Energy Unwrapped with Mick Wall

Can you really learn to install a heat pump in just three or four days? And what's the difference between being qualified and genuinely competent?In this episode of Energy Unwrapped, I'm joined by Ian Edgeworth, a heating engineer, technical educator, author and co-founder of Energy PUNK.Ian has spent over 30 years in the heating industry, starting with a plumbing and gas apprenticeship before moving into technical training.We discuss the problems with conventional heat pump training, why passing a qualification doesn't necessarily make someone competent, and why engineers need to understand the fundamentals of heating rather than simply learning how to install equipment.Ian also explains why he initially disliked heat pumps, how installing one in his own home changed his thinking, and why he's now trying to change the way heating engineers learn.Introducing Energy PUNKIan and his wife Carolynn have been developing Energy PUNK, a different approach to technical education.I was fortunate enough to get trial access to the first module, and I was really impressed by the variety of teaching methods.Instead of death by PowerPoint, the learning combines short videos, explanations, interactive simulators, written material, real-world scenarios and practical challenges.The idea is to help engineers understand how heating systems work, not simply memorise enough information to pass an assessment.We also discuss how Energy PUNK could help existing gas engineers improve their heating systems, even if they're not planning to install heat pumps.In this episode:-Ian's journey from apprentice plumber to technical educator-The difference between qualifications and competence-Why conventional heat pump training needs another approach-Ian's two books on heat pumps and low-temperature heating-Why Ian initially disliked heat pumps-Understanding energy, heat loss and system performance-A first look at Energy PUNK-Interactive learning, simulators and practical challenges-Combining online learning with practical training-The future of heating education#HeatPumps #HeatPumpTraining #EnergyPUNKFind Ian and Energy PUNKEnergy PUNK:https://www.energypunk.net/New Perspective Learning Solutions, including Ian's books:https://www.newperspectivels.com/Ian Edgeworth and Energy PUNK can also be found on LinkedIn.➤ Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?🔗 https://trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:🔗 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy🔗 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/⚡Switch to E.ON Next🔗 https://tidd.ly/4xD3E6R⚡Switch to EDF Energy🔗 https://tidd.ly/3UVHbUa⚡ Axle Energy Referral (free to join and £25 sign up bonus)🔗 https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZOD➤ Paul Spence: What’s Wrong With Heat Pump Installations?🔗 https://youtu.be/YaDlLdi4mh4

A 15kWh home battery for around £3,000, sold at cost by a not-for-profit, with no solar panels required.Matt Stockdale invented Oven Pride. Then he was quoted £12,000 for a home battery and decided that number was absurd. So he set up the 2223 Community Interest Company that imports a G99-compliant 15kWh battery system and sells it at cost price.In this Energy Unwrapped episode we go deep on both the numbers and the engineering. How a 15kWh battery-only system compares to a £12,000 installer quote. Why the inverter's 6.2kW continuous and 12.4kW peak rating is enough for a four-bedroom home. Why Matt insisted on fire suppression in every enclosure when it wasn't required. And what G99 compliance testing actually involves, in his words, "CE mark on steroids".We also cover the awkward part: the tariffs. A home battery only pays if you can charge it cheaply, so we get into 6.5p overnight versus 30p peak, the new battery-only tariffs that aren't restricted to EV owners, and why suppliers are unlikely to pull cheap night rates any time soon.Then the grid angle. Over 61 days in August and September, Matt's house looked like a single old-fashioned 60W light bulb to the grid during the day. His first full month's bill, house and car, came in at £46.03 for 610kWh.If you're looking at home battery storage, trying to work out whether battery payback is real without solar, or just want to know why installer quotes vary so wildly, this one is for you.#HomeBattery #BatteryStorage #EnergyBills #UKEnergy #SolarBattery➤ Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?🔗 https://trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:🔗 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy🔗 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/⚡Switch to E.ON Next🔗 https://tidd.ly/4xD3E6R⚡Switch to EDF Energy🔗 https://tidd.ly/4a2Xbbr⚡ Axle Energy Referral (free to join and £25 sign up bonus)🔗 https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZOD➤ The 22:23 Community Interest Company🔗 https://www.the2223.org/➤ Gee Power🔗 https://www.geepoweress.com/uk/why-geepower-supports-the-2223➤ Matt on YouTube🔗 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ6CdmXmlVdkD4nCYGUDlRA➤ You Won't Automatically Save Money With a Home Battery🔗 https://youtu.be/YzIEg4nhXzU

