ASHP Maintenance Costs??

[SRE]

Had a call from one of our customers asking if we did ashp servicing. They had been quoted £400 from their installer for an annual service and replacement of refrigerant. This negates all savings made from having the ashp - it seemed a bit steep to me - does anyone else know what it should be costing??

 

[snowhead]

Why would they want to replace the refrigerant, apart from making the £400 for a "Service" seem reasonable?

 

[Earthstore]

Why would the refrigerant need changing? Do you have it changed in your fridge or freezer every year?

As far as I am aware to service an ASHP is quite simple so the cost should be around £100, unless someone knows different...

Added, Must learn to type quicker....

 

[Gavin A]

this is the same rubbish as I've found from a few solar water heating companies, where we've had people ringing us for their annual service and fluid replacement after the company's gone bust.

In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd meant to limit the discharges of the refrigerant as far as possible as they're either greenhouse gasses or ozone depleting, or erm something like that - not my field.

 

[SRE]

In 2004/5 when we were installing solar thermal the recommendation was to top up glycol every 5 years. I'd assumed that something similar would apply to ashp's when we installed those in 2005/6 nothing was even mentioned about servicing and replacing refrigerant. I'm really out of touch these days with both but thought it was a ridiculous price. The firm are local, I know there were issues with the installation and I'd assumed that's why we were asked to do the maintenance.

 

[ktech]

As far as i am aware you need to check the glycol and possibly top up, clean filter, make sure pump is clear of leaves etc, check immersion operation, operation of blow off valves, system pressure and expansion vessel as well as some other checks (manufacturer specific) - nothing too timeconsuming. The manufacturers we have installed require this as part of the warranty agreement and in the event of a claim require the written evidence of maintenance. £400 sounds steep though. No need to flush the full system and replace all glycol it cost far too much to chuck good stuff away when it just needs topping up.

 

[jason121]

We use fernox HP-15C in heat pumps and if that needs changing, its not cheap.

 

[jason121]

Also you need to charge more for servicing then installing.

 

[Earthstore]

Ethlyne Glycol is somewhat different from refrigerant, and glycol does degrade over a period of time, both from a freezing aspect and also the inhibitors, so needs either "topping up" or changing, but refrigerant has a much longer lifespan.

 

[jason121]

Fridge boys get away with charging more than us mere mortals

 

[ktech]

Guess it also depends if its a mono bloc or seperate system

 

[CES Heating]

Never heard of changing the refrigerant before, unless they have topped up with the wrong type and mixed two different types. Perhaps as mentioned they mean the glycol?

 

[BruceB]

Refrigerant in car air conditioning systems seems to deteriorate and need topping up or cleaning or replacing every few years to keep the aircon working well. But the working conditions there are harsher than most heat pumps. Domestic fridges never normally need topping up in the lifetime. I would guess a service interval of 5-10 years for heat pump refrigerant but have not checked with any manufacturers. I could believe an approach of - if it ain't broke don't try to fix it.