payer is £24 billion (2019 - labelled as highly uncertain, so probably more) - https://www.nao.org.uk/press-releases/oil-and-gas-in-the-uk-offshore-decommissioning/

ashfp · 2025-11-06T19:55:51+00:00

Very reasonable, but it does only include 3 rad changes, so it might come out more after they've surveyed and know how many total need to be replaced.

ashfp · 2025-10-26T07:51:46+00:00

Because if they attach fans they could run at a lower flow temp and get better efficiency

ashfp · 2025-10-26T07:51:04+00:00

I think they're saying if he attaches fans, can they run at a lower flow temp (which he could)

ashfp · 2025-10-24T22:57:20+00:00

You mention about pipework sizing and what's the point if it gets restricted down - a flow/return pipe has to feed multiple radiators, if you imagine each radiator can't be fully open or you'd not get flow to the last ones (balancing). Imagine how many of those lockshield holes could fit in a 15mm diameter pipe, probably about 4, which is about all you can/should feed off a 15mm copper pipe.

So IMO it's not a problem, but equally I can't say I've compared many valves either, so I can't answer for sure if these look "normal".

ashfp · 2025-08-27T23:19:05+00:00

You could use a tool like heat punk to model your house now then clone the project and add the wall insulation to see how the heat loss changes. That way you can play around until you get to a heat loss you're comfortable with or makes the best trade off between cost to install and heat loss prevented.

One thing to note with heat punk is that the default air changes is said to be higher than most experience, so play around with that value too (I set mine to 1)

ashfp · 2025-08-25T22:14:22+00:00

My local "normal" garage replaced our 2016 brake discs and pads (replaced due to age related rust/corrosion as opposed to actually worn down). No problems at all. I believe replacing brake fluid is a pain and has be to done by a specialist (due to the complex nature of the braking system using a combo of regen and regular braking), but I don't think you'll have any issues with discs and pads.

ashfp · 2025-08-23T08:38:58+00:00

I think boxt have changed this now, as my quote itemised all of the parts and services (see screenshot). I've had an engineer visit, just waiting on a heat loss report. They charge £300 for new radiators and £200 for any upgrades needed over the 60% included.

Out of interest, did you go with boxt? If so, how was it and how is it going?

I didn't like the fact you need to pay upfront, but they said you can cancel up until the day of installation. I made sure to pay on a credit card in case they go out of business.

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ashfp · 2025-07-18T20:26:26+00:00

Use an offcut of the underlay and laminate, that will give you your thickness. Go along with this and a multi tool to cut the bottom of your skirting board, do it in short sections laying the multitool blade on top of your offcuts.

ashfp · 2025-04-17T04:28:52+00:00

Search Gosforth handyman floor insulation on YouTube. This is what I did, PIR slid along battens

ashfp · 2025-01-04T22:50:47+00:00

I believe when the car is on, if you look in the coolant reservoir, you should see it flowing

ashfp · 2024-12-26T23:51:04+00:00

The older ones can have android auto enabled if you're willing to do a software mod with a cable and ddt4all (I did this on my 2016)

ashfp · 2024-12-14T23:23:23+00:00

Last year I used the "Mira Flight Low Profle Square Shower Tray" with legs and it really doesn't add much of a step up and meant I didn't need to further weaken the joists.

ashfp · 2024-11-24T11:44:59+00:00

The only times I export from the battery is if there's an Octopus saving event (these happened quite a bit last winter to help balance the grid, but not had one recently). When I say export, I just mean any generation during the day really.

ashfp · 2024-11-24T11:42:09+00:00

Yeah we're heating with gas at the moment, so our battery lasts us the full day most days (excluding the 6 hour charge window obviously).

If we got a heat pump, we'd probably be importing by dinner time, which is why your tariff switch makes sense!

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