What does a qualification actually tell you about the person installing your heat pump? Paul Spence has been in heating since 1980, and his answer is blunt: not much.Paul started as an apprentice at Leeds Building College, spent five years as a marine engineer in the Royal Navy working on screw compressor chillers and ships' cooling systems, then went self-employed through the combi boiler boom of the 1990s. He now runs the Heat Pumps UK Facebook group, with 33,000 members, and has spent years rectifying heat pump systems that were signed off as compliant and still didn't work.In this episode we talk about what an apprenticeship used to involve versus a three-day course, why City & Guilds gave way to NVQs, how gas certification quietly let people into wet heating work they weren't trained for, and why the same problem has reappeared in heat pumps. Paul explains why he thinks MCS, MCS 3005D and BS 12831 have made installers' lives harder without improving standards, what the Boiler Upgrade Scheme's future means for certification bodies, and what a genuine apprenticeship route for the next generation of heat pump installers would look like.If you've had a heat pump installed and it isn't performing, or you're an engineer fed up with the paperwork, this one is for you.#heatpump #heatpumps #heatpumpinstaller➤ Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?🔗 https://trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:🔗 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy🔗 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/⚡Switch to E.ON Next🔗 https://tidd.ly/4xD3E6R⚡Switch to EDF Energy🔗 https://tidd.ly/4a2Xbbr⚡ Axle Energy Referral (free to join and £25 sign up bonus)🔗 https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZOD

Can you really get paid £1/kWh to help the grid with a home battery? I sat down with Pete Last from Axle Energy to explain how virtual power plants work, and how batteries, EV charging, heat pumps and hot water cylinders can earn money with grid flexibility.In this Energy Unwrapped deep dive we cover what demand flexibility actually means, why wind farms get turned off when it's too windy, how Axle Energy works alongside suppliers like Octopus Energy, what time of use tariffs like Octopus Agile get right, and why a battery without solar can now pay back in 4-5 years. We also dig into smart EV charging, vehicle to grid, heat pump flexibility without losing comfort, and why your hot water cylinder is a 10kWh battery.Whether you have solar battery storage already or you're looking at energy storage, electric cars and how to cut UK energy bills, this is real data on what works, what it pays, and where the numbers don't match the marketing.In this episode:- What is grid flexibility and why wind and solar need it- How Axle Energy's virtual power plant aggregates home batteries, EVs and heat pumps- £1/kWh home battery exports vs 27p price cap explained- Smart EV charging at home and £10/month rewards- Octopus Agile, Octopus Energy and time of use tariffs- Heat pump flexibility, hot water cylinders and whole home energy management#AxleEnergy #SolarBatteryStorage #OctopusAgile #EVCharging #HeatPump⚡ Axle Energy Referral (free to join and £25 sign up bonus)👉 https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZOD📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk🔥 Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?👉 https://trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/⚡Switch to E.ON Next👉 https://tidd.ly/4xD3E6R⚡Switch to EDF Energy👉 https://tidd.ly/4a2Xbbr

Heat pumps get talked about like they're brand new technology — they're not. On this episode of the Energy Unwrapped Podcast, I sit down with Nathan Gambling, lecturer in plumbing and heating and host of the Beta Talk podcast, to trace how Britain actually got its heating: from single-room fires, through town gas and the conversion to natural gas, to the combi boiler boom — and how heat pumps have quietly been running in the background the whole time, including one that heated a Norwich building from the River Wensum from 1945 until the 2000s.We get into:- Why "heat pumps are not new" — Graeme Haldane's 1927 experiments and John Sumner's 1945 Norwich heat pump- How Britain's town-gas-to-natural-gas conversion became one of the biggest planned engineering operations in peacetime history- Why Canvey Island became the UK's first LNG terminal- Why radiators were never designed to be scorching hot — and why that still trips people up with heat pumps today- Why the UK became the world's biggest gas boiler market, and what that legacy means for the heat pump transition now#HeatPumps #EnergyUnwrapped #UKHeating #RenewableEnergy #HeatingEngineerI'll leave a link to my trusted heat pump installer directory and the Energy Unwrapped podcast below.📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk🔥 Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?👉 https://trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/

Hot water cylinders are one of the UK's biggest untapped energy storage assets — and most homes don't even know it. In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped Podcast, I sit down with Pete Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Mixergy, to unpack a decade of engineering behind the smart hot water cylinder.We get into how top-down heating and stratification let a single 200L tank store roughly 10 kWh of usable energy, why there's something like 10 times more energy sitting in the UK's hot water tanks than in Dinorwig's pumped hydro plant, and how curtailed wind power in Scotland could be turned into free hot water for half of Scottish homes instead of being switched off.Pete also walks through why Mixergy moved to local, cloud-independent control, what the upcoming Secure Smart Electricity System regulation means for appliances like this, and where hot water storage sits against home batteries and EVs in the flexibility conversation.#Mixergy #HotWaterCylinder #EnergyStorage #UKEnergy #GridFlexibility #EnergyUnwrapped🎙️ Full Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk🔥 Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?👉 https://www.trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/⚡ Axle Energy Flexibility Referral (we both get £25):👉 https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZODGolden Rules (best heat pump hot water settings:👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTE1NiWCOtkFuture Homes Standard with Nigel Banks of Octopus👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln_ZEHDEiJIThe Cheapest Electricity has Moved👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PodKKVa_BCk

