Conservatory AS Heat Pump

Johnhowell

All,

We are having an air source heat pump installed in our new conservatory on Tuesday.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries SRK63-ZE 6.3 kW
indoor unit to be mounted above the doorway into the house and the outside unit just to the front of the conservatory - wall mounted just above the finished garden/decking level. They are going to put the two refrigerant pipes, drain pipe and power cable in a surface mounted conduit - which can be 50x50 or 70x50mm in size.

Have been looking forward to this day. Are there any things to keep an eye on during the installations?

Regards,
John

nrmacg

As one of my engineers keeps reminding me "never had a problem with one of these".

Very good, easy to install, economical, quiet and robust.

Sets the standard and is cheaper than Worcester Bosch, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric etc.

Very good choice.:T

Johnhowell

The unit was installed yesterday. Very neat installation, neat workers.

Being a bungalow, they drilled through to the loft so no conduit is visible inside the conservatory - hoorah! :-)

The outside unit is bigger than I thought, but is tucked behind the chimney stack. I can not believe how quiet it is - even on full load.

The other big bonus is the inside unit colour virtually matches the colour we used for the walls! off white, very light magnolia. Of course we did this on purpose!!! :-)) My partner is very happy, that is the main thing.

Thanks to all those that started chatting about ASHPs

John

richardc1983

Excellent, would be good if you could put your thoughts on the system in the air source heat pumps post.

I know the weather hasnt been great recently but have you used it on cooling yet? Is it coping with the sun gain into the room? ARe you running it on low fan speed or high?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1464827&page=4

Regards
Richard.

Johnhowell

Got home yesterday and the conservatory was hot. The windows has not been open, as usual. It would have been uncomfortable to sit in for any amount of time.

I switched the unit on - 18degC, high fan speed, random vane directions. Within seconds you could sense the temperature drop, and very soon it would have been comfortable to sit in.

We are not using the conservatory in ernest yet, still awaiting for the flooring to go down. Once it is a living space, I will record my findings then, in the other post.

Thanks
John

richardc1983

Johnhowell wrote: »

Got home yesterday and the conservatory was hot. The windows has not been open, as usual. It would have been uncomfortable to sit in for any amount of time.

I switched the unit on - 18degC, high fan speed, random vane directions. Within seconds you could sense the temperature drop, and very soon it would have been comfortable to sit in.

We are not using the conservatory in ernest yet, still awaiting for the flooring to go down. Once it is a living space, I will record my findings then, in the other post.

Thanks
John

Can I ask why you are setting the unit to 18C? THis is not efficient to use the air conditioner.

If it is 28C in your conservatory for example setting the air conditioner at 18C will not cool the conservatory any quicker than if it was set at 22/23C. The system is already working at 100% output when there is a 3C difference between the set point and the actual room temperature.

All your doing is asking it to cool the room to 18C which would be a very unconfortable temperature... too cold. You have got to cool it to a sensible temperature first.

Set the remote control at a reasonable temperature perhaps 22/23C and leave it.

The only thing that will influence how cool the room cools down is the fan speed, the higher the airflow the cooler it will cool down.

Its the same as setting your central heating at 30C when your house is cold. It doesnt warm the house up any quicker its just a "Set point" the target temperature you want to achieve.

Does this make sense?

Also if your outdoor temperature is cooler than the interior of your conservatory it is more efficient to open the windows and doors of conservatory. Usually in a conservatory this is the case as it is always hotter than outside air.

This means the air con will not have to work as hard as cooler outdoor air will get into the conservatory from the outside and cool it as well as the air con.

It only makes sense to close the doors and windows when your indoor temperature is cooler than the outdoor temperature.

Eg if it is 25C outside yet your inside temp is 22C then you need to keep the cool air inside by closing doors etc.

But if its 25C inside and 22C outside it makes sense to use that cooler air outside also to cool the inside. Doing it this way will save energy and the system wont have to work as hard.

its like if you was warm in winter you would open the window as the air is cooler.

Regards
Richard.

Johnhowell

Richard,

Only had it on 18degC to ensure the unit worked and hear how "loud" the units are.

As I said we are not "living" in the conservatory yet. Once we are I am sure my partner will set the temperature as she wants. She will probably not use the unit in summer as she likes the doors and windows open.

Thanks again,
John

richardc1983

Ok no worries John, just take some of my points on board.

As long as there is a 3C difference in room temp to the set point then the unit will be running 100%

Cheers.

samtheman1k

richardc1983 wrote: »

Ok no worries John, just take some of my points on board.

As long as there is a 3C difference in room temp to the set point then the unit will be running 100%

Cheers.

Surely that will depend on how much it modulates? If it operates like climate control, it will reduce the flow rate as it approaches the defined temperature so that it tries to retain a constant temperature, rather than an ON-OFF-ON-OFF situation?

richardc1983

Yes thats correct, but as long as there is a 3C difference in the room the compressor will run at full output to try to drop the room temp,