BetaTalk - The Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Heating Podcast

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Heat pump owners around the UK have joined the Nesta scheme whereby they allow visitors to come visit them and ask questions about their heating system. 

Nathan chats to Codrina Cretu and Andy Marsden about the benefits of this free scheme to people thinking of having a heat pump as well as the benefits to installation engineers who can use it as a marketing tool.

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Episode 3 of the Heat Pump Ready programme.

Nathan chats to

Ian Rose arPassiv UK,

Casey Cole at Guru,

and Mark Lufkin at Wondrwall

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Nathan talks with Katrina from Energy Systems Catapult and Trysten Lee from Open Energy Monitor about a key question surrounding the Electrification of Heat (EoH) trial: why did the heat pumps perform so poorly? The trial, involving aprox. 740 heat pumps, showed an average Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF) of just 2.81 for air source.

This contrasts sharply with the performance of heat pumps monitored by Trysten at HeatPumpMonitor.org (HPM). Interestingly, many of the installers whose systems are tracked on HPM are relatively new to the field, some with only a few years of heat pump experience. Yet, they consistently achieve high-performing heat pump installations, a stark difference from the results of the large-scale trials. This success likely stems from their adherence to the two BetaTeach principles, their approach to self-directed learning, and their use of peer-to-peer learning. They also tend to pursue different training paths, rather than relying solely on the standard 3-day BPEC and LCL Award courses.

The trial, conducted in partnership with Warmworks, OVO, and E-ON, involved 19 MCS contractors installing approximately 750 free heat pump systems.  Beyond heat pump performance, the trial has provided valuable insights that are informing policy development in areas such as planning permission and Distribution Network Operator (DNO) applications. 

Trystan and his team have managed to visualise the data captured from the trial at eoh.heatpumpmonitor.org


For information on the Air to Air trial and to see if you can have a free A2A heat pump system click here

This season is sponsored by PrimaryPro

Primary Pro, a pipe insulation system developed by Dave Smith, is gaining popularity among engineers for use in heat pump installations.

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Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery systems are discussed with Nathan's guests Duncan and Barry Sharp.

Regular listeners will know Barry from previous episodes of BetaTalk and is one of Nathan's favourite heat pump engineers based in Scotland.

Duncan is Barry's dad and has been specialising in MVHR systems since around 2010.

The discussion looks at how effective MVHR is and the problems with design, installation and commissioning. 

Duncan spends a lot of his time helping others understand MVHR and is involved in surveying the systems in social housing as well as designing and installing systems.


 

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Nathan interviews Mick Wall, a self-proclaimed 'heating nerd,' about his experiences with a heat pump expertly installed by Damon Blackmore, a renowned engineer. Mick's story, like those of Trystan and Glyn featured on episode 10 of BetaTalk's 10th season (who run heatpumpmonitor.org), exemplifies a fascinating shift: the rise of informed heat pump consumers. Their deep understanding around the "science of heat" surpasses that of many professionals in the industry's marketing, media, and PR sectors.

Mick's heat pump heating system is being monitored here

Mick also runs Energy Stats which tracks agile electricity prices and can be found here

Mick runs a blog and can be found on these social media sites:

https://twitter.com/Zarch1972
https://bsky.app/profile/zarch1972.bsky.social

This is a great episode and start to a new season being sponsored by
Primary Pro

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Nathan talks to Steph Willis and Joseph Saxby, founders of Spruce.

Lot's of topics covered in this exciting conversation such as heat loss, heat pump sizing and EPCs 

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Nathan chats to Iain from Edinburg Heating about his journey into heat pumps.

Iain has been using Barry at Renewable Heat (and a BetaTalk regular guest) as a mentor.

Training course are discussed as well the barriers micro-businesses face in transitioning from boilers to heat pump heating systems.

SEASON TEN IS SPONSORED BY
Ultimate Renewable Supplies

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Nathan welcomes back to the show Trystan and Glyn, the brilliant team behind heatpumpmonitor.org

BetaTalk would also like to mention the legendary John Cantor, one of the UK's first ever heat pump gurus, who has helped the team develop this wonderful learning tool 

This show is PACKED with fantastic information so check out the chapter markers if you need to find specific pieces of information. But make sure you listen to the whole show...you won't want to miss this one.  

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Notorious heat pump design expert Michael, from Option Energy Solutions in Brighton Sussex, comes on the show with Tom from Somerset.

Tom runs Arlow Plumbing and Heating and has a team of five involved in the installation of gas and oil boilers. Tom started installing heat pumps quite a few years ago and has recently teamed up with Michael who has provided some mentorship.

The conversation naturally discussed training, one of the subjects Nathan at BetaTalk is regarded as being an expert on. The episode is more proof of how engineers are learning more from each other than perhaps the courses which are on offer.

The chat discussed recent changes proposed by DESNZ as well as discussing some of the manufacturers involved with heat pumps such as:

• Vaillant
• Viessmann
• Grant
• Ideal
• Worcester Bosch
• Mitsubishi
• Midea 

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The microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) recently became aware of a non-certified business targeting and encouraging MCS installers to break scheme requirements. 

We chat to Ben who has recently become MCS registered to discuss the situation along with his transitional journey into the world of heat pumps. 

We also discuss a current topical: Government funded heat pump training, which Nathan argues is not working as well as it should.   

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Nathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSky