Renewable Heating Hub Homeowners' Q&A

Heat pump noise, running costs, confusing heat loss calculations and winter settings — Graham Hendra tackles the questions worrying homeowners on the Renewable Heating Hub forums. As the heating comes back on, so do the questions. Should you leave your heat pump running overnight? Can you keep your existing radiators? And why do different installers give you such different answers about the size o...

Heat pumps work, but badly designed and oversized installations can leave homeowners facing appalling comfort, reliability and energy bills. JT Stewart returns to join me for a frank transatlantic discussion about America’s heat pump industry. Why are heating systems routinely oversized? Why are installers still relying on outdated rules of thumb? And how can a homeowner receive a $2,000 electrici...

Plug-in batteries could make home battery storage more accessible across the UK, but can you simply connect one to a wall socket, and what should you understand before buying? In this episode we speak with John Southern, Operations and Strategy Director at the Energy Storage Association UK, about the opportunities, practical limitations and safety questions surrounding plug-in batteries in the UK....

Are Britain’s new homes really fit for the future? I'm joined by George Clarke, TV architect, and Ben Laverty from Mitsubishi Electric to explore new towns, new builds, low-carbon homes and why the British public deserves better from the housing industry. “I personally feel like we’ve let the public down,” says George, in a conversation that challenges how we design, build and plan our homes,...

In this episode of the Renewable Heating Hub Podcast, I'm joined by TV architect and Mitsubishi Electric ambassador George Clarke, alongside Rob McGaughey, Head of Smart Cities and Heat at ScottishPower. Together, they explore the practical realities of moving away from fossil-fuel heating; from designing homes properly and improving their fabric to installing, commissioning and operating heat...

In this episode of the Homeowners’ Q&A podcast, I'm joined by Simon Baseden from AAC Group to compare air-to-air and air-to-water heat pumps. They explore heat loss calculations, system sizing, installation costs, whole-house heating, cooling and the common design mistakes homeowners should avoid. Can an air-to-air heat pump replace a boiler and heat an entire UK home? Is air-to-air really...

Heat pumps work. So why do so many installations fail? Mars is joined by JT Stewart from Slipstream for a revealing transatlantic investigation into heat pumps in Britain and the United States. Although the two countries use the technology very differently, homeowners on both sides of the Atlantic are being hit by familiar problems: oversized systems, poor design, inadequate training and sales pro...

MCS has spent years presenting itself as the badge homeowners can trust when choosing a heat pump installer. But has it actually protected them? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, Mars speaks with experienced heat pump installer Barry Sharp from Renewable Heat about the failures of the old MCS system and whether the newly redeveloped scheme can finally deliver meanin...

The UK has a new government, a new Energy Secretary and a fresh opportunity to reshape the future of domestic heating. But will the latest policy changes actually make heat pumps more affordable, more reliable and more attractive to homeowners? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, Mars speaks with Charlotte Lee, Chief Executive of HPA UK, about what the new government...

Do solar panels really make a heat pump cheaper to run or is the supposed “perfect marriage” between solar PV and heat pumps more complicated than homeowners are led to believe? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A podcast, Mars is joined by Richard Burrows from Pirate Heating Supplies to examine what actually happens when solar PV, heat pumps, battery storage, electric vehicle...

Are poor heat pump installations being blamed on the technology when the real failure begins at the design desk? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A podcast, Mars is joined by heating engineer and design consultant Rob Berridge for a blunt examination of what thousands of homeowner complaints reveal about Britain’s heat pump rollout. They explore why some homes remain cold aft...

Most homeowners spend weeks researching which heat pump to buy. But what if the machine itself isn’t the biggest factor determining comfort, efficiency and running costs? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, we're joined by Liam Knowles from The Heating People to investigate one of the most overlooked stages of a heat pump installation: commissioning. We explore what p...

Are cheap heat pump installations storing up problems for homeowners? As more companies promise faster, cheaper and “minimal disruption” heat pump installations, many homeowners are left wondering what they’re really giving up in return for a lower upfront price. In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, we're joined by Sean Hogan from Aventus Eco to examine one of the bigg...

