Guide

Part 6: How to select the right air source heat pump and why?

Throughout this series of posts, Chris Higgs, managing director of Freedom Heat Pumps has considered everything from the look and sound of heat pumps to the efficiency and electrical loading in the hopes that it helps you, the installer, answer some of the questions that your customers may have. Here, in our sixth and final post of this series, Chris takes a look at the cost of heat pumps, and why accreditation, such as that from MCS, may be important for installer.

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MCS accreditation

So, why is MCS accreditation important? Perhaps we could look at this from a slightly broader viewpoint and ask why any accreditation is important. Does accreditation guarantee that a heat pump will better than a heat pump which hasn’t been submitted for approval? No. In the same way that a sprinter who their race may be viewed as the fastest runner, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t another runner out of the 7.8 billion other human beings on the planet who may be quicker.

What accreditation (and in particular MCS) provides us, is a set of standards that equipment needs to comply with to receive almost all government incentives and industry insurance schemes. There is also a level of comfort to be gained, as both an installer and an end user, from choosing heat pump equipment which has met the same stringent accreditations that other equipment from major manufacturers has met. Neatly, accreditation, which on the face of it may appear onerous, enables market access for much less well-known brands, who can prove a level of measured performance that may be difficult for them to illustrate as they are new to the market.

Cost

What was it Benjamin franklin was credited with saying?

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten”. This is just as true with heat pumps, as it is with many other things. A good heat pump doesn’t have to be expensive, and an expensive heat pump doesn’t have to be good. There is no denying that in a lot of cases, cost of equipment will form part of the decision process. Two good examples of heat pumps which are at different ends of the cost scale would be the Midea MHC range (excellent value) and the RED range of air source heat pumps (premium or high end of the market).

We hope you’ve enjoyed this series on ‘How to select the right heat pump and why’, and that it has helped you find some of the answers to questions that your customers may be asking.