In this four-part series, PHPI and Grant UK team up to bring you a whole house renewable heating project, from start to finish. This month we meet Jake Meadows, the installer on the project, and discover how the installation becomes MCS compliant thanks to Grant’s G-CERT scheme.
Meadows Plumbing & Heating is based in Chippenham, Wiltshire and covers all aspects of plumbing and heating including traditional fuel heating systems and renewable technologies. Jake Meadows is the installer on the PHPI/Grant House and we will be following his installation of Grant UK’s packaged solution for the house.
“I have fitted a lot of Grant products over the years and my experience with the company has always been very positive,” says Jake. “They supply really good products and the support is excellent too, from sales through to technical. We have worked closely with our local Grant UK Sales Representative, Chris Price, on a lot of our projects including underfloor heating installations, oil boiler installations and more recently with our renewable jobs.”
The installation includes an Aerona³ 13kW R32 Air Source Heat Pump, a MonoWave High Performance 300ltr Cylinder, a Uflex Underfloor Heating System (throughout the downstairs of the new extension), a Uflex MINI Underfloor Heating System (throughout the downstairs of the original property) and Afinia Aluminium Radiators (throughout upstairs of the entire property).
The installation of an Aerona³ R32 air source heat pump will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the property and will help to lower the household energy bills. Furthermore, as Jake is an approved Sub-Contractor through Grant UK’s G-CERT Scheme, the heat pump is eligible for the Government’s Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, earning the homeowners regular payments over seven years, delivering financial rewards for sustainable, low carbon heating.
G-CERT
As part of the G-CERT process, John Williams, one of Grant UK’s inhouse Senior Field Service Engineers, attended the site to complete a site survey which included both the installer and the homeowner. With the installer, John discussed the heat pump positioning, the pipework runs and sizing.
In this particular instance, a heat loss calculation was not carried out because it had previously been completed – but a heat loss calculation is also another part of the site survey that Grant UK can help with through the G-CERT Scheme. In addition, John discussed with the homeowner what they want to achieve from their new heating system as well as answering any queries on the controls or other aspects of the system they may have.
“It can be quite a costly process for a business to be MCS approved, which also involves significant amounts of administration that can take time to complete,” says Jake. “The G-CERT Scheme offers a solution to installers who want to install to MCS standards without formally registering with MCS themselves. The G-CERT Scheme takes care of all the paperwork and notifications as well as commissioning and signing off the system for MCS approval.”
Removing the hassle
“With this particular installation, John assisted with the site survey and then attended the site again once we had completed the installation of the heat pump unit and system. He checked the installation to ensure that all the MCS requirements and standards have been met and then he signed off the job so that MCS approval on the install could be achieved. The G-CERT Team then handled the associated registrations, including activating the product guarantees and registering the installation on the MCS database.”
About the house
The Grant House is a four-bedroom semi-detached property in Wiltshire which is undergoing a complete heating system upgrade as part of a wider renovation project. In addition to building a large extension off the side of the property, the owners are upgrading their home’s heating system, changing from a gas boiler to a renewable system thanks to the installation of a Grant Aerona³ air source heat pump.
To find out more, click here
About Grant UK
Grant UK has been designing and manufacturing reliable and easy to install heating products for over four decades. It’s product portfolio includes award winning Vortex oil fired condensing boilers and the latest renewable technologies like solar thermal, air source heat pumps, cylinders and condensing biomass (wood pellet) boilers, and an oil boiler/air source heat pump hybrid. The company also has a growing range of heat emitters from wet underfloor heating systems through to fan convectors and aluminium radiators.
Coming up in Part Three
We follow the step-by-step installation of the home’s underfloor heating system.
