customer’s testimonials

– Hi, why did you decide to go for an air source heat pump?

– So we moved into the house about five years ago and have had a very old creaking gas boiler that we knew that we needed to replace. And so, when it was struggling well after 20 years, we were looking for alternatives. So we looked and we were originally just going to replace it with a Like for Like Gas, boiler, upgrading it to a condensing boiler. But then we came up with some options that we could look out for an air source, heat pump, or some kind of hybrid. And then eventually we decided on the air source heat pump.

– Okay. And did you do quite a bit of research beforehand?

– A fair amount of research, yeah. I was certainly interested to find out if it was going to be cost effective or not. And obviously there was the environmental factors as well, which were, were quite important to us. So yeah, there was a fair amount of research that went into that.

– Do you feel it’s done its job?

– I do. It’s early days yet. We’re obviously still not far into its installation and it’s not been that cold yet, but certainly it’s been quite warming for our Scottish summers.

– Okay. And how was your bills before?

– Well, through winter, I mean, we were looking at a few bills of around about. I think it was about £175 a month in the middle of winter. So I am expecting an improvement on that based on the air source heat pump, it’s efficiency.

– So you’re also eligible for RHI and you’re going to take the loan from the Scottish Energy Trust. How are you feeling about that and how would you think that works.

– It was really important for us to have that. And that certainly made the financial case for us. So by taking the £10,000 interest free loan over seven years, we repay that with the RHI payments, that come in quarterly. And it really makes it the financial case for it makes it a lot easier to decide to go with air source heat pump.

– Okay. And do you know how much RHI you’re going to be eligible for?

– So it should be quarterly payments of about £414. And which should come to, I think that’s £11,600, and over the course of seven years.

– How did you find the experience of getting your air source heat pump fitted?

– So the actual fitting wasn’t as bad as I thought it might have been. So there was a bit of work involved with getting some radius’s replaced. But yeah, I think the overall process wasn’t as bad as it could have been. There was a lot of radiators that were made kind of deeper rather than having to resize completely. So the overall disruption was fairly smooth and obviously getting everything up and running was great.

– Did you have any fears before you started off?

– I think the fear I had when we were really, before we started the installation was just making sure I had my sized done right. And if the air source heat pump was going to be sized correctly, I’ve seen a few stories online about them not being sized properly. And I think there are still some horror stories about not being able to heat your property enough. But I’ve certainly had reassurance from both of you guys, when you did your sizing and got that properly done, and that there was really no problem with going ahead with air source heat pump.

– And how do you feel that the air source heat pump as compared to your gas boiler?

– What smells a lot better? It’s much more pleasant standing out here. The vent fan used to be, or the vent used to come out of the wall there. And yeah, it’s certainly no noisier. I would say it’s actually slightly quieter. And we can stand in front of it here, obviously even have a conversation without any issues. So yeah, I’m delighted not to be burning fossil fuels and be able to use their air source heat pump instead.

– Was there any point of this process that you found difficult or complicated?

– A little bit about doing the research. So going in and finding accurate information, there’s plenty of information out there about gas boilers and per the work and how efficient they are. And a lot of the figures behind that, it took a bit more digging to get to the bottom of the air source heat pump. So that was probably the most complicated part of it.

– And you’ve also recommended us to some of your friends. Would you like to talk a little bit about that?

– Sure. Yap. So I talk a lot about what we do in the house here. There’s a lot of initiatives that I’ve managed to put into the host in terms of energy saving and renewables. I talked to my friends about that, not to their boredom at times, but certainly I’ve talked to a few people about air source heat pump, and yeah, we’ve got some friends that are really keen on the idea.

– How did you find the experience of working with Renewable Clean Heat?

– I thought it was a really good experience. As soon as we had the original visit done and we came out and had a look at the property sized it all up and did all the sums for us. And when you came back again, we’d just had a good rapport. I thought we worked well with, with me bringing some ideas, of what else I’ve done in the house and thinking about the solar panels and batteries and the RGL REITs and my evil home, all their other bits and pieces. And I think we really brought that together. And and obviously that was in no small part due to your expertise and being able to reassure me that this was the right way forward.

– Is there any other comments, would you like to make about renewable clean heat?

– Just, I would recommend you guys. I think you’ve been honest and transparent from the start. I think you’ve been done a great job. So thanks very much.