Heating pump industry leaders are calling on the UK government to crack down on the ‘swarm’ of non-compliant pumps being imported into the UK, potentially costing consumers hundreds of pounds every year
There are concerns in the heat pump industry that more than 100,000 non-compliant pumps are being sold from overseas in the UK every year.
The UK government estimates that minimum energy performance standards from compliant pumps provide annual savings of £75 and greenhouse gas emissions savings of 8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (MtCO2e). This saving is now likely to be much higher due to recent increases in energy prices.
An estimated 10% of heat pumps being brought to the UK are non-compliant
Steve Schofield, chief executive of the British Pump Manufacturers Association (BPMA) commented: “We estimate that circa 10% of the one million central heating pumps, technically known as circulators, being brought into the UK are non-compliant. It is a swarm; it is blatant and it is now over-the-counter.
“Once fitted, they are costing consumers hundreds of pounds every year on their heating bills, and it is seriously impacting the UK’s ability to meet its net zero obligations. The imported pumps use old-style AC motors that are less than half the price of permanent magnet motors equipped with microchips to vary the speed of the pump to reduce energy consumption. The non-compliant 3-speed pumps use circa 100 watts of energy compared to 30 watts for the permanent magnet design.”
Supply chain restrictions have encouraged wholesalers to source non-compliant products
Schofield continued: “Supply chain issues, specifically problems with microchips, has brought the problem into the mainstream heating product distribution channels, with Far Eastern exporters taking advantage of high levels of demand and insufficient supply.”
The key problem is in the stand-alone pump replacement market
Lee Tebbatt, managing director at Wilo UK and incoming Vice President of the BPMA, added: “The stand-alone market, where a non-condensing boiler is being used with a hot water cylinder and header tank, is the target for non-compliant pumps. Typically, this market is circa one million units per year.”
Non-compliant pumps that Wilo experts have seen are being manufactured to look like genuine OEM pumps, even sometimes equipped with fake CE markings that stand for China Export.
Tebbatt added: “We’re seeing pumps that are illegal in terms of their energy efficiency being disguised with fake CE markings. The installer won’t know that they are buying a fake pump over the counter and the consumer won’t know that it’s being fitted.”
A clampdown from the UK government is needed
Steve Schofield concluded that a ‘clampdown’ from the UK government is needed to address the issue: “We have been very lax in the UK in terms of policing the market and eradicating non-compliant pumps. Continental European countries have much stricter regulatory policing regimes and are not being targeted in the same way.
“It is the legal responsibility of the importer to ensure that only compliant pumps are brought into the UK. However, legal responsibility does not stop there. It is the distributor’s responsibility to only sell CE marked pumps and it is the installer’s responsibility to ensure that what they are fitting is compliant. We need the government to step in, empower the market surveillance authorities, and clampdown to protect consumers and its own climate change targets.”
