Heat pump / inverter DIY

Hermann

Great thread!

I have read through with interest and well done to all for the balanced discussions.

Good to see steveheads original video on youtube.

Had a search about and wondered if I'd found Steves latest video ......

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RW1xFoCjMkI&feature=related

Think the original hair colour/style suited you better though!

stevehead

Hermann wrote: »

Great thread!

I have read through with interest and well done to all for the balanced discussions.

Good to see steveheads original video on youtube.

Had a search about and wondered if I'd found Steves latest video ......

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RW1xFoCjMkI&feature=related

Think the original hair colour/style suited you better though!

Oh to be so young again.....

I learned a bit about motors making these things
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3270514736765572609&q=source%3A002995359637436024651&hl=en
and these are the same motors that run the super efficient compressors in modern ashp's.
Well before I get corrected obviously there isn't a chinese bike motor in the compressor, but they are brushless 3 phase motors using these fancy neodynium rare earth magnets. That's a big part of the efficiency increase for ashp's and it made a big difference to ebikes too.

Cardew

stevehead wrote: »

Oh to be so young again.....

I learned a bit about motors making these things
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=3270514736765572609&q=source%3A002995359637436024651&hl=en
and these are the same motors that run the super efficient compressors in modern ashp's.
Well before I get corrected obviously there isn't a chinese bike motor in the compressor, but they are brushless 3 phase motors using these fancy neodynium rare earth magnets. That's a big part of the efficiency increase for ashp's and it made a big difference to ebikes too.

Reported - for not wearing a helmet;)

Hermann

craigix wrote: »

I was given advice to hire a air vac pump to get any moisture out the system but on phoning a couple of local aircon engineers they have advised me I don't need to do that, just to run it on full heat and it will burn of any moisture - one actually said he would come and vac it but that I was wasting my money!

Does this sound right? Does anyone else run one of these air to air inverter systems?

craigix wrote: »

Just want to make an update to this, I installed and got the heat pump running myself.

Was a nightmare due to terrible instructions and a total lack of interest from local aircon engineers.

However I managed to work it all out just by trawling the internet, it was, in the end, very very simple to install and get working and I could do it again in a couple of hours - but the install manual was written in such bad English it was almost useless.

What happened about getting the pipes purged and vac'd and then pressure tested?

Did you just connect it all up yourself in the end?

stevehead

thechippy wrote: »

Interesting thread!
My ch boiler has just failed and I've been quoted £3100 to have it sorted!!
A/C is my trade, so I'm now looking into binning the ch system and installing inverter heat pumps.

And what happened here too?

Johnhowell

craigix wrote: »

Just want to make an update to this, I installed and got the heat pump running myself.

Was a nightmare due to terrible instructions and a total lack of interest from local aircon engineers.

However I managed to work it all out just by trawling the internet, it was, in the end, very very simple to install and get working and I could do it again in a couple of hours - but the install manual was written in such bad English it was almost useless.

This is the future of heating - it's great, just pick up the remote and tell it what to do. Can't believe we don't have these in most houses in the UK!

PS it's MINUS 2 outside and it's easily keeping the open plan at 23 degrees (and we have 10foot ceilings).

Once again - AMAZING STUFF, fitting one in the barn right now and can't wait to fit the air to water one for underfloor in the bathroom

Total cost for the first unit and DIY fitting was about £470 all inc - or if you like the cost of one crappy night storage heater.

Craig,

What did you do for insulating the pipework from the outside to the inside? On the Utube video it showed some square trunking, but was there some material packing the pipework inside?

Thanks,
John

rothers8080

I found a plumber who let me hire his vac pump from him.

Now, let me tell you about this...

I phoned around and the lowest quote I got for someone to vac the pipes was £200 and a lot of talk about how it would be a 4 hour job, needs a real engineer etc. etc.

It took me 2mins to attach the vac pump, left it for almost an hour (it is just a hoover for pipes there isn't anything to do while this goes on, have some tea), then 2 mins to take it off. All you do after it's off is watch the pressure gauge to make sure it does not fall and that's it (if it does check your 4 connections and do it again). I highly recommend you hire a vac pump and do it yourself.

The pipes are pre-insulated (you can buy these most places for about £15), I went through the air brick at ground level and in though the floor and up the corner of the room behind the plaster board and in to the side of the unit (it has the option of left side, right side and straight in the back on the indoor unit).. I'm just going to go to b&q and get the stuff to make that neat now I'm happy with the operation.

I bolted the outside unit to the ground with some bolts I had lying around, I earthed the unit in to the ground, the water overflow of the outside unit just runs down in to the garden.

I must stress I'm no DIY maniac, this took me about 3 hours to install with the help of my girlfriend to hold the unit while I tightened the pipes on the back.

One thing which was difficult to find out about (and isn't mentioned in the awful manual) is that you need an allen key to release the precharged gas once you have vaced the pipes.

Oh and you will need a flare kit for the ends of the pipes IF you are going to change their length. These are about £15, or you may already have one if you have inherited a series of giant boxes of tools from various family memebers, or again you may be able to hire one.

If there is anyone in the north england area, ie County Durham, Tyne and Wear, Northumberland I would be happy to give you a hand in doing this if you're paying for the drinks.

I am working on a proper webpage detailing all this I just want to get the hot water unit done first.

paceinternet

Excellent post craigix.
What water heating unit are you installing, and does it have an inbuilt temperature boost, or are you using an immersion on a timer somehow?

Latlum

Wow they sound fantastic.:T

I'm looking for a solution to heat a flat created for my daughter above our garage, plus seperate games room for the rest of the children downstairs (back of garage). I'm looking for the most economical (to run).
We have oil and calor gas already both supplying our hose and they are so expensive!
Can anyone help?
Would these Mitsubushi Units do the trick? Do heating, heat the water in the flat AND cool the place in the summer ??
:question:

stevehead wrote: »

I use 2 9000BTU Mitsubushi Units (SRK20-ZGX) to heat my 3 bed end terrace with loft. I decomissioned my old gsh at the end of last winter after getting a £270 gas bill. So far, house is warmer (22 in loft, 23 living room) and last 4 weeks cost £17 for just heat. I work from home, so the house is kept comfortable waking hours. It's easy to measure as I have an energy use monitor on each unit.
Outside temp tonight is 0, and they're still pumping out toasty heat.

I must add that I'm located in SW England which had a mild climate, and frost is a rarity. These ashp's perform amazingly well for me, I'm just bowled over by how cheap they are to run. It's worth noting that the cost of running these units is less than the cost of a service contract for GSH without using any gas at all.

With better insulation, it even looks feasable to micro-generate enough electricity to heat your own home!
ASHP's ROCK, and if you live in a mild climate, are cheaper than GSHP's; cheaper than the best gas, cheaper than chips even.

Oh... and they're useful in the summer too

anthonykeates

Latlum wrote: »

Wow they sound fantastic.:T

I'm looking for a solution to heat a flat created for my daughter above our garage, plus seperate games room for the rest of the children downstairs (back of garage). I'm looking for the most economical (to run).
We have oil and calor gas already both supplying our hose and they are so expensive!
Can anyone help?
Would these Mitsubushi Units do the trick? Do heating, heat the water in the flat AND cool the place in the summer ??
:question:

These particular units don't do hot water as they are air-to-air heat pumps (it's essentially a air conditioner that can work in reverse if you like). You can get air source heat pumps that are used to heat water both for DHW and for heating via underfloor pipes or radiators. A more costly install though - as you're effectively installing central heating!