Flintshire - April 2024 - Panasonic Aquarea J-Series 9kW Air Source Heat Pump

During one of my earlier phone calls with my Client prior to the Survey we discussed the current set up within the property. The heating system consisted of an oil fired floor standing boiler in the kitchen which was supplied by the oil tank in the garden. The system had one zone of radiators and a 200L hot water cylinder with storage and expansion tanks in the loft. The challenge for the Client was that the boiler was beginning to fail and was just shy of 20 years old and in addition the oil tank in the garden had a slight crack in it and therefore was in need of replacement.

My Client explained that the he had been advised the cost of replacement to another oil system could be quite costly and he expressed that he would prefer to make the property more eco-friendly. I explained that providing he met the Ofgem eligibility criteria for the Government Grant the £7,500.00 could contribute to him making the switch, but he did not know there was such a Grant available. I sent the BUS Guidance For Property Owners information for my Client via email and I also explained to him that it is the Installation Company that makes the application on the Client's behalf and that the Client only need make available all of the required documentation that the BUS Team will need as they begin to process the application. Personally I feel this is where some Customers may feel the process is too complex but it really isn't as long as all of the criteria has been met and that all necessary documentation has been made readily available. In this particular project the application was made by ourselves the Installation Company on a Thursday, all requested documents were securely forwarded to the BUS Team and by Monday the following week the application was approved and a Voucher ID was issued.

Upon completion of the installation the system was fully tested and the commission was carried out. The system was left running for a week to monitor its performance and upon returning to site the performance figures were very impressive and the house had maintained its 21 degrees which we set it to the week earlier. The COP figures for the week were very impressive at 4.6, great performance (some may say that is 460% efficient at the time). The initial configuration of the Weather Compensation was 50 degrees Maximum Flow when -3 degrees outdoors and 37 degrees Minimum Flow when 15 degrees outdoors. The Set Point for the new hot water cylinder was 50 degrees. The tank temperature was reduced to 48 degrees and the Maximum Flow was reduced to 48 degrees to aim to achieve further efficiency from the system. *I mention COP quite often (Coefficient of Performance) as it is what we are striving toward to achieve a high COP and SCOP (Seasonal Coefficient of Performance) for our Client's, the more efficiency the better Value For Money.

A Handover Pack was presented to my Client which included along with other important documentation, an MCS Certificate, Insurance Backed Warranty, a 7 year Panasonic Warranty and user guides. An application to redeem the Voucher was also submitted. In just over a week from submitting the redemption application the Voucher payment was received and reimbursed to My Client.

We have since returned to the property and upsized the lounge radiator in attempts to get even higher performance from the system.

Powys - April 2024 - Panasonic Aquarea J-Series 9 kW T-CAP Air Source Heat Pump

On initially visiting my Client's property to conduct the Survey we discussed the project in detail and decided on the most suitable location for the proposed heat pump which would be to the rear of the property and obscured from view. The system at the time was an oil fired floor standing boiler in the kitchen supplying one zone of radiators and a small hot water cylinder with storage and expansion tanks in the loft. 

Once the room by room heat loss calculation was concluded we quoted for the Panasonic Aquarea J-Series T-CAP 9 kW unit as this was the most suitable unit for the property. Upon our Client's approval to proceed with the project an application was made for the BUS. In anticipation our Client was advised to have available the documentation that the BUS Team would likely request in order to keep the process smooth and avoid delays. Upon request we forwarded the documentation to the BUS Team and within a few days we received confirmation of approval.

**It is worth mentioning at this stage that the Homeowner need do nothing more than provide the relevant documentation to the Installation Company, it is the Installation Company that makes the application and communicates with the BUS Team throughout the process. 

Once the installation had been completed the system was fully tested and set up to run. The Weather Compensation had been set and the Hot Water set point set. The Panasonic Controller was used as the Thermostat to achieve better performance from the system. The system has the Internet Gateway to pair with our Client's Wi-Fi so that they can control the system from their smartphone using the Panasonic Comfort Cloud App.

We returned to site a week later to check the performance figures (a whopping 5.6 COP), obtain feedback from our Client, to flush the system again and to check the filter was clean. The Regional Representative from Panasonic also came to site along with our main Supplier, Farr & Harris, which was a really good opportunity for the Client to share their feedback, ask any other questions and for the Manufacturer to be satisfied the installation was to a high standard. We also obtained Client permission to register their installation on the Panasonic Service Cloud which enables the Installation Company and Panasonic to remotely monitor the system for performance and also for any future maintenance purposes. 

Following the visit to site the Handover Pack was prepared for our Client including a 7 Year Panasonic Warranty and an application to redeem the BUS Voucher was submitted. Within just over 1 week our Client was reimbursed the £7,500.00 BUS Grant payment.

More can be discovered about the Panasonic T-CAP here Panasonic - heating and cooling solutions

Since installation completion, Panasonic have returned to carry out a Case Study. The video can be seen below.

