ASHP: lagging pipes in loft

[Deleted User]

Sounds like you are getting there...

I also need to redo some armaflex on the outoor pipes due to mice using it for their nests. Thankfully they can't get into the house....yet .

Anyway regarding meter readings suggest recording them in Excel or similar to produce nice graphs so you can build up a picture of useage over the seasons.

Out of interest our daily average over the last 586 days is 21.23 units. All electric with 14kw ASHP. And thats for an old house so you should be able to hammer me...

gterr

jeepjunkie wrote: »

Sounds like you are getting there...

I also need to redo some armaflex on the outoor pipes due to mice using it for their nests. Thankfully they can't get into the house....yet .

Anyway regarding meter readings suggest recording them in Excel or similar to produce nice graphs so you can build up a picture of useage over the seasons.

Out of interest our daily average over the last 586 days is 21.23 units. All electric with 14kw ASHP. And thats for an old house so you should be able to hammer me...

I think we are making progress, but some way to go yet. Just checked and we have used just 5 units in last 4 hours. Mind you, it's milder outside (5 C today) and we still have the upstairs rads turned off.

My Armaflex arrived today so I'll be fixing this on this afternoon.
I bought Armaflex tape as well as tubing, so can go back and cover gaps elsewhere in all the pipes I can reach. I hate to think what is happening in all the pipes I _can't_ see. I believe that the pipes that run between the heat pump and the HWDU, and between the HWDU and the primary store in the loft are naked but run behind the plasterboard in timber walls. Hopefully this does afford them some degree of insulation.

I do have all the data in an Excel file, so hopefully will produce some pretty graphs at the end of all this.

Will update this evening,

Many thanks, everyone, for your continued interest and support.

gterr

Good evening!

Happy to report that the house is warmer than it's been for quite a log time.

Since I reduced the dining room stat to 19 C this morning all U/F zones have maintained their target temperatures. I am hearing stats clicking on and off periodically. The pump is not on all the time: it comes on and off periodically.

Also, for the first time in ages water is not circulating between HWDU and primary store all the time - just periodically.

Here are the latest readings:

6/12/2012 8am 3103 (4 degrees outside)
Reduced dining room stat to 19 C at 8am
6/12/2012 12.30am 3108 (3 degrees outside)
6/12/2012 5pm 3115
6/12/2012 7pm 3118 (3 degrees outside)

42 units used in last full 24 hours, but only 15 units used between 8am and 7pm today.

Upstairs radiator TRVs still half open, but their timer still switched off.

Cheers.

lovesgshp

Hi Gterr.
Think we are just about at the right setup for you. It may need a little more tweeking, but let us see how the data keeps coming through. Might be a good idea to get a power use monitor on the pump, as the Rego 800 does not have a hourly running meter. That would at least tell how many Kwh you are using.

gterr

Geotherm wrote: »

Hi Gterr.
Think we are just about at the right setup for you. It may need a little more tweeking, but let us see how the data keeps coming through. Might be a good idea to get a power use monitor on the pump, as the Rego 800 does not have a hourly running meter. That would at least tell how many Kwh you are using.

Hi Geotherm,

Yes, I'm feeling more confident now. Thanks for your input.

Can you advise on monitoring the KWh? The pump and the HWDU are wired separately at the consumer unit. How do I monitor KWh in practical terms?

With regard to the rads: Have we established that each rad needs to have its valve at least partly open? Not sure that this will work for us. Ideally we'd like the bathroom one on all the time, another rad on a couple of hours morning, and a few hours evening. The other rads off most of the time. And in the summer only the bathroom rad on. Can we do this? We had already wondered about abandoning the rads altogether: for the amount we need heating upstairs a single halogen heater might do the job simply and cheaply. What do you think? We seem to be achieving reasonable economy with just the UF coils working: I don't want to lose this when we add the rads.

Greatful for your comments!

lovesgshp

gterr wrote: »

Hi Geotherm,

Yes, I'm feeling more confident now. Thanks for your input.
No problem, glad I could help

Can you advise on monitoring the KWh? The pump and the HWDU are wired separately at the consumer unit. How do I monitor KWh in practical terms?
You can get a meter, to show individual appliance consumption, which can help. I am not au fait with them, but I am sure someone on here can help with that. maybe Albyota or Jeepjunkie.

With regard to the rads: Have we established that each rad needs to have its valve at least partly open? Not sure that this will work for us. Ideally we'd like the bathroom one on all the time, another rad on a couple of hours morning, and a few hours evening. The other rads off most of the time. And in the summer only the bathroom rad on. Can we do this? We had already wondered about abandoning the rads altogether: for the amount we need heating upstairs a single halogen heater might do the job simply and cheaply. What do you think? We seem to be achieving reasonable economy with just the UF coils working: I don't want to lose this when we add the rads.
Now that we seem to have got the system working pretty well, then it is worth experimenting a little more, so try what you are thinking and see what impact it makes.

Greatful for your comments!

Give the last setup corrections another 24 hrs to stabilise, before altering the rad settings. If external temperatures get lower you may see some extra power usage, but we need a monitoring base.

gterr

Great!
Many thanks, Geotherm.
I will do some experimentation, little by little, and report back - maybe in a week or so?

I can't thank you (and others on this forum) enough.
Will PM you.

Bye for now.

lovesgshp

jeepjunkie wrote: »

Sounds like you are getting there...

I also need to redo some armaflex on the outoor pipes due to mice using it for their nests. Thankfully they can't get into the house....yet .

Anyway regarding meter readings suggest recording them in Excel or similar to produce nice graphs so you can build up a picture of useage over the seasons.

Out of interest our daily average over the last 586 days is 21.23 units. All electric with 14kw ASHP. And thats for an old house so you should be able to hammer me...

What sort of kwh are you getting now that the outside temps are getting lower?

[Deleted User]

Geotherm wrote: »

What sort of kwh are you getting now that the outside temps are getting lower?

Whole house consumption at the moment is in the mid 40 units a day. Not sure of temp but our part of the country is stuck in a deep freeze with snow and hard pack frozed ice. 4wd mandatory here in the hills Also leave a 200w panel heater on in the porch say 18hrs a day which is surprisingly effective.

Hope this helps.

lovesgshp

Good evening Gterr
Although I am not up to speed on these monitors, have just seen this one, which may be suitable for you to measure the power the ASHP is using. Hopefully someone will comment if there are better units.
They do not seem to be that expensive, and look very simple to use.
http://www.theowl.com/products/owlmicro.php