Air source heat pumps caution

[XingMing]

I don't want to put anyone off doing the right thing by the planet, but I'd like to offer a cautionary word. DH was in a related industry and a friend needed a business opportunity. Having been asked frequently about AC, he suggested that, and then heat pump technology kicked off. You aren't interested in the bits in between, but we have had a small air source heat pump/AC in our kitchen for about twelve years (12 years)... and we are about to replace it... for the fourth (X4) time. The original idea was awesome, the technology works well, but the components are so badly and cheaply made in China (down to a price) that anything anyone tells you should be taken with a kilo of salt. So the energy costs might look good, but the components are sh1te. We need a new controller board, at £700 + VAT (5 weeks delivery) or a whole new system at £1150 +VAT (in stock). With one, we get a two year guarantee.. So do, please consider whether you want to save your electricity bill or stump up £1200 every three years, while paying your electricity.

What brand and model was it?

This is very timely as we are discussing which heating system to go for, thank you. I’d love to hear the brand of system you keep having to replace.

I was reading an article last year about this pumps installed in housing association properties. The ten were going mad because their fuel bills rocketed (this was before Russia/Ukraine war), christ knows how much they're paying now

We have had both Daikin and Fujitsu air source heat pumps, in answer to @WulyJmpr and @Esorlleh . Some original American made models from the 1970s (Carrier, York) are still going strong, but the newly manfactured US units probably suffer from exactly the same cheap Chinese, Indian and Turkish components that fail a few weeks after the warranty ends.

I would be very cautious because they are not cheap to buy or fit or run. We mainly use ours to warm the kitchen, when the oil-fired central heating isn't on, the fan only option for cooling down, and the AC during heatwaves, ie...not constantly.

We also had a plague of house flies one year, because the frequency of vibration in the outdoor inverter attracted them to lay their eggs by the million. That was extremely unpleasant.

Unless you have a very well insulated house, or solar panels, it’s effectively electric heating with all the costs associated with electric heating. Agree that people should proceed with caution.

Daikin and Fujitsu are among the best regarded manufacturers @hannahcolobus for domestic consumers. York and Carrier are for commercial scale, otherwise we'd have picked one of them.