A homeowner in Gloucestershire has reported a negative experience with a heat pump, costing £11,500, which failed to adequately heat their home and resulted in higher energy bills. The reader, identified only as S.C., stated that some rooms in their 20-year-old, well-insulated home struggled to reach above 12 degrees Celsius, with the maximum temperature achieved being 18 degrees.
This is Money's consumer champion, Helen Crane, investigated the case. The homeowner had initially paid £4,000 out of pocket for the heat pump, with the remaining £7,500 covered by the government's Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Despite the shift to renewable energy, the household's winter energy bills increased to between £200 and £300 per month, with some days reaching £20, a situation the homeowner described as a disaster.
Further complications arose from the unit's external placement, which caused noise issues for the residents. The homeowner contacted the installer, Octopus, in November, but initial visits and assurances that the system was working correctly did not resolve the heating issues. Between November and March, the homeowner reported being repeatedly given corporate responses, with issues being "actively reviewed" and solutions "discussed internally."
Escalation attempts, including contacting Octopus boss Greg Jackson and referring the case to the certification body Napit, did not yield a resolution before the homeowner reached out for assistance in April. At that point, the homeowner stated they would keep the heat pump if it could be made to function correctly; otherwise, they requested the old boiler be reinstalled and their £4,000 contribution refunded.
Octopus stated that heat pumps are typically designed to heat bedrooms to 18 degrees and living spaces to 21 degrees, and that these temperatures were included in the final contract. However, the company acknowledged it "should have explained this more clearly during the initial sales conversation." Following the intervention of the consumer champion, Octopus's technical director reviewed the case. While the heat pump itself was not found to be faulty, calculations revealed that the home was losing slightly more heat than anticipated due to insulation variations. To rectify the situation, Octopus has agreed to perform the necessary work to improve the home's heat retention, ensure it reaches the desired temperatures, and will refund the homeowner's £4,000 contribution. The company also indicated that the case would be used to review and improve its after-care service for heat pump customers.