'My heat pump is a money trap': Father claims eco-friendly boiler alternative 'quadrupled his bills then broke down'

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A father claims his heat pump is a 'money trap' that has quadrupled his bills and is set to cost him thousands of pounds to fix.

Vahid Aminzadeh, 45, moved into his newly built home in 2020, which came fitted with a brand new air-source heat pump (ASHP).

But a series of faults with the so-called green alternative to a gas boiler have left him, his wife and his five-year-old daughter living in thermals and onesies.

Unable to heat up the family's home to anything more than 15 degrees, Mr Aminzadeh has resorted to back-up heating options such as plug-in fan heaters and an electrical hot-water system, which are setting him back £15 a day.

To even have an engineer check the system costs the family £180 an hour before VAT, compared to roughly £50 for a routine gas boiler check.

Mr Aminzadeh was eventually given the parts to fix his ASHP free of charge, with a faulty heat exchange valve having already been installed, while a new condenser for the device is due to be fitted on Friday. 

Before it developed a fault, the pump, which had not undergone any annual servicing since its installation between 2019 and 2024, was costing Mr Aminzadeh up to £300 a month in electrical bills, four times what he was paying before.

But his new-build home in East Molesey, Surrey cannot be connected to the gas network because of its A energy rating.

Vahid Aminzadeh, 45, moved into his newly built home in 2020, which came fitted with a brand new air-source heat pump

Currently, grants of up to £7,500 are offered to home owners looking to switch their central heating system to the more eco-friendly air-source heat pumps 

The air-source heat pump manufacturer will only install a new pump if Mr Aminzadeh purchases an entirely new system costing over £7,000

Mr Aminzadeh lamented: 'This is horrible.

'It (the heat pump) was here when I moved in so I didn't choose it but I at least thought it would be cheaper and more efficient, but basically they're a trap.

'The government gives companies a massive grant to install them but if they don’t work or something goes wrong you’re the one left freezing and no one will come and fix it for you.'

Currently, grants of up to £7,500 are offered to home owners looking to switch their central heating system to the more eco-friendly air-source heat pumps.

However, there is no reimbursement or compensation scheme for those who take them up on the offer, leaving the likes of Mr Aminzadeh left to deal with contractors and engineers on their own. 

Labour has been pushing heat pumps hard as it pursues a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 - but has rolled back on plans from the previous government to make gas boilers mandatory from 2035.

It is thought that the high costs associated with heat pumps, and a general lack of awareness among the public, is behind the failure by Brits to adopt them so far. 

But housebuilders are being encouraged now, ahead of mandatory legislation, to build the devices into their homes instead of boilers.

Taking aim at the government, Mr Aminzadeh accused authorities of 'pushing technology that is not ready'.

'Companies are just interested in getting the grant and I don't believe enough people installing them even know how they work and how to sort out problems.

'The very few people who do know how to help have a monopoly on the market so charge very high rates.'

Air-source heat pumps are supposed to circulate heat from the air around a water tank and then pump the heated water around the heating system.

The hot water is also pumped around another water tank to provide hot tap water.

When the pump fails to heat the water for washing, an electric heating system kicks in, but the tank runs out so fast that the Aminzadeh family are regularly having cold showers.

As a result, they have turned to small electric fan heaters which can't be left on when they are out or asleep at night.

These heaters only cover a quarter of the house, but are costing the family over £200 a month to use.

The electricity bill would be even higher if it were not for the solar panels on top of the family's home.

Even if Mr Aminzadeh could connect the property up to the gas network, he has been told the process could take as long as three months. 

Mr Aminzadeh moved into the newly built property with his family in 2020

The property has an 'A' energy rating and is not connected to the main gas networks supply lines

The family have now seen their electrical bills quadruple, according to Mr Aminzadeh

Air-source heating pumps are seen as a key feature of the government's net-zero plans, with 18 per cent of the nation's greenhouse emissions coming from heating homes in 2021

'All I want is a warm house, but we're freezing to death and having cold showers every day', the software developer said.

'Someone's house is their safe haven. When it's cold and your family are cold and you can't get anyone to fix the problem it has a huge impact on your mental health', he added.

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Mr Aminzadeh contacted the company that installed his ASHP when he moved in, but was told they wouldn’t service the unit.

It was later discovered that the heat pump unit had not undergone any annual servicing since its installation in 2019, a requirement under the terms of its warranty. 

Mr Aminzadeh contacted the heat pump manufacturer, NIBE, in October 2024, when he reported that the original installer would not diagnose the fault under warranty due to a lack of servicing records.

A second installer, named Baystar - who was recommended by NIBE - attended the property on October 18 and November 4 and initially diagnosed a faulty heat exchange valve.

The manufacturer decided to provide the part free of charge, despite the warranty being invalidated. The part had to be ordered from NIBE's head office in Sweden, with delivery taking around four weeks.

Baystar later identified a leak in the condenser, which also required a replacement. NIBE then sent a new condenser free of charge as a goodwill gesture, which is due to be installed on January 17.

Mr Aminzadeh said it would cost around £3,000 to replace the ASHP unit, but claims he can’t get anyone to do that because they’ll only offer him an installation of a whole new system for over £7,000, he said.

He concluded: 'This is a complicated system, it's like asking everyone to switch to driving a car with a jet engine: the government are focused on meeting a target with no regard for the pain it's causing people.'

Paul Smith, Managing Director of NIBE in the UK, said: 'Annual servicing is vital for the optimal performance and longevity of air source heat pumps. 

'On this occasion the customer has not had his heat pump serviced. Regular servicing ensures system flushing, identifies any installation issues, necessary settings changes, software updates, and helps maintain system efficiency. 

'Had servicing been carried out, the warranty would have remained valid, and the issue with the condenser might have been avoided entirely. 

'Despite the warranty being invalidated, we have honoured our commitment to the customer by providing free replacement parts and working closely with our Approved Repair and Maintenance Partner to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.'

Air-source heating pumps are seen as a key feature of the government's net-zero plans, with 18 per cent of the nation's greenhouse emissions coming from heating homes in 2021.

However, take up of the eco-friendly systems has lagged far behind estimations, with just 18,900 homeowners purchasing the pumps under the government's grant scheme between May 2022 and May 2023. 

The two principal factors in this slow uptake have been identified as rising energy costs and a general lack of awareness around the technology.

Although heat pumps are significantly more efficient than boilers, electricity prices are much higher than gas, meaning that the air-source pump systems have proven a more costly heating method than traditional boilers.

Moreover, a 2024 survey found that over 30 per cent of Brits were not even aware of the technology or even the government's net-zero initiative itself.

Just last week, Labour were forced to ditch plans to ban the sale of new gas boilers by 2035 as result of the slow implementation and skepticism surrounding air-source heat pumps.