My ASHP Journey in Bonnie Scotland.

Magnitio

cannugec5 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I would have thought that the best way to operate with a simple thermostat controller and a time of use tariff is to set the desired temperature to be "high" when electricity is cheap and "low" when it is expensive.  That way the heat pump is on as much as possible when it's cheap to run and as little as possible when it's expensive.  But I can't remember if Hive is one of those "learning" controllers that would fight you if you tried to do that.  And it might be uncomfortable if the resulting temperature fluctuations in your house are too large.

For example, I get cheap electricity from midnight to 06:00 so the cheapest way I could operate my heat pump would be to make my house as warm as possible at night (midnight to 06:00).  But that is actually when I want the house, particularly the bedrooms, to be cooler.  So I compromise and stop my night-time set-back at 03:30.         

This  is what I have done - told Hive to heat during cheap “cosy” periods and avoid the expensive 4-7pm period. In fact I found the best schedule on the Octopus website, after playing about trying to find the right one. 

I have switched off the Hive ‘ready by’ function as this was confusing me and confounding my attempts. I want the heating on when it’s cheap, not to be nice and warm ‘ready for’ the cheap periods. 

In the cold weather we are currently experiencing, how much does the temperature drop in your house during the 4-7pm time period?

NedS

Magnitio said:

cannugec5 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I would have thought that the best way to operate with a simple thermostat controller and a time of use tariff is to set the desired temperature to be "high" when electricity is cheap and "low" when it is expensive.  That way the heat pump is on as much as possible when it's cheap to run and as little as possible when it's expensive.  But I can't remember if Hive is one of those "learning" controllers that would fight you if you tried to do that.  And it might be uncomfortable if the resulting temperature fluctuations in your house are too large.

For example, I get cheap electricity from midnight to 06:00 so the cheapest way I could operate my heat pump would be to make my house as warm as possible at night (midnight to 06:00).  But that is actually when I want the house, particularly the bedrooms, to be cooler.  So I compromise and stop my night-time set-back at 03:30.         

This  is what I have done - told Hive to heat during cheap “cosy” periods and avoid the expensive 4-7pm period. In fact I found the best schedule on the Octopus website, after playing about trying to find the right one. 

I have switched off the Hive ‘ready by’ function as this was confusing me and confounding my attempts. I want the heating on when it’s cheap, not to be nice and warm ‘ready for’ the cheap periods. 

In the cold weather we are currently experiencing, how much does the temperature drop in your house during the 4-7pm time period?

We ran ours like that last winter before we got our battery, and it was painful. Temps would drop by 4C in 3 hours in our house. If we preheated to 21C, room temp could fall to 17C in 3 hours. Of course this will vary depending on the property and levels of insulation.

Any potential savings are further exasperated by the fact you are then using more energy when you turn the heating back on at 7pm, and it's still not 'cheap' rate, but at least it's not super expensive rate either.

cannugec5

Magnitio said:

cannugec5 said:

Reed_Richards said:

I would have thought that the best way to operate with a simple thermostat controller and a time of use tariff is to set the desired temperature to be "high" when electricity is cheap and "low" when it is expensive.  That way the heat pump is on as much as possible when it's cheap to run and as little as possible when it's expensive.  But I can't remember if Hive is one of those "learning" controllers that would fight you if you tried to do that.  And it might be uncomfortable if the resulting temperature fluctuations in your house are too large.

For example, I get cheap electricity from midnight to 06:00 so the cheapest way I could operate my heat pump would be to make my house as warm as possible at night (midnight to 06:00).  But that is actually when I want the house, particularly the bedrooms, to be cooler.  So I compromise and stop my night-time set-back at 03:30.         

This  is what I have done - told Hive to heat during cheap “cosy” periods and avoid the expensive 4-7pm period. In fact I found the best schedule on the Octopus website, after playing about trying to find the right one. 

I have switched off the Hive ‘ready by’ function as this was confusing me and confounding my attempts. I want the heating on when it’s cheap, not to be nice and warm ‘ready for’ the cheap periods. 

In the cold weather we are currently experiencing, how much does the temperature drop in your house during the 4-7pm time period?

Even in the very cold weather it doesn’t drop below 18 in the 4-7 pm period. Then around 7pm I’ll be cooking dinner which all adds to the heat regardless of whether I use the electric oven or gas hob. 

I think the house is pretty well insulated.