Electrics and gas
The heat-pump controller was sitting in holiday mode. Does that screen prove the system cannot heat the house?
No. Holiday mode on the screen does not prove the system cannot heat the house. It shows the controller was left in a setback setting when the surveyor looked. The visit did not switch the heat pump to normal heating, did not measure output, and did not decide the unit is faulty. A mode can be changed by the occupant. The report records the screen that was showing. It has not decided the house cannot be heated, and it has not decided the plant is in good working order.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Holiday mode is a control setting, often used to hold a lower demand while people are away. It is not a fault code by itself, and it is not a capacity test. The survey saw a display. It did not log flow temperatures, did not listen for a full heating cycle, and must not invent those readings. What the system would do in normal mode was not demonstrated. The screen explains the setting. It does not write off the heat pump.
Ask the occupant or a heating engineer to show the controller in its usual heating setting if you need to see that change. Tell your solicitor the unit was found in holiday mode and was not run up as a test. The survey does not decide grant eligibility. Do not tell a lender the house has no heating because of that screen. The limit is a setting at one moment, not a proved inability to heat.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was holiday mode only a setting on the screen that day?
- Did the visit avoid running the system up to normal heating?
- Has output been left unmeasured?
What are the typical next steps?
- Record holiday mode without calling the heat pump unable to heat.
- Ask for the usual setting to be shown if that demonstration is needed.
- Do not tell a lender the screen was a heating test.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Can the occupant leave holiday mode on by mistake?
Yes. A controller stays where it was last set, including by mistake or for an absence. The survey did not decide why holiday mode was selected. Reason is not required for the limit. The screen was not a test of heating capacity. Whatever the reason, the visit did not prove the system cannot heat the house.
Does a blank schedule on the same controller prove a wiring fault?
No. A schedule, blank or filled, is still a display. The survey did not test the wiring and did not measure whether heat can be produced. Holiday mode and a timetable are control notes. Neither one is a fault-finding test of the heat pump or of the circuits that feed it.