Why do some heat pump systems deliver outstanding performance while others leave homeowners frustrated, cold and facing higher energy bills? In this episode of the Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, we sit down with Mark Hall to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing the UK heat pump market: installer competency. From three-day training courses and heat loss calculations to radiator sizing, buffer...

Your heat pump's controller might be the dumbest piece of tech in your house. In this episode of the Homeowners' Q&A Podcast, we sit down with Graham Hendra, now working as a heat pump developer at Haier, who has just returned from meetings in China where the question of controller intelligence was front and centre. He's candid about what the industry is getting wrong, why heat pump uptake in...

Home battery sales in the UK have doubled in two years. Every solar company has added one to their quote. Every energy supplier has a deal. But is anyone actually explaining what you need to know before you spend thousands of pounds on a box of cells bolted to your wall? In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners' Q&A Podcast, James Clark from Elite Services Group offers an honest, unfilt...

The heat pump industry has a marketing problem. And it's not just the big energy companies getting their adverts banned by the ASA... it's happening in installer proposals, manufacturer brochures and kitchen table conversations every single day. In this episode of Homeowners' Q&A, we sit down with Simon Wardle of Ultimate Renewable Supplies for a frank conversation about the misleading claims...

In this episode of Homeowners' Q&A, we sit down with Simon Baseden of AAC Group for a frank, expert-led conversation covering everything homeowners need to understand about A2A systems. From the fundamentals of how A2A differs from traditional air conditioning, to the realities of weather compensation, zoning, defrost cycles and hot water provision, Simon answers the questions your forums have...

In this episode we challenge one of the biggest assumptions in the UK retrofit and heat pump space: Should insulation always come first, or is ‘fabric fifth’ actually more realistic (and better) for the average home? Natasha Ackroyd, Rhiannon de Wreede, Danny Murphy, Richard Burrows & Graeme Ross take an unfiltered look at the realities homeowners face: budgets, sequencing, installer messaging...

In this episode we're joined Barry Sharp, John Wood & Richard Williams. We dive into the big question that every UK homeowner is asking: how do you find a heat pump installer you can truly trust with your home, your comfort and your money? Check out our new book The Ultimate Guide to Heat Pumps. Buy now: https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/the-ultimate-guide-to-heat-pumps-a-comprehensive-resourc...

Ideal Heating’s installer cashback warranty scheme... is it a fair model or homeowner rip-off? And with Rachel Reeves signalling turbulence around future heat pump subsidies, what does this mean for homeowners, manufacturers and installers? In this episode, I’m joined by Patrick Wheeler (Vito Energy) and Barry Sharp (Renewable Heat) for an honest breakdown of: – Why Ideal is incentivising SHORTER...

Who can UK homeowners really trust with a heat pump installation? In this heavyweight episode of the Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, five of the biggest players in the industry sit down together for the first time: James Law (British Gas), Thomas Root (Octopus Energy), Aadil Qureshi (Heat Geek), Clayton Brown (EDF) and Matt Isherwood (Aira). We dig into guarantees, high-temperature systems, Zero Disr...

In this episode of the award-winning Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, we’re joined by Ian Edgeworth, Nigel Day and Richard Burrows. Together they explain why the majority of system inefficiencies can be traced back to poor design, wrong flow rates and bad commissioning. Check out our new book The Ultimate Guide to Heat Pumps. Buy now: https://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/the-ultimate-guide-to-heat-pumps-...

Heat loss calculations can make or break your heat pump installation. In this episode of the Homeowners Q&A Podcast, we’re joined by Rich Cartwright, Dan Cadd, Simon Murray and Mario Dodić to expose the truth behind one of the most misunderstood parts of system design. We dig into why heat losses vary so wildly between installers, how assumptions can ruin your efficiency and what homeowners ca...

Confused by HeatGeek’s ZeroDisrupt? You’re not alone. In this episode of the Homeowners’ Q&A Podcast, we're joined by Leah Robson, Mark Hall, Simon Wardle and James Clark to unpack what ZeroDisrupt really means for homeowners. Does “cheaper, faster and less disruptive” mean cutting corners or could it finally make heat pumps accessible to the masses? Our guests debate cost vs. quality, flow te...