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Air Source Heat Pumps

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by hyperdildo, Nov 10, 2019.

  1. Bit late to the party but I have now lived with a Daikin Altherma Air Source system for just over a year.
    Firstly, listen to @AirCon he knows stuff about this.
    Our house was a conversion done in circa 2011 so has all sorts of fancy insulation so much better than solid wall.
    We have underfloor heating downstairs which was installed with Air Source in mind and this seems to work well, upstairs had radiators and these appear undersized in most cases - main bedroom is 60 x 90 cm double panel rad and the room is well big, it never really gets warm and requires a second electric heater to get up to temperature (I reckon I can replace it with something around 170 cm wide to see if that helps.
    If you go Air Source don't f*ck with the settings on the controller, Daikin Altherma are far too confusing for occasional fiddlers so leave it running 24 hours with weather compensation and use programmable room stats (or just knock it down a couple of degrees when going to bed) this is where Air Source is completely alien to gas/oil users.
    Don't listen to the local heating engineers/experts who may say ' you have to force it to 50 degrees to make it work' that just empties your wallet......
    I'm still getting to grips with it but my neighbours in a slightly smaller house reckoned they spent 70 quid a month on electric (retired couple) where I am currently getting billed 260 :eek: but I think it is now reducing.
    Baths are a problem but I think the hot water cylinder was what could be fitted in the under stair cupboard rather than what was sensible :thinkingface:
    I use the wood burner on a regular basis.
    Previous 3 houses were oil and they ranged from 2,500 - 5,000 litres/year, the 2,500 litres/year house had solar water heaters which I think made a difference but you can't do roof mods so may not help you.
    Think carefully about Air Source as you really need to have insulation sorted before it is effective as it takes a lot longer to change temperature after all the windows are open in sub-zero temperatures :D.
     
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  2. Sounds like it’s gonna be a ball ache for me and that I should just light the fires as well.
    That’s why I wanted to bounce it off someone like @AirCon because his advice is helpful whereas some scrote from a renewable energy company would just be trying to stitch me up by promising amazing returns for my investment. the bio mass route may be the way to go as previously mentioned on here.
     
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  3. Over £800 a month on energy. :eek: Jesus. o_O

    We pay £110.
     
  4. I know of a well heeled chap who is the owner of a f*ck off stately home who replaced the oil system from the 70's (2 tankers/week or thereabouts of oil) with a pellet system, may be a sensible bet or just a new condensing oil boiler :upyeah:
     
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  5. Yep it’s a beaut ennit! Lol
     
  6. Your cheapest option would seem to be a new uptodate boiler?

    The reason why I asked about listed and land is because I know some authorities are so picky even solar on the roofs can be an issue for them so thought more along the lines of a ground mounted solar panels in a cleared area
     
  7. The trouble with ground based panels is "line of sight" and damage.
     
  8. You can fit a few of these around to see exactly where that £260 is going.
    https://ebay.us/DZMGt0
    NEVER adjust the Daikin controls.
    Are you using Air Sourced to heat the domestic hot water?
    How many square feet is the property, detached, two floors?
    Are you on mains gas?
    How big is the main bedroom?
    What curve is the temperature compensation set to ?
    Outdoor 0°C and 10°C and 14°C what is the return water set to?
     
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  9. Cheers for the link.
    I've reset the Daikin controls to 'on constant' and weather compensating, then we have programmable room stats which could do with review,
    Hot water is off the Air Source system too - no gas for miles so not an option, only oil would be the alternative.
    I can't remember the size of the property off my head but it is fairly big over 2 floors with big rooms, it is semi-deteched in that one gable end is attached on the SW end (old steading/cow shed conversion).
    Main bedroom is approx 4 m x 6 m with the gable end all glass and 3 outside walls.
    No idea what the compensation curve is set to? Didn't know it had one??
    Again no idea what the return is set to - how do i find that?
     
