How do I set Ecodan Heating

matelodave

Heatpumps work best at low flow temperatures so your goal should be to get the flow temp at the optimum to balance the heat loss of the house and set the weather compensation to account for differing external temperatures.

Running a heatpump in an on/off manner like a conventional boiler is not efficient, it should ideally idle away at a lower temperature keeping the rads lukewarm all day rather than swinging them from red hot to stone cold. Likewise dont let the place get too cold because low flow temps with inadequate temps wont heat the place.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive to run it for longer at a lower temperature but it does use less energy than flogging on and off all day.

In the end it's trial and error. All of us have different life styles and differing heating requirements, heat losses are different and so are the installations. Some have radiators, some have underflooor and some have both so they need tweaking to optimise them and that's where understanding how they work or getting good advice helps a lot.

Scoobnut

Thank you everyone for your replies.  A little confusing in some parts but I'm a great believer in google search My old heating was a boiler stove running radiators so when the ASHP was installed everything was ripped out and replaced, water tank, pipes, radiators. It's true no house is the same it also dosn't help that the windows are now so old they whistle and leak wich dosn't help.

One question, where is the best place for the thermostat. Mine was fitted to the wall in the hall. The fitters said the living room and bathroom should be 21 while the rest of the house is 18 but in reality it was heating the hall to 21 mostly 22.

Mstty

@Scoobnut

We are all experts in how our own Heatpump works and I think that's the issue what works for one doesn't work for others it simply isn't as easy as say a gas central heating system.

With our system every room downstairs has an individual thermostat with one upstairs in the hall which obviously aids energy efficiency as we can adjust them at will.

Historically for gas central heating downstairs and upstairs hall and wherever it is could end up being the warmest space.

Reed_Richards

I agree that those of us who have heat pumps all use them a bit differently and have different dwellings in different locales.  A heat pump can be as easy as a gas central heating system but if you want to achieve the lowest running cost then it gets more complicated.

If your hall is drafty or gets cold blasts of air every time somebody opens the front door then it's not the right place for a thermostat.  The most sensible place for the thermostat, in my opinion, is the room where you spend the largest amount of your time because that is the room you care about the most.  I would apply this philosophy to any heating system (and have always done so).     

ProDave

I have been reading a thread on another forum where it is coming to light that some makes of heat pump, including some models of Ecodan, use an astonishingly high amount of power when on standby doing nothing, one user measured 6kWh per day while it is doing nothing.  It would seem this is to keep a heater running to keep the compressor warm, all to do with how the compressor is lubricated.

Those who are experiencing unexpected high usage, would do well to get some kind of energy monitor to measure what your heat pump is actually consuming when it is idle.

If my ASHP consumed 6kWh in a day when idle, that would pretty much double my heating bill.  Ouch.

Mstty

@prodave got a link for that?

markin

Have you got all the rads down to no.1 in the rooms you don't use?

The Weather comp is almost certainly off, even installers that know better don't want to be called back with 'its too cold'

ProDave

Mstty said:

@prodave got a link for that?

https://forum.buildhub.org.uk/topic/26840-ecodan-standby-power-consumption/

Reed_Richards

I read @ProDave's reference it it was never established if the problem applied to anything beyond an Ecodan 2-stage ("split") heat pump whereas I think it likely that the OP has the monobloc type.

Scoobnut

Hi everyone, I've set a schedule for the heating and set the day temp to 18 degrees. I'm reading up on weather compensation before I try setting it although the videos were a bit confusing. There is only one company that deals with warmer homes and they were a nightmare, warmer homes had to step in at one point. The only thing I was told was how to shut it down and restart if there is a problem. In fact we discovered that weekend that we had heat but no hot water. When the fella arrived on Monday he hadn't a clue why it wasn't running until I pointed the error code pointed to a water error. Turned out a tap hadn't been fully opened.

We have the thermostat sitting the living room and with the stove on the heating won't come on at all. I thought of getting a second thermostat for upstairs but there expensive. I did get the power usage from Jan, so far it has used 2866kwh and produced 5375kwh. Not sure if that's good or not.