Aim high. That’s my ethos, whether it is for qualifications, life expectations, or developing skills in my second career. Drawn to plumbing after a successful tap and toilet fix, I began my learning journey from being someone who thought their hot water cylinder was their boiler, to becoming a passionate advocate of heat pump technology.
I love to learn and, being a self-professed geek, I was drawn to the manner and ideology of Adam Chapman, otherwise known as the HeatGeek. His YouTube presence is significant and I would diligently watch his videos and make notes. When I whinged on a podcast about the agonising path into heat pump ‘know-how’, he contacted me, suggesting I complete his new heat pump course – ‘The Awakening’.
The Awakening is an online training course aimed at teaching the fundamentals of heating design. It is designed to bring you up to speed on principles such as heat loss, flow rates, and emitter sizing, to enable you to install systems that are more efficient, as well as give you the skills to move into renewables such as heat pumps.
Initially, I underestimated the time I would need to apply myself, but after 30 minutes of fervently delving into the course, I realised I had to send the kids away – far, far away – and concentrate. This course means business.
As stated in its spiel, HeatGeek’s training isn’t your typical ‘tick box’ training programme; it tests you and it is meant to. Thankfully, the amazing ancillary Facebook group, for discussions about the course, proved to be an invaluable resource.
My advice after you sign up for the course is to not start it straight away, but spend some time in the Facebook group, read some of the previous discussions, and keep track of where they are in case you need them later. Each module has designated pages, and either someone will be asking the same questions as you or they will be quick to put you on the right path; there’s no judgement, only encouragement.
As for the course itself, module one comprises the basics, but please note you may have to revisit this module and its concepts again. This was the ‘wake up’ part for me in The Awakening, and it really engaged my brain.
Module two is all about heat loss. Now, I have been doing this for a while – not years, granted – but since I got into renewables, heat loss has always been touted as a vital element to consider to achieve a fully functional system design. I like heat loss, but I didn’t like this module. It stretched me and, from reading the Facebook comments, it stretched others too. However, after completion, my understanding of what I had been plugging into software was reinforced, and I felt a real sense of achievement.
Module three was almost a relief after that. Mass flow and its magic triangle were concepts that make a lot of sense to me. However, being comfortable with the numbers, and knowing how power and flow rate interact and affect Delta T really made me positively grin.
Module four, on velocity and pipe sizing and their importance to a well-designed system, however, made me realise how easy it would be to miscalculate and end up in failure.
Module five showed me that pressure loss or resistance were aspects that, in reality, I hadn’t had to factor into my calculations. It tends to be down to the installers, but now I know!
Modules six and seven flew by in a blurry maths deluge as I wrestled with emitter sizing (a daily part of my job at present), and how and when to use low temperature controls, including weather compensation.
Overall I’m really pleased with the course. You can do it at home and in your own time. Although, for anyone in the industry, there’ll be bits you know but, like an iceberg, there are extensive work and calculations under the surface that no-one sees.
The general public has become more familiar with heat pumps in recent years. Driven in the past by the Renewable Heat Incentive and now by the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme outlined in the Heat and Buildings Strategy and starting in April 2022, the technology is attracting much discussion.
In the heating industry we are in a privileged position to be able to help make a real change in the battle against climate change, but we need to do it well. Let’s all strive to be good at what we do; let’s all be HeatGeeks.
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