  10. if the outside temp is 10 deg that the maker of the unit says that you get a cop of 4;1 at,but reality is different.
    think of the cop values in the same vain as mpg fiqures that that car makers produce
     
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  11. Compensation curve changes the radiator temperature depending on the outside, you have different curves to allow for differing levels of insulation / radiator sizes.
    Do you have two heat pumps?
     
  12. They are independently tested to ensure a level playing fields.
    Has an air con guy hurt you?
    Do you like conspiracy theories?
     
  13. What is the floor, ceiling and wall insulation?
    Is the glass reflective to heat and double glazed?
    Which way does the gable face?
    What is the centre and wall ceiling heights?
     
  14. i see the reality of it when i have to fault find why the electric bill is a grand/month more than the nice salesman with mexican hat said it would be.
     
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  15. I'm basing this on my experience of London temperatures, you'll need the data on your actual area.
    Please note these are AVERAGES and not peaks, which you'll have to deal with in your design.
    [​IMG]

    I tell customers that my designs work for 355 days of the year, the other 11 days they may get too hot or too cold.
    I can do a design for 365 days, but typically it's double the plant cost.... what do you want.
     
  16. Damn Mexicans, I see that someone lied to you, OK.*
    What system do you have?
    The problem with using one heat pump for hot water and heating is that that's two different heat demands.
    The hot water is normally boosted (or in reality totally heated) by direct electric immersion heaters, normally two, so if you've 7kW being drawn for most of the day that's where the money is going.

    Ideal solution.
    Low temperature emitters (radiators) for system 1 and set the target temperature to 18-21°C, with temperature compensation.
    Good hot water tank for system 2 and set the target temperature for 45-48°C, this allows for a loss by the time it gets to your tap.
    The software will boost the tank temperature to 70°C once a week to kill off any bugs.
    Always insulate your home, you can never have too much and this goes to any heating or cooling technology.


    * I recently went to a lovely house in Bramley where the 80+ year old widow who lives alone was sold £28K's worth of ground sourced heat pump for her 3 bedroom cottage (off grid). That price excludes the actual installation of the radiators, tanks etc... that was just the control room. Really.... and this guy can sleep at night?

    The bills were horrendous and more than she was paying when she was in the main manor house (her daughters family now have that). Again mainly due to high domestic water temperature
     
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  17. It's the double decker Daikikn Altherma thang which I assume is 2 heat pumps
     
  18. I have no real level of expertise & certainly nothing approaching AC’s but I work in the property sector & the changes taking place now with regards to energy sources are unprecedented. From the thread above, this is my twopenneth worth:
    Air & Ground source systems often do not work well on traditional radiator layouts

    Renewable sources are not currently promoted by government as the install costs & ROI just don’t cost out. The awful short lived Green Deal scheme was a high rate loan scam that stayed on the property, not on the person taking the loan out-What could’ve gone wrong there eh?

    Log burners will almost certainly be banned at some point soon & the vast majority of the actual heat just goes out the flue. They do look good though!

    Like AC has said, I cannot see how the infrastructure is there now or in the foreseeable to get rid of gas boilers by 2025 & they still represent the most generally efficient way of heating a standard 3 bed semi

    Hyperdildo, I dunno what you do or where your money comes from & it’s none of my business but £10-12k a year on heating your gaff? That’s fantasy money for me & I suspect most of us. Fair play to ya fella but I’d be downsizing a buying that Desmo if it were me! ;)
     
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  19. Double glazed units installed in 2011-ish not sure if reflective but probably not if not legal requirement.
    Gable faces north (or as close as).
    Centre ceiling height is about 12' as a guess and the walls are down to about 4' the roof is fairly steep, 45 degrees-ish
     
  20. On the coldest days you are going to need around 5 to 7Kw just to keep that toasty... the losses will be massive via that glass gable end.
     
    #80 AirCon, Nov 11, 2019
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 11, 2019
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