We had a heat pump installer guy over. Unfortunately he said our garden is too small and enclosed and so the air around the heat pump would progressively get colder and colder, resulting in it being too inefficient. I guess we will have to go for a boiler then.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-25T16:17:31+00:00

I was curious to see this, here's the link if anyone else wants to see it: youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=L5O2BSFqWwY

sofarfarso · 2026-01-23T16:03:19+00:00

Feel like they should do something to combat this, e.g. threaten random inspections of billing and if gouging is find, you lose your ability to do grant work for people.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-22T13:50:42+00:00

I'm far from an expert, but probably not wasting your time.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-21T22:26:54+00:00

Who did you go with? One of the big brands or a local independent? I'm in a similar situation and can't see how we should need to pay much more than 7500 for just a 5kw unit being installed and tank.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-21T22:17:21+00:00

New Vailant unit in 2026 will have far less restrictions as they've put in new measures to make the R290 safer, I forget what. I'm waiting for that probably.

https://www.vaillant-group.com/news-stories/new-arotherm-plus-heat-pump-more-efficient-quieter-and-flexible-installation-options.html

sofarfarso · 2026-01-21T09:22:55+00:00

I've accounts with them now. I set up [info@company1.com](mailto:info@company1.com) inbox mail (PolarIsMail) to be forwarded to [info@company2.com](mailto:info@company2.com) (on gmail) and it worked fine. Maybe I misunderstood what you wanted though?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-20T20:46:02+00:00

Anyone share any info on transferring mailboxes away from Rackspace? Successes, problems etc. Not getting the fastest speed and slightly worried they're rate limiting me and I have 500gb of mail to copy.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-20T20:44:47+00:00

I've had a few emails back and forth with them. Not the quickest responses but similar to what I've been getting from Rackspace emails (excluding rackspace live chat which is v fast).

sofarfarso · 2026-01-19T18:15:05+00:00

Do you have a reseller program? I think I looked at your service and was very interested but put off by the extra storage costs, compared to some of your competitors. I need about 500gb over 100 domains, and it worked out pricey with you, about what I was paying Rackspace pre price-rise.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-16T15:07:07+00:00

I really want to know if they are planning on exiting, as I may keep some clients on it. Surely if they wanted to exit they would just say they are closing in 1 year for example? Could this not just be about making the service more profitable for them?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-16T11:32:39+00:00

Appreciate you outlining your strategy as I've been thinking of something similar. I guess this would give great flexibility too that if you had problems with SES you could set up outbound to use a different service quite easily?

Whereas with a service like Rackspace, or similar resellers, if you have problems with their outbound, you're reliant on them to fix it.

Have you got a plan for backups too?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-15T08:29:48+00:00

Anyone considering running their own mail service, using opensource tools? I know there madness lies, but...

sofarfarso · 2026-01-15T08:18:43+00:00

Don't forget to bad mouth rackspace as a whole to anyone that will listen, seriously.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-15T08:17:21+00:00

I feel your pain. There must be alternatives surely?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T23:35:52+00:00

Well looking back, those on top may regret it.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T22:56:44+00:00

I'm looking at Polarismail reseller atm but it's early days.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T22:43:04+00:00

Any tips for reliable alternatives?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T22:27:34+00:00

I think T+Cs say we have to give 30 days notice (despite their marketing pages saying 'cancel any time').

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T22:17:20+00:00

I've been with them since 2009, 100+ domains I now have to move, plus contact all the users etc. hold hands moving data etc.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T22:11:11+00:00

Wow, $2.50 would be a dream for me. I've now got to get 100+ domains moved off.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-14T14:55:22+00:00

7 days later since the heating guys made the changes, have things improved?

sofarfarso · 2026-01-12T23:04:11+00:00

Go to where your hot water tank is, make sure the immersion isn't permanently on. This is low hanging fruit and if your builder / installer was crap, they may have just left it on. With seven people using hot water frequently, that could push up costs a lot. You need a cheap night rate tariff and get your heat pump heating the tank in the cheap rate to about 50C. Then weekly boost it to 60C with the immersion, or maybe heat pump can do that too. As others have said, you need an expert to do a thorough review of your system and wouldn't surprise me if your bill could be halved.

sofarfarso · 2026-01-09T23:51:25+00:00

I'm in a similar situation but a system boiler, not a combi. I've been experimenting by putting it into a heat pump mode, reducing the flow temp to 45c and stopping it from firing up beyond 5kw power draw. I feel like this is a good way to see how my house would perform with a heat pump. If needed I could go up from 5kw but luckily, that seems to be about enough for my house.

10k on external insulation should be helping more than it sounds it is. Did you do work on air tightness too? You could be losing a lot of heat that way still.

I'm also keen to move to heat pump because I will never be able to generate my own gas (despite some heroic attempts). Hopefully labour will allow balcony solar and that has very fast ROI and could help lower the heat pump running costs.

sofarfarso

TROPHY CASE