Share your heat pump experience

Just had our new heat pump hot water system installed *edited by Mod* in our effort to disconnect from gas. I decided to try out the new Emerald Energy (EE-HWS-A1-270E) so only time will tell if it was a mistake not going for iStore or something more premium like a reclaim.

It's a bit noisy when outside but so far not noticeable indoors and the Wi-Fi app was simple to set up and has a nice interface, but a bit limited in features.

Overall quite happy with the installation with the only two concerns:

Firstly, it is overhung from the concrete block, checking the installation manual it states that it needs to be installed on a 60×60 cm block at a minimum or could void warranty, the block appears to be 59 cm so not sure if I should be concerned

Secondly, the condensation pipe should be routed to storm water, it was initially installed to drip down the side of the house, but I requested it to be moved, not sure if it is needs additional attention. I live in Victoria and the area is quite wet, and the termites are a concern as it is a wooden house.

Following on from my observations in 2024 I'm pleased to see that the Govt (following consultation on suitability of EPCs related to the energy prrformance of buildings) have issued a partial response (see link below) indicating that the misleading parameter of energy cost as a key indicator of building performance, that undermined the value of ASHPs over gas boilers based mainly on market cost of gas vs. Electricity, is going to be replaced with 4 separate indicators (i.e. energy cost, fabric performance, heating system and smart readiness).

Not sure how the above will be weighted in any overall assessment (no details), but clearly this will enable domestic households with ASHPs to get a fairer assessment of their energy and carbon footprint rating.    

Changes in EPC rating activities are scheduled during 2H 2026 and govt plans in this area will no doubt compliment the roll out of the greater level of govt grants that form part of the UK Govts "warm homes plan".

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforms-to-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-regime/outcome/reforms-to-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-regime-partial-government-response

Hey ​@Corgimajor 

Thanks for coming back with that! Lots of change going on with that side of things, hopefully all with the positive outcome it intends.🤞🏻

Panasonic Air 2 Air system since Aug 24. 

Ex council property, rural Scotland (no mains gas available), removed 3 storage heaters and came off the THTC tariff (smart meter fitted).

Installed a 3.5 kw heat pump, 2 x 2 kw wall mounted units, 1 x 2.5 kw wall mounted unit. All WiFi enabled, house heating is remotely managed and monitored.

Very happy with system performance, controllability and much reduced power consumption - especially after 40 years with storage heaters! 

Where the property is located, replacing storage heating with air 2 air ASHP has been a very popular conversation for a few years now. 

Happy to participate if required. 

​@Infiltrator how do you heat your hot water ? Air to air sounds a very good bet and cheaper to install than a wet radiator system. Particularly good in a small property. I wonder if ​@Viv1966 might be able to get air to air to replace their defunct oil boiler, as they were considering storage heaters??

Still using the original HW tank and immersion, about to upgrade to a pressurised tank but its only a small tank, property now has electric shower instead of a bath. 

Approx £4.5k installed, believe they're slightly cheaper now. Would never recommend storage heaters, where this house is folk are removing Dimplex Quantum's to install A2A.

The other huge positive over a wet system is the A2A doesn't have the complexity of a wet system and doesn't rely on 3rd party equipment and sensors, it's all Panasonic and easy to operate.

The government have introduced support for air to air heat pumps as part of the boiler upgrade scheme and the grant level is £2,500 which would cover most of the cost of a multi-split system. A2AHPs use a simpler and older technology that has been around for 200 years and we know them as fridges or freezers.

https://www.zerochippenham.org/2025/11/22/uk-government-introduce-grant-support-for-air-to-air-heat-pumps-and-heat-batteries/

Think the grant is just available in England and Wales at the moment.

I wonder if ​@Viv1966 got anywhere with their heating upgrade ? 

I've found some more detailed information on A2AHPs that covers how they work, installation although it is wrong about there not being a grant as that is a very recent change. You do need to take care of the hot water heating and it's usual to install a hot water tank (if you don't have one already) and use an immersion heater. If you have an EV you may be able to make use of the discount tariff for that with various suppliers.

https://energyguide.org.uk/air-to-air-heat-pumps/

I'm not saying that this solution will suit everyone but it does have a substantially reduced cost, a much less intrusive installation process and a very simple and reliable design. With that in mind it's worth considering that as an affordable alternative to an ASHP.

I installed a smaller 3.5kW unit, very low cost A2AHP in 2024 as an experiment (keeping my gas boiler) and it has worked very well over the last two heating seasons. The house actually needs 5kW of heating on the coldest days but even so I've managed to reduce my gas consumption by 85% and a hybrid solution is a perfectly acceptable. We get along well with the unit and we've adapted our lifestyle slightly to gain the environmental benefit of using a lot less gas. I've learnt that going green doesn't have to be all or nothing. If you can strive to be substantially better it will put you in a position of knowing how to take the next step after that if that's worth doing. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Peter