Energy Unwrapped with Mick Wall

Want to save more with your home battery? In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I'm joined by Richard Eyres from PredBat to look at one of the most powerful home battery optimisation platforms available today. I've personally been running the open-source version of PredBat within Home Assistant for around 18 months, using it to automatically optimise my home battery against sola...

Thinking about a heat pump from Heat Geek? In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I sit down with Aadil Qureshi, CEO and co-founder of Heat Geek, to walk through the complete Heat Geek customer journey. We cover everything from the initial online estimate through to surveying, heat loss calculations, LiDAR scanning, Zero Disrupt design, installation, commissioning, performance guarantees...

Emilie Romain was talking about heat pumps on YouTube before almost anyone in the UK knew what they were. In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, Mick sits down with the OG heat pump content creator to hear how an accidental career pivot led her to front EcoBubl's videos in full overalls, why she thinks too many people gatekeep renewables by keeping it technical, and what it's like returning to an in...

This episode is a little different — recorded LIVE at The Heat Pump Show in Newark (April 2026), where I joined an expert panel discussion on what’s becoming known as:⚡ The Holy Trinity ⚡Solar PV + Battery Storage + Heat PumpHosted by Simon Roberts from Heatio, this conversation dives deep into how these technologies work together to reduce running costs, improve comfort, optimise energy usage,...

In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, Mick Wall is joined by Steph Willis from Spruce to unpack one of the most misunderstood parts of heat pump design: heat loss calculations. They explore why heat loss surveys matter, how outdated ventilation assumptions have led to oversized systems, and why many homeowners may have been quoted for larger heat pumps — and more radiator upgrades — than they actua...

In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped Podcast, I’m joined by Claire Rowland from the Living Lab at Energy Systems Catapult. The Living Lab is a panel of over 5,000 UK households sharing real energy data, helping us understand how people actually use energy in their homes. We talk through what that data shows about EVs, solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, including which technologies people i...

In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, I’m joined by TJ Root from Octopus Energy to walk through the full journey of getting a heat pump, from the first online quote through to survey, design and installation. We talk about the Octopus Cosy heat pump, why it looks the way it does, how it is installed and what really matters when it comes to heat loss, radiator sizing and system design. There is also...

The Future Homes Standard is finally here. From 2027, new homes in the UK will move away from gas boilers and towards heat pumps, solar and fully electric design. But is it enough… or are we still building homes that will need fixing later? In this episode, I’m joined by Nigel Banks from Octopus Energy to break down what the Future Homes Standard actually means in practice, and whether Zero Bills...

Intelligent Octopus Go is changing, and it’s caused a fair bit of debate. In this episode, I’m joined by Alex Schoch, Group Director of Flexibility and Electrification at Octopus Energy, to explain what’s changing, why it’s happening, and what it means in practice. We get into the new 6-hour charging setup, how the charge cap works, and why most EV charging sessions are shorter than people think....

In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I’m joined by Rhiannon de Wreede to talk about her journey into renewables, starting with a plumbing course and moving into heat pumps, system design and domestic energy. We get into what it’s really like retraining later in life, the challenges of breaking into the heating industry, and why training doesn’t always translate into real-world competen...

Are heat pumps noisy? In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, Mick Wall is joined by Jez Climas from City Plumbing to unpack one of the biggest questions homeowners ask about an air source heat pump. They talk through where heat pump noise really comes from, including compressors, fans, vibration, pipework and installation quality. The conversation also covers the MCS noise assessment, neighbour impa...

Heating system water quality is one of the most overlooked causes of boiler and heat pump problems. Sludge, corrosion and dirty system water can quietly damage pumps, valves and heat exchangers if a system isn’t flushed and treated properly. In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, Mick Wall talks to heating engineer Ricky Prescott from Thoroughflush about power flushing, magnetic filters,...

In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I’m joined by Paul Arundale for a proper homeowner-to-homeowner chat about going from gas to a heat pump , and everything that tends to come with it: EVs, solar, batteries, and even vehicle-to-grid . Paul talks through his “gateway drug” into renewables via a government-backed V2G trial, how that nudged him into solar, why hot water storage becomes...

In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, Mick Wall is joined by Alex Nelson, co-founder of Havenwise, to talk about smart heat pump control and what better optimisation really looks like in the real world. They discuss how Havenwise came to life, why manufacturer controls do not always deliver the best comfort, and how weather compensation can keep homes more stable. The conversation also explores hot...

In Episode 3 of the Energy Unwrapped Podcast, Mick Wall visits Octopus Energy to speak with Phil Steele about Octopus Agile, Intelligent Octopus Go, the Octopus API, and what really happens when you electrify your home. They cover the origins of Energy Stats UK, smart tariffs, solar, batteries, EV charging with Zappi, installing a Vaillant aroTHERM heat pump, accurate COP monitoring with OpenEnerg...

In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, Mick Wall interviews Gary Does Solar, who shares his unexpected journey into the world of solar energy. They discuss the challenges and considerations of installing solar panels, the evolution of solar technology, and the impact of rising energy prices on consumer decisions. Gary emphasizes the importance of thorough research and choosing the right installer, w...

Episode 1 is a short introduction to the Energy Unwrapped Podcast and the person behind it, Mick Wall from Energy Stats UK (http://energy-stats.uk). Mick shares how his renewable journey started with solar in 2018 and gradually grew to include batteries, an EV, smart hot water, and a Vaillant aroTHERM heat pump, leading to a fully electric 1930s semi in Sheffield. He explains how the Energy Stats...