Vaillant heat pump offer for installer’s own home

UK: Vaillant has unveiled a new scheme to help installers fit a heat pump in their own home.

The scheme assumes that if an installer has a heat pump installed at their own property they can give customers an honest, genuine feedback on living with the technology.

The MyVaillant scheme is an extension of Vaillant’s MCS Partner Programme, which is in place to support installers in England, Scotland and Wales to fit heat pumps in a customer’s property, 

Working with MCS partners EcoFuture and Vito Energy, the new 

MyVaillant install scheme is offering 300 installers the chance to access the BUS grant, subject to eligibility requirements, to help fund their own switch to a heat pump. 

It also opens the door to valuable support throughout the install – from the system design and heat pump product purchase, right through to installation tips, commissioning and MSC approval. 

“This scheme is ideal for those wanting to get into or even boost their heat pump installation numbers,” commented Jay Abley, director of operations at Gateshead-based installer EcoFuture. “As the technology is new to many customers across the UK, having one fitted in your own home makes it easier to give genuine, real-world experience of living with the product.”

As an experienced heat pump installer, EcoFuture says it understands the questions that those new to heat pump technology may have. 

“We’ve probably asked them ourselves at some point,” Abley said. “We aim to support installers through the process in a way that we would have appreciated when we were starting out.”

Don Graham, Vaillant’s renewable systems national sales manager, added: “For many, being able to get that first install under the belt is key. Knowing you have the support behind you to transfer existing skills is important here. We, working with EcoFuture and Vito Energy, have designed these two schemes to offer the advice that can really help exactly where it is needed, whether that is design advice, technical support during installation and, of course, the final commissioning and MCS sign off.

“When it comes to logistics, the upfront cost of buying a heat pump can be prohibitive in its own right, especially if an installer doesn’t have MCS accreditation and can’t access BUS funding. This scheme takes away that risk as the heat pump will be purchased via the BUS grant or MCS Partner Programme schemes.”

A similar scheme was announced by sustainable innovation charity Nesta UK last year, proposing to give newly trained heat pump installers an air-source heat pump to install in their own home. It was an attempt to overcome what it Nesta called the “first installs problem” and to ascertain whether installing a heat pump in their own house leads to an increase in speed of certification and confidence in skills, as well as increased uptake in heat pump technology.