How does a gas engineer become a heat pump specialist?In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, Mick Wall speaks with James Clark of Elite Services Group about his journey from gas engineering into heat pumps and renewable heating.James explains how his approach to heat pump design and installation developed, the impact of Heat Geek training, and why good installers need to keep learning as the industry changes. We also discuss communication, customer handover, aftercare and the importance of learning from mistakes.The conversation covers the realities of building and running a renewable heating business, including the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, recruitment, changing technology and the challenge of delivering quality heat pump installations at scale.James also shares his experience of solar, home batteries, air conditioning and smart electricity tariffs — and explains why the role of a heating installer is increasingly becoming that of a whole-home energy adviser.In this episode:James’s journey from gas engineer to heat pump specialistWhat makes a good heat pump installerHeat pump design, training and continuous learningHeat-loss surveys, installation and customer handoverThe Boiler Upgrade Scheme and industry challengesRunning a heat pump and renewable heating businessSolar, batteries and air conditioningSmart tariffs and the future of home energy🔥 James and Elite Services Group are part of my Trusted Heat Pump Installer directory👉 https://www.trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):👉 https://mickwall.uk/octopus🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/

In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I speak to Glyn Hudson and Trystan Lea from OpenEnergyMonitor.We go back to the early days of OpenEnergyMonitor, from Glyn and Trystan meeting as childhood friends, to building early energy monitoring hardware, hand-soldered circuit boards, open-source software and the arrival of the Raspberry Pi.We also talk about how OpenEnergyMonitor moved from electricity monitoring into heat pump monitoring, how HeatPumpMonitor.org came about, and the role of John Cantor in helping shape real-world heat pump monitoring.This is a brilliant conversation about open-source energy monitoring, heat pump performance, billing-grade MID monitoring, manufacturer onboard data, installer learning, community forums, Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant, solar, batteries, EV charging and what better energy data can teach us.My own OpenEnergyMonitor journey started in October 2018 with an emonPi to monitor my solar. Since then, my setup has expanded to monitor solar, batteries, EV charging, cooking and my Vaillant heat pump. My heat pump was just system number 9 on HeatPumpMonitor.org.We also discuss what HeatPumpMonitor.org has revealed about good heat pump design, low flow temperatures, weather compensation, commissioning, accurate heat loss, simple system design, MID approved heat meters, onboard manufacturer monitoring, performance guarantees, consumer protection and what comes next for OpenEnergyMonitor.If you are thinking about getting a heat pump, take a look at my Trusted Heat Pump Installer Directory. I’m continuing to build it out with installers I would personally trust, and there is also a guide on how to choose a good installer.Links mentioned in this episode:OpenEnergyMonitorhttps://openenergymonitor.org/HeatPumpMonitor.orghttps://heatpumpmonitor.org/OpenEnergyMonitor Community Forumhttps://community.openenergymonitor.org/John Cantorhttps://johncantor.uk/Heat Pumps for the Home by John Cantorhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Heat-Pumps-Home-John-Cantor/dp/1785007793/📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk🔥 Need help choosing a trusted heat pump installer?👉 https://www.trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/

Want to save more with your home battery?In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I'm joined by Richard Eyres from PredBat to look at one of the most powerful home battery optimisation platforms available today.I've personally been running the open-source version of PredBat within Home Assistant for around 18 months, using it to automatically optimise my home battery against solar forecasts, electricity tariffs and household demand. It has genuinely saved me money, but it's always been aimed at enthusiasts.Now there's a commercial version designed for everyday homeowners.Richard explains how PredBat Cloud works, demonstrates the onboarding process live, and shows how it can help homeowners save more with their home battery by using solar forecasts, weather data, machine learning and dynamic electricity tariffs.We also discuss:• The history of Batpred and how it became PredBat• Why Home Assistant users love the open-source version• The new cloud platform and simplified setup• The 12-month savings guarantee• Solar forecasting and machine learning• Intelligent Octopus Go smart charging• Preventing your home battery discharging into your EV• Local hub vs cloud connectivity• GivEnergy support• Axle Energy virtual power plant integration• Why independent optimisation may be the future of home energy🔗 PredBat referral:https://predbat.com/ref/mick-wall🔗 Axle Energy referral (£25 joining credit):https://vpp.axle.energy/landing/grid?ref=R-ZWPYRZOD🔗 Trusted Heat Pump Installers:https://www.trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/🔗 Energy Stats UK:https://energy-stats.uk🔗 Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):https://mickwall.octopus.energy/🔗 Energy Unwrapped Podcast:https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/

Thinking about a heat pump from Heat Geek?In this episode of the Energy Unwrapped podcast, I sit down with Aadil Qureshi, CEO and co-founder of Heat Geek, to walk through the complete Heat Geek customer journey.We cover everything from the initial online estimate through to surveying, heat loss calculations, LiDAR scanning, Zero Disrupt design, installation, commissioning, performance guarantees and long-term support.My Heat Geek Affiliate Link:https://upgrades.heatgeek.com/c/mick-wall(You won't pay any more, but I may earn a small commission, thank you)Trusted Heat Pump Installers Directory:https://www.trustedheatpumpinstallers.co.uk/📊 Real-world UK energy data, analysis and tools:👉 https://energy-stats.uk⚡ Switch to Octopus Energy (we both get £50):👉 https://mickwall.octopus.energy/🎙️ Energy Unwrapped Podcast:👉 https://energy-stats.uk/energy-unwrapped-podcast/