ᐅ How have you installed your heat pumps?

We are getting an air source heat pump. The electrician gave the concrete contractor a drawing so that the latter could build a foundation. He did that as well. According to the drawing, he placed the recess for the supply line in the front left corner. Then the heat pump was delivered and temporarily placed on the foundation; see photo. It stayed there for months. I then asked what would happen with the black component. The boss replied, "That will be inserted into the heat pump." By that point, he really should have realized that this wouldn’t work.

Now the connection was made. And what a surprise: it is not possible to position the heat pump centered on the foundation because the recess is in the wrong place. Then the electrician installed this part; see photo. I am simply appalled and the chief electrician’s reply was: "That was a communication problem. My employee installed the heat pump way too high. It will be lowered further, about 5cm (2 inches) above the concrete. Then a frame will be added around it, filled with gravel, and then it won’t be visible anymore." Am I being too demanding? It’s a miracle they even managed to anchor it so close to the edge. Will that hold in the long run? The concrete contractor is not at fault. He worked according to the electrician’s drawing.

What can I demand now? Ideally, I want them to redo the entire foundation properly. That means the electricians can't do it themselves. They could commission the concrete contractor, but I will not pay for that.

How did you install your heat pumps?

You are losing sight of what really matters. It doesn’t matter at all that the outdoor unit is not centered on the foundation. That is purely cosmetic. What won’t work is the mounting on the left side; it won’t hold. Filling it in with gravel does not solve the problem.
The question is how much the supply lines can be “bent” so the heat pump can be shifted 5-10cm (2-4 inches) to the right, because that is the leverage needed to remount the heat pump, not because you want perfect symmetry.

What a lot of effort for a simple heat pump. And why isn’t it decoupled and placed on some sort of vibration-isolating supports?

My two heat pumps were installed like this:

Basically strip foundations. On top of that, Bigfoot mounts for vibration isolation (the heat pumps are then screwed onto the rails – the feet are free-standing and can be freely positioned left or right). The supply line comes from the back (not visible here yet). Later, everything will be finished neatly.

Zaba12 schrieb:

You’re losing sight of what really matters. It doesn’t matter at all that the outdoor unit isn’t centered on the foundation. That’s just cosmetic. What won’t work is fastening it on the left side, that won’t hold. Filling it in with gravel won’t solve the problem.
The question is how much you can bend the supply lines so the heat pump can be shifted 5–10cm (2–4 inches) to the right, because that’s the only way to reposition and secure the heat pump—not just for symmetry’s sake.

Exactly, I don’t think that will hold permanently either. And I’ve heard that the pipes can be bent.

@nordanney why do you need two heat pumps?

Seeing it this way, I should insist on the supply temperature with my preferred gas boiler when dealing with the general contractor (GC)...