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Optimising a heat pump
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TroubledTarts said:matelodave said:TroubledTarts said:Spoonie_Turtle said:TroubledTarts said:Oh wow. And there's me just chuffed any month our COP reaches 3 (annual never has), and positively giddy if it flirts with 4 (3.96 for heating, one month!)
Still, everyone has different hobbies, I suppose
… (getting back to the original discussion) when discussing the scop of a heat pump it's difficult to come up with the average but what I don't want to do is play heat pumps down when buyers think they will only get 300% efficiency.
Our aging heat pump manages 3.6-3.8 depending on the weather that year without any major settings changes just weather compensation.
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As with most things in life it's not as simple as it first seems one person's scop over another's there are so many factors.
How old is your system?
How old is your system
I did so a search for your model and did find some references to vampire load in some instances.
Did you ever get your unit checked out by an electrical engineer or similar that could track where the load was coming from?
But that doesn't fully explain why it happens to some and no others of the same models that I have read about and I wouldn't want the OP to be put off by thinking all heat pumps come with a vampire load or others reading.so for the OP, if you do consider ASHP, try and find that out about any proposed models before anything is installed!
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I've been quoted a design scop of 3.8. Have I done the salesman a disservice by not believing him when he said how good that was? If the standard target is 3. What is the likelihood I would achieve the design scop? (Or higher?) I am willing to read the manual and tweak.4.3kW PV, 3.6kW inverter. Octopus Agile import, gas Tracker. Zoe. Ripple x 3. Cheshire0
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70sbudgie said:I've been quoted a design scop of 3.8. Have I done the salesman a disservice by not believing him when he said how good that was? If the standard target is 3. What is the likelihood I would achieve the design scop? (Or higher?) I am willing to read the manual and tweak.1
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70sbudgie said:I've been quoted a design scop of 3.8. Have I done the salesman a disservice by not believing him when he said how good that was? If the standard target is 3. What is the likelihood I would achieve the design scop? (Or higher?) I am willing to read the manual and tweak.
What tariff have you got your eyes on?
These are loaded questions as they will determine how far your can push the scop of that's your aim or just how cheaply you want your heating with may mean a reduce cop working around peak time loaded smart tariffs.0 -
70sbudgie said:I've been quoted a design scop of 3.8. Have I done the salesman a disservice by not believing him when he said how good that was? If the standard target is 3. What is the likelihood I would achieve the design scop? (Or higher?) I am willing to read the manual and tweak.Reed0
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Matt Drummer runs flow temps in the 30s to get his COP of 5, if I recall correctly.N. Hampshire, he/him. Octopus Intelligent Go elec & Tracker gas / Vodafone BB / iD mobile. Ripple Kirk Hill member.
2.72kWp PV facing SSW installed Jan 2012. 11 x 247w panels, 3.6kw inverter. 34 MWh generated, long-term average 2.6 Os.Not exactly back from my break, but dipping in and out of the forum.Ofgem cap table, Ofgem cap explainer. Economy 7 cap explainer. Gas vs E7 vs peak elec heating costs, Best kettle!0 -
I think you're correct @QrizB. He must have managed to fit radiators with really large surface areas into his house; not easy by any means.Reed0
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Heat pump installed week of 20th January (Octopus)
I'm running it using the room thermostat for now, with set temperatures for different times of the day/night 18-21C and to fit in with the Cosy tariff. I have had a few tweaks at the weather curve to get it down from the 50C basic Octopus set up, as this was way too warm. Also managed to switch off the water reheat schedule as we just didn't need it.
I'm picking up info from a couple of forums and have managed to find the "since install" COP stats. Heating 3.44, water 1.91, combined 3.27. I'm aware these aren't very accurate but they'll do for me. I'm thinking this isn't too bad, as outdoor temperatures have been around 3-4C for most days since install.
I'll never have the best stats and I won't be using anything else to monitor the system, I don't understand all that stuff, sounds way too complicated for me. I'm happy that it doesn't take too much knowledge to get it running fairly efficiently, that's enough.Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Solar PV 5.25kWp SW facing (14 x 375) Lux 3.6kw hybrid inverter installed Mar 22 and 9.6kw Pylontech battery
Daikin 8kW ASHP installed Jan 25
Octopus Cosy/Fixed Outgoing0 -
I think that for some people having a heatpump and tweaking it for maximum COP and performance is their hobby, just like we did when we were younger, tuning a car of max performance and seeing if you could make it better than everyone else's.
They'll spend hours adjusting, measuring and testing to get it to the optimum and, TBH, that's pretty much what I did when I got mine nearly 15 years ago (although there were fewer people to compete with in those days)
Taking the car analogy a bit further, I know that if I carefully drive at around 50mph everywhere and avoid heavy braking and acceleration I can get around 65mpg but I dont normally do that (as it boring) and so only get around 55 (2litre automatic diesel AWD).
Similar with my heatpump, I got it just about right in terms of comfort and efficiency without trying to wring the ultimate out of it and that's where it stays - my tweaking days are now over. .
It now just cooks away gently with weather compensation keeping the floor temp at around 27degrees - we are warm 24/7 and we use less energy that we did when all the stats were fighting each other and causing the system to short cycle.
My system now has eight redundant wireless thermostats and 17 redundant u/f heating actuators because they were causing more problems than they solved. Although they seemed like a good idea at the time the system was installed, it took me several years before I discovered that they were the problem rather than the solution, especially with the slow response of the underfloor heating.
Just like driving, gentle, smooth and steady saves fuel and improves efficiency
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers2 -
matelodave said: Taking the car analogy a bit further, I know that if I carefully drive at around 50mph everywhere and avoid heavy braking and acceleration I can get around 65mpg but I dont normally do that (as it boring) and so only get around 55 (2litre automatic diesel AWD).
Her courage will change the world.
Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.0
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