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40+ years on Britain's safety-critical plants. Independent. Nobody can pay for a verdict.
Send a photo of your quote. I'll read it as a person, not a computer, and tell you in plain English what's good, what's missing and what to ask before you sign.
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Darren Emery M.Sc.40+ years, Senior Project Instrument Engineer & Technical AuthorityNobody can pay for a verdict
Quote check · exampleAir source Heat Pump
🔥 Solar Safety
91 in 2022. 212 in 2025. That's from UK fire services' own records, gathered by the insurer QBE. Solar is safe. Bad installation isn't.
Start here
Pick one and I'll take you straight to the form. A photo of the quote is fine.
Simple answers, one idea at a time. What's a Heat Pump? Can my house charge an EV? Sparky keeps it short and friendly — for families, and for anyone who'd rather skip the jargon.
Sparky never tells you what to buy, and he never judges a quote. That's Darren's job.
See Sparky in the EV guide →The full working — the numbers, the physics, and exactly what to look for on a quote. Every sum shows its workings and the date it was checked.
"In my old world, nobody took a design figure on trust. We measured it."
How I check a quote →Why this exists
Our job is to slow the conversation down and give you the facts.
The government's own trial monitored Heat Pumps in real homes. 91.9% were running below their design figure — on average about 18% below. That's not because Heat Pumps don't work. It's because design, installation and settings get missed. That's exactly what an Engineer looks for.
Source: Energy Systems Catapult for DESNZ, Electrification of Heat report, December 2024. Dec 2024 report
Ask the Engineer
A photo or PDF is fine. Tell me what's worrying you.
I take a limited number each week so every quote gets real attention.
Green, amber, red — and the questions to put back to your installer.
Quote check — Air source Heat Pump
The guides
Sparky's short answer first, then the Engineer's working. Four are live; the rest are on the bench. Every figure is sourced and dated.
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Beyond the Quote Check
About
I'm Darren Emery M.Sc. I started in 1983 as an apprentice Instrument Artificer and spent the next 40-odd years in the hard end of British industry — refineries, power stations, petrochemicals, steelworks, pharmaceuticals, water and offshore. I finished as a Senior Project Instrument Engineer and Technical Authority on major safety-critical projects.
In that world, if a plant isn't doing what it was designed to do, that's a fault to be found — not an opinion. I bring the same discipline to Homeowners' quotes.
M.Sc. · SIL Champion · DSEAR Champion · Hazard Studies Leader · Gas and Vapours (Ex01–Ex04) competency
"Small savings, big results. That's an Energy Acorn."
An Energy Acorn is what this site is about: a little bit of good advice now, and you're warmer and better off for years.
Send it to me and I'll check it — as a person, not a computer — for free. A one-page report, green, amber, red, and the questions to ask your installer.
— Darren Emery M.Sc., Engineer