These templates are intended to be used when considering potential installers and may be used, after refinement, as the basis for a project brief.
Questions to ask yourself to help the installer
Download the ‘Questions to ask yourself to help the installer’ template.
| Questions to ask yourself to help the installer | ||
| Question | Answer | Guidance |
| Existing heat source | eg gas boiler, oil boiler etc
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| Heat source capacity, if known
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in kW | |
| If a wet system, the existing flow and return temperature
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in degrees centigrade | |
| Existing heat emitters | eg wet radiators, underfloor heating, storage heaters etc | |
| Is the domestic hot water heated from the same heating system?
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eg no, there are electric heaters at each outlet | |
| Annual energy consumption, if known
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in kWh | |
| What is the current maximum demand capacity of the electrical supply, or the incoming fuse rating, if known
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eg 75 kVA | |
| Are floor plans available for the site? | ||
| Has a building survey identified the insulation properties of the building fabric and what are they?
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eg no loft insulation, single glazing | |
| Has an airtightness test been carried out and what was the result?
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Note: not essential or common but useful | |
| What are the typical occupancy hours of the building?
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| How is the building typically used? | eg sports or needlework classes
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| Is the building listed or in a conservation area?
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| Do you know of any planning restrictions relating to noise?
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| Is there, or will there be, a solar PV installation and of what size?
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| Describe the age of the system components | eg the central heating was installed in the 1980s and the boiler was replaced in 2010
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| Describe how the system is controlled | eg a timeclock reprogrammed each week and a single room thermostat
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| Describe the zoning of the system | eg the small meeting room has a separate thermostat and timer from the main function room
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| What temperatures do you need in what rooms? | eg 12°C in the stores, 20°C in the meeting room.
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| Describe any problems encountered with cold rooms | eg the ground floor toilets never warm up even with the radiator turned to 5
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| Describe any problems with the response of the system | eg it takes too long for the box office to get warm or as soon as the sun appears, the meeting room overheats
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| Describe your ideal control system | eg remote control via web app for programming and overriding. Limited local user control.
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| Describe (or sketch) your ideal layout for zoning | eg the performance space only gets used once a week so we want it separate from the offices
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| Describe any technical requirement which your likely funders may have
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Technical questions to ask an installer
Download the ‘Technical questions to ask an installer’ template.
| Technical questions to ask an installer | ||
| Question | Answer | Guidance |
| Do you recommend air-to-water or air-to-air and why?
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| What type of refrigerant do you propose and what is its global warming potential?
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eg propane, GWP<1 | |
| What do you recommend for the domestic hot water and why?
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| At what water temperature do you recommend running the system and why?
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| Do we need to replace or amend any of the existing pipe network or heat emitters?
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| Will we need to upgrade the incoming electricity supply?
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| Do you propose a thermal store and how large? | eg yes 5m³ to maximise use of PV and variable tariff pricing
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| What is the SCOP of the heat pumps that you propose?
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eg 3.1 | |
| What annual average COP do you expect to be achievable at this site?
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eg 2.7 | |
| What annual energy consumption for heat do you predict?
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In kWh | |
| What annual maintenance cost can we expect?
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| What can we expect as a lifetime for the heat pump.
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| What is the service and spares network like for your proposed heat pump manufacturer? | ||
