Heat pump installations in the UK have already exceeded last year’s total, setting a new milestone for the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) with three months still to go in 2024. By the end of September, 42,000 installations were completed—outpacing 2023's total by approximately 4%.
The UK government is launching the Warm Homes Grant in 2025, an exciting initiative aimed at helping homeowners make their properties more energy-efficient. This fully funded scheme is available to those who meet certain criteria and could significantly reduce your energy costs while lowering your home's carbon footprint.
This week, the UK's last coal power station closed, signalling that the country’s energy landscape is undergoing a massive transformation. For over 200 years, coal was king, powering industry and homes alike. But today, renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro are rapidly replacing fossil fuels in the national grid. With that change comes a new challenge—and opportunity—for those of us in the heating and plumbing industry.
With the UK election out the way and a new government in place, we feel it’s important to explore the potential implications for the heat pump market now that Labour has taken the helm. For plumbers, particularly those considering diversifying into heat pump installations, Labour's anticipated measures could present significant opportunities in the evolving green energy sector.
The UK remains overly dependent on natural gas, according to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), which provides independent recommendations to the government.
In its recent annual assessment, the NIC highlights the urgent need to reduce reliance on high-cost, high-carbon natural gas and accelerate the adoption of heat pump technology to meet the ambitious net zero targets by 2050. According to the Commission, decarbonising buildings is a critical aspect of this transition and represents the single biggest challenge on the path to net zero.
We’re excited to launch our 2023 Summer Service Event. This summer, book a heat pump service with one of our experienced heat pump engineers for just £195 + VAT. If you want total peace of mind for your heat pump, take advantage of our service plan offer and receive the first 3 MONTHS FREE. To book a service or to enquire about our service plans please call us on 01993 220699, or make an enquiry through the website.
Air source heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular in many UK households for their energy efficiency and low carbon emissions. However, to ensure their optimal performance, it is important to regularly clean, maintain and service them. One of the key things you can do as a Samsung air source heat pump owner is to keep the filter clean.
Anti-freeze valves and glycol are two different components that serve similar purposes in a heat pump system. Glycol is a type of anti-freeze that is commonly used in heat pump systems to prevent the water in the system from freezing in cold weather. Glycol is specifically designed to lower the freezing point of water, which is necessary to prevent damage to the system in cold conditions. Anti-freeze valves, on the other hand, are designed to automatically open and drain out the water within the system when the water drops below a certain temperature.
In the rare event that your Samsung Gen6 stops working and leaves you without hot water, you can use the heat pump control panel to turn on the immersion heater to produce hot water. The immersion heater is essentially a back up electric boiler that can produce hot water at times of need. It should not be left running permanently and should be used sparingly due to the significant increase in costs.
The last few Autumns and Winters really have been a bit crazy when it comes to heat pump and hot water cylinder stock. Before the pandemic hit, most manufacturers had no ongoing stock issues however from 2020 onwards there has been a dramatic change, meaning we can no longer assume there will never be any issues with the supply chain. We therefore decided to make a big change to our distribution strategy. We extended our warehouse capacity so that we could significantly increase the quantities of both heat pumps and hot water cylinders from various manufacturers so that we could hold in stock ourselves.
Powervault and Alto Energy share a commitment to helping UK households dramatically reduce their carbon footprint and help drive toward Net Zero; because of this shared vision we have agreed to work together as affiliate partners, giving our respective customers access to the associated technology of another trusted UK supplier.
Here at Alto Energy, we’re always reviewing the product range that we offer our customers. Every project is different, meaning that the same product will not always be suitable to the application. Furthermore, supply chain diversity has never been more important than in 2022. The heat pump industry is a victim of the global chip shortage, as well as the more general materials shortages that have affected many industries.
