Ground Source Heat Pumps

Strummer22

Thanks Beardy. I ask because I saw a press release from Good Energy from a couple of years ago saying they were going to launch a GSHP tariff but I can't find any current information. I suppose it's likely that this sort of thing has fallen by the wayside as energy firms focus on not going under!

Out of interest, approximately how long can we expect the installation of a GSHP to take? The header pipes have to go under some paving and concrete so I wonder if that will significantly increase the installation time. Our quote doesn't specify how long installation will take.

Reed_Richards

Good Energy launched a Heat Pump Tariff which was made available to new customers in October 2020: https://group.goodenergy.co.uk/reporting-and-news-centre/press-release-news/press-release-details/2020/Good-Energys-heat-pump-tariff-opens-to-new-customers/default.aspx

It had a winter rate and a higher summer rate: https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ge20-033-green-heat-30th-september-2021-tariff-information-label.pdf

At the time of launch you could have shopped around to get a lower fixed rate for a full year than the summer rate.  I did.  I can find nothing to indicate that this Heat Pump tariff is still available to new customers: https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/tariff-information-labels/ and I see nothing to indicate it continued for old customers beyond September 2021.  

poohbear59

Can anyone recommend a GSHP servicing company? I also want to see if we can fit thermostat or thermostatic radiator valves. When the system was set up it had only the sensors inside and out, and no thermostats in the house. It is a holiday let and if I get it warm enough for people downstairs the bedrooms are too hot.  
We are in North East Cumbria.

beardymarrow

poohbear59 said:

Can anyone recommend a GSHP servicing company? I also want to see if we can fit thermostat or thermostatic radiator valves. When the system was set up it had only the sensors inside and out, and no thermostats in the house. It is a holiday let and if I get it warm enough for people downstairs the bedrooms are too hot.  
We are in North East Cumbria.

Hi, i can't help with a GSHP servicing company as the last one we had was ICE Energy :-) I did think I had a problem and phoned Alto Energy about a year ago, but they actually talked me through fixing it on the phone and it cost me nothing, so that's who I'd use again, based on that service.

Yes, absolutely you can (and should) have thermostats and thermostatic rad valves. We have a thermostat on the UFH loops and and valves on most of the radiators. Obviously as with a boiler system you leave some of them without valves so you get some flow, and if you can't guarantee 70% flow you need a bypass (which then means you can go down to 40%).

poohbear59

Thank you for the information Beardymarrow. Our system was from Ice Energy. We had servicing contract with them to start with but haven't bothered since.

I think I might need some help with making changes to settings if nothing else. It seems to be using a lot of energy at the moment. But then again I don't know how much people use the ovens, showers etc in a holiday cottage, and we have an EV charging point. 

beardymarrow

poohbear59 said:

Thank you for the information Beardymarrow. Our system was from Ice Energy. We had servicing contract with them to start with but haven't bothered since.

I think I might need some help with making changes to settings if nothing else. It seems to be using a lot of energy at the moment. But then again I don't know how much people use the ovens, showers etc in a holiday cottage, and we have an EV charging point. 

Yeah, we were the same. Other than checking the filter I leave it alone, but I do have a StatLink monitoring all the temps etc. which gives me peace of mind.

You can check how much the GSHP is being used by logging the compressor and Add heat Hrs, and also the CH vs DHW %age and seeing how it changes. That'll give you an idea of how much the GSHP is using on its own. Defo worth getting rad thermostats in your situation (too cold downstairs or too hot upstairs) if you can maintain flow rate. If I was a guest staying somewhere like that I'd have the window upstairs open and effectively be throwing your £5 notes out of it :-).

I'd be happy to come up and take a 5 minute look at it, in exchange for a free 2 week break for us and the dog :-) We're often up Keswick/Bassenthwaite way on holiday.

ccbrowning

Anyone here have a Heliotherm GSHP? Our heating is off this morning and there is an error code on the display "ES_temp.diff". The manual for it doesn't even have a list of error codes! It does have some suggestion about resetting the codes which should fix it unless something is broken. Pretty rubbish system if it just turns off for apparently unimportant items.

Not tried the reset yet and am waiting on the original installer to get back to me. On the flip side my heating has been off since like 8pm last night and it's still 16C in my home. lol

beardymarrow

I've never seen one, but from the manual ES is Energy Source, which looks to be the ground loop, so the alarm would mean that the temp difference between the outflow and inflow on the ground loop is too high. If I was you I'd check for a blocked filter on the ground loop (I have no clue where that would be, could be internal or external to the pump), clean that and then reset the error code. 

ccbrowning

beardymarrow said:

I've never seen one, but from the manual ES is Energy Source, which looks to be the ground loop, so the alarm would mean that the temp difference between the outflow and inflow on the ground loop is too high. If I was you I'd check for a blocked filter on the ground loop (I have no clue where that would be, could be internal or external to the pump), clean that and then reset the error code. 

Thanks! I know we have a couple of boreholes... But regarding the filter - what would it maybe look like? Our garage has so much kit in it for this system. 

Edit: Our grundfos circulator on the 1st floor seems unhappy too and is hissing loudly.

Edit2: Was told to just clear the error, but I did and it came back so still no heating.

ccbrowning

The system needed topping up, as it had zero pressure in the small tank reserved for the heating system. Was shown how to do this myself, but it would be good to fix the issue so this doesn't keep happening.