Interesting article, thanks. I guess we all have our anecdotes about heating systems and we have just replaced our gas boiler with another so I have been paying attention to any recent developments. I am curious as to why your average plumber can't fit heat pumps though. The "accreditation" required surely cannot be more onerous than they already need to fit a gas boiler. The lad who did ours has to be plumber (obvious), gas safe (so that covers chemistry), basic electric qualifications/skills. All this he took as standard for a plumber. The only things extra I can think of are the "green" credentials to be able to big up the benefits. He was already well aware of heat pumps and their downsides - in our case ripping out all the pipes and rads which will rarely be cost effective. New builds are a different matter, and they do fit them along with AC units in many cases. (p.s. he did a great job.)
Interesting article, thanks. I guess we all have our anecdotes about heating systems and we have just replaced our gas boiler with another so I have been paying attention to any recent developments. I am curious as to why your average plumber can't fit heat pumps though. The "accreditation" required surely cannot be more onerous than they already need to fit a gas boiler. The lad who did ours has to be plumber (obvious), gas safe (so that covers chemistry), basic electric qualifications/skills. All this he took as standard for a plumber. The only things extra I can think of are the "green" credentials to be able to big up the benefits. He was already well aware of heat pumps and their downsides - in our case ripping out all the pipes and rads which will rarely be cost effective. New builds are a different matter, and they do fit them along with AC units in many cases. (p.s. he did a great job.)
