Will mandatory annual inspections for heatpumps be a thing?

Ubbquittious

Whatever refrigerant they chose it will likely have a GwP 100s-1000s of times worse than CO2 and if some part of the refrigeration circuit fails the entire contents of the tank could be vented to the atmosphere. The green crowd won't like that. Also, people may eventually save money using heatpumps, government won't like that so what better way to ensure money keeps circulating than to invent a new profession & force people to use said newly invented profession's services by law.

I am a cynical bastard but been around long enough to know the government hates nothing more than people not parting with their money. Once a significant portion of the population manages to reduce their energy costs through solar panel / heat pumps they'll try and claw back their savings.

Biker1

Annual service of a heat pump is standard practice and certainly doesn't need a law to force people to do it.

Borzoi

Depending on the type of heat pump, refigerant and charge size, F-gas regulations may already require you to have it inspected annually for leaks.

There area already CO2 heat pumps on the market, in fact they've been around for a decade. They do not fall under F-gas so no legal requirements for inspection

I applaud your cynicism nevertheless

the_amazing_raisin

Every heat pump I've seen requires an annual inspection to maintain the warranty

I would recommend to anyone looking into one to check out what service providers are around and how much it costs when factoring this into their costs

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118588229#Comment_118588229

Thats a bit of a bollix. Warranty is only a few years though and nobody will come out after you if you don't get it. Has anyone been prosecuted in Ireland for not getting one serviced?

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118588285#Comment_118588285

No but generally companies don't prosecute people for not obeying the warranty terms. If that were the case then we'd all be terrified of missing a car service 😉

Muahahaha

What would they be inspecting for? Just a leak detection test to see if the refrigerant gas has leaked? Surely if that happened then the heat pump wont produce heat anyway and you'd be calling someone out regardless?

Admire your cynicism OP, Id well believe they will find some way of getting money out of those who have them eventually. They must surely be already planning for what happens when the exchequer loses massive money from the phasing out of petrol & diesel engines.

Ubbquittious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118603642#Comment_118603642

Yes. Virtual petrol - You'll "fill" your EV with a certain amount of it and you'll get 10-20km/l with most of the proceeds going to the government. In Holland they are planning to force everyone to keep a box in their car with GPS that collects info on distance travelled & which roads, so they'll probably do that here too. They always copy NL, the feckers.

I reckon they'll be hoping to catch the leak before it happens. Some guy with a van and an Irish Fridge Society badge will be required to rock up by law every year and tell you "Hmmmmm that connection there looks a bit dodgy, bud, I'm afraid I can't pass you till it's replaced and the whole thing will have to be emptied & refilled at the cost of x*100 euro"

bullit_dodger

I dunno mate - I think your being a bit pessimistic. Next you'll be saying they'll start to charge for water like the rest of Europe.

Ohh wait.....

youcancallmeal

I moved into a new build 5 years ago with a heat pump. The rep/installer for the brand(IVT) came out to explain how it worked to me a few weeks after we moved in. I specifically asked do I need to get it serviced every year and he said "No, would you get your fridge and house plumbing serviced every year?". He went on, just keep an eye on it and if you have any problems then call us or someone qualified to service it. He reckoned it would be years before it needed to be serviced. I've said this on here before and people said that's nonsense but everything he's said has been right so far. I probably will get it serviced before next winter anyway as I'd like to enquire about getting the smart unit add on so we can use an app to monitor the efficiency remotely.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118604057#Comment_118604057

I have an air to air heat pump and my installer said the same, apart from cleaning the filters in the indoor unit every 6 months they are maintence free. He said maybe at 10-15 years it may need to be re-gased but otherwise no maintenance. He has one in his own house and hasnt had any maintenance to do. It was one of the attractions to them for me as over 15 years I would have paid more to service a condensing boiler than what the heat pump cost to buy.

3d4life

" mandatory annual inspections for heatpumps ? "

May as well include fridges and freezers

KAGY

I've had my GSHP serviced/repaired twice in 18 years, the first problem early on was a pinhole leak in a braze that a service might have picked up, the second was a broken electrical safety switch that would have happened anyway.

My one is an old style unit, all electrical control, no fancy electronics.