Given the results from the quoted report and our experience we are requesting that interested parties complete the following link so we can overview the current situation;

http://groundsourceairtowaterheatpumps.blogspot.com/2010/10/practical-observations-requested.html

Thanks,

Joanna

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Thank you Bob for interesting thoughts. It just shows how complex this area is. Your thoughts certainly back up the EST recommendation of rethinking training for installers, and hopefully they will also make some recommendations to manufacturers about the controls.

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From my perspective, there are some problems with these points:

1) Most heat pumps come with built-in controls - the fact that they are over-complicated is the manufacturers' wish to show off!  I cannot see installers swapping controllers. The problems with controls are in the need to cram all these facilities into a very small display and in the difficult of predicting what the effect of changes will be, since with weather compensation and underfloor heating, these can take a long time to take effect. I would like to see a PC interface that gave a lot more prediction and visibility, though this would probably add to the cost and mean that you couldn't maintain it without a PC.

2) Sizing is quite difficult. It depends on knowledge of the users' habits and preferences that an installer will not know about and the user will probably not be able to convey.

3) I'm not convinced that heat pump suppliers/manufacturers know what is necessary for a good installation. I've attended an installers' course and itwas mostly on the lines of "here's a heat pump - this is how you install it"- it gave no information as to how to tell whether, for instance, a retro-fit installation would be successful or not. Again, some kind of testing kit could be useful, if someone knows what the criteria are.

4) The margin of error thing is difficult. Heat pump sizes are lumpy. If you fall in the 2Kw gap between sizes, which way do you go?

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