Sheffield heating engineer named best in Yorkshire for third year running

The Swallownest resident won the titles in the Heating Installer Awards and will now battle it out with installers from other regions to be crowned the best in the country at a ceremony in June – an award for which he was runner-up in 2022.

“I take real pride in my work,” Damon said, “so it’s nice to be recognised by the Heating Installer Awards. It would be incredible to win the national award – I’ve come so close before, maybe this is my year.”

Damon’s award-winning install was a Viessmann Vitocal air source heat pump for a 1930s detached three-bedroom home in Fulwood.

“This one was a tricky install, with lots of challenges around the limited space available in the house. In the end we came up with an innovative solution under the stairs without compromising on efficiency.”

The new system is one of the most efficient in the country, running at an incredible SCOP of 4.9 – which means it is 490% efficient and significantly cheaper to run than a gas combi boiler despite electricity costs being higher than gas.

“This installation allowed the customer to remove his gas supply completely, meaning he no longer has to pay that standing charge,” Damon says.

“Combined with his solar panels he was actually paid around £300 for exporting energy last July. Even over winter his bills have been coming in at around £50 per month – and that includes being cosy in his home and charging his electric car.”

Having spent 18 years in the industry working with heat pumps and gas boilers, Damon underwent specialist training through the Heat Geek scheme to attain Elite status – the only installer in South Yorkshire to achieve this level.

In recent years heat pump installation has become the focus of Damon’s work. “Heat pumps are the future,” he says. “When I was a gas engineer I could see the direction the industry was moving in, and I wanted to embrace the change and make sure I kept up.”

“We were spoiled by cheap gas for decades, which meant engineers could throw in oversized, underperforming gas boiler systems and get away with it. You can’t do that now – everything needs to be optimised to ensure you are getting maximum value for money when that energy bill comes through the door.”

Damon also offered his expert advice to anyone currently considering switching to a heat pump: “You need to make sure they get a proper heat loss calculation done, which will mean you get the correctly sized unit – bigger isn’t always better with heat pumps,” he said.

“You also need to check your engineer is optimising it properly for your home, because every property has different requirements.”

Blakemore Plumbing and Heating can be found here.

More information on the 2024 Heating Installer Awards can be found here.