Wrexham - May 2024 - Vaillant aroTHERM Plus 7 kW Air Source Heat Pump

On initial discussions with our Client, we talked in great detail about where the most suitable location would be for the outdoor unit. The challenges were, that the proposed heat pump could not go on the patio to the rear of the property due to clearance requirements and the location at the side of the property would not allow the pipes to pass straight through the wall to the inside as there was an electrical cupboard under the stair well. The only viable option was to surface mount the primary pipes in trunking to enable us to get the pipes on the landing where the airing cupboard was. The decision was made to go with the externally mounted option as it was the most practical and kept the primary flow and return reasonably short. The proposed system would be the 7 kW Vaillant with a 210L Sunamp Thermino X-Plus Heat Battery.

Following the Heat Loss Calculation and the preparation of a competitive quotation our Client gave the green light on the project and an application was submitted for the BUS Grant. Within 4 working days the Voucher was approved and a date was set for the project to commence. To keep the project as smooth as possible we agreed on carrying out a first fix stage which would entail rolling back the carpet on the landing, raising the floorboards, accurately measuring for the primary flow, return, discharge pipe and comms cable. We could then precisely core through the brickwork to outside. The trunking was mounted and the pipes were installed and the protected comms cable was run. We opted for Primary Pro Insulation and ArmaSeal Insulation for minimal heat loss and to meet MCS Standards. Now we could off-hire the Quick Tower that we had needed to work safely at height, the floor on the landing could go back and the carpets laid as it was. We would now only need to work at ground level for the heat pump and in the airing cupboard to work on the Sunamp and the wiring on the second fix. Site left clean and tidy with minimal disruption.

The Second fix was dependant on the delivery date of the Sunamp as it is delivered by a Specialist Company, that have the equipment to transport the Sunamp upstairs (yes it is very heavy). The guys from Zonzini did a fantastic job on delivery day and from the time they carried the Sunamp off their vehicle it was upstairs next to the airing cupboard in under 8 minutes. There is a cost involved for the Specialist Delivery but there would have been no other safe and practical measure to get the Sunamp up the stairs.

Now that all we required for the second fix was now on site we agreed the start date. We coordinated the Electrician to go first to upgrade the breakers on the Consumer Unit and to put in the new supplies. Once the Electrical aspects were carried out the heat pump and the new Sunamp Thermino could be installed. It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons the Sunamp was chosen is not just for its high performance but the airing cupboard was only 500mm wide so this would limit us from putting a cylinder in that was say 560mm and the slimline cylinder options were too high and restrict us from installing the other equipment in the AC such as the volumiser, heat pump interface and the expansion, the Sunamp was ideal for this project and works very well with a Vaillant heat pump.

The system was fully tested and commissioned upon completion and the Curve has been set. My Client is really happy with both the performance of the Sunamp and the Vaillant aroTHERM and is very passionate about listing the new system on the OEM (Open Energy Monitor) as are we and hopefully this will occur within the coming weeks. Following up with our Client, although the house gets very warm he wants to lower the flow temperature even more so to get further performance efficiency from the system so we are discussing perhaps upsizing 3 or 4 of the rads also to get that extra efficiency.

From the time of submitting the application to redeem the Voucher the process took a week and a half to complete and our Client has been redeemed the BUS Grant of £7,500.00

There will be more photos to post once we return to our Client to conduct our follow up visit. By this time we may also have the link for the OEM so readers can see the live performance data.

🍃 The Vaillant and Sunamp project is now live on the OEM. We have the Hot Water Setpoint at 70 Degrees as per Sunamp settings for the phase change to occur. We have a set schedule for the DHW once per day. Keeping in mind that the Heat Pump delivers the required flow temperature of 70 Degrees to achieve this it really is impressive.

For the Heating aspects we do not expect the heating to be on much over the summer months however, the Weather compensation curve is set at 0.4 and the typical flow temperature is 35 Degrees @ 6 degrees so we should see some promising data once we start to use the Heating more frequently. In recent heating cycles we have witnessed very good COP figures. For the coming summer months much of the data will be DHW but to achieve these kind of figures with such a DHW setpoint it really does show how fantastic the technology is. 

To see the live data and the installation configuration for this installation please visit the links HeatpumpMonitor.org and Emoncms - app view

Useful Links:

Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) | Ofgem

Aquarea Service Cloud - Aquarea+ (panasonic.eu)

Comfort Cloud - Panasonic

Panasonic - heating and cooling solutions

Panasonic - heating and cooling solutions

Thermino xPlus - Sunamp UK

aroTHERM plus | Vaillant

daikin - Farr & Harris Ltd (farrharris.co.uk)

MCS Certified | Giving you confidence in home-grown energy

Green upgrade: the heat pump grant available now - The Times & The Sunday Times

‘When I see a regular boiler I think, “Just stop!”’: the heat pump-loving builder who designs dream homes | Energy efficient home | The Guardian

Goodbye to gas: how insulation and a heat pump can make you more energy efficient | Energy efficient home | The Guardian