Is there an idiots guide?

lindcariad

We had a heat pump and solar panels under the eco grant last year. It’s been one long hassle. As seems to be common, the pre-installation information was deceptive - we were told our boiler would be ‘replaced’ not that they would be installing a space ship that took up 1/3 of a bedroom. We were left with a huge manual that made no sense. There was a massive leak in the early  hours the day that they jnstalled it, resulting in our ceiling coming down. They ‘fixed’ it, it leaked again. Then fixed it, the third time it seemed to settle down…only for it to break down 10 months later with another leak due to them not opening/closing some air vents. They didn’t register our solar panels as they said they had, so we missed what summer we had and earned a paltry £10 over the winter, as our bills got higher ( we had lpg gas before).
fingers crossed it is now fixed. I’ve read a number of posts on this forum, but I am none the wiser- I really need an idiots guide.
we were used to setting the heating to come on when we wanted it- and don’t like the heating on at night. Also, until the latest fix, the boiler was very loud, another reason to turn the temp right down as it was keeping us awake- didn’t realise that if temp outside hit about 10 it would kick in whatever we set it at. But we have been told that you need to keep it at a set temperature- which seems illogical because why have it on at night or if you are moving around and not cold… we were told 19 is optimal temperature
i would very much appreciate it if someone could explain in very small words what we need to do, as at the moment it feels like the worst decision ever. ( for context we live in an old cottage with extension, some walls are very thick, some not. Originally they were also going to put in the internal wall insulation but said they’d run out of money, and I’m very thankful they didn’t given the mess they made of what they did do). 

Reed_Richards

I think this tale clearly indicates the potential perils of the Eco(4) scheme.  All too often it seems you get what you're given by contractors who may lack the necessary skills and expertise.  

It's normal to install a monobloc heat pump that sits entirely outside the house.  You could have been given a split unit or perhaps the "space ship" in the bedroom is the hot water cylinder?  You would not locate a heat pump close to a bedroom if that could be avoided.

You certainly don't need to keep your heat pump on at night; I don't.  And the "optimal temperature" is what you want it to be; you're in charge, not the heat pump!  Nor should the heat pump kick-in at 10 C, although it may want to defrost itself as the outside temperature approaches 0 C.

But now you are asking for an explanation without even mentioning the make and model of the heat pump.  In this respect you are your own worst enemy.  

  

lindcariad

I’m my defence I did say idiots guide…and also, not long after the initial stress of the system being installed and causing absolute havoc with ceilings falling in, we ( as a couple) went through the illness and loss of two parents, a serious illness and a heart operation… we are only now coming back to any kind of normality (and then the system broke down again) 
to clarify. The heat pump is outside. The hot water tank/ spaceship is inside. I can give the make but assumed that there should be certain ground rules that they all shared…
of the many engineers who we have had to fix if, they have all said we should keep the heating on constantly at 19 degrees for efficiency. They also told us that it would kick in if outside temp is less than 10 degrees, which I was asking for simple terms to understand as some of the posts I’ve read have used terms around optimal temp and outside temp and other things I am struggling with…

matelodave

As a @Reed_Richards suggest, we need lots more info on what you've got and what controls it has.

There are lots of different systems out there - the monobloc where all the gubbins is in the outside unt, a split system where there's an inside hydrobox which house the heat exchanger and circulating pump. All of them will have a hot water tank but even then some are integrated into an indoor hydrobox and others which tend to be pre-plumbed are festooned with plumbing and may have the circulating pump hanging from it as well.

Similarly all of them have controls with varying levels of complexity and sophistication and which need to be understood to get the best out of the system and which can thwarted completed by the addition of external thermostats and timers.
. 
A photo or two would help as would details of the manufacture and model numbers of the equipment. Even what you might just call a thermostat can have an instruction set like the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise.

There may be rules of thumb which can get your system into a relatively happy place but without a degree of understanding of what you've got, how it works and how the controls are set then any number of random guesses from those who are fairly knowledgeable wont help you

FlorayG

I sympathise - I didn't realise how huge the hot water tank and associated gubbins would be (as I've only ever previously seen a standard immersion tank) and I'm glad I went and viewed someone else's installation before going ahead. Warning to those considering a heat pump system; yes, the hot water cylinder is huge and vaguely reminiscent of a Saturn VI rocket, so be aware! I really recommend googling 'Visit A Heat Pump In Your Area' it's really useful

Reed_Richards

You may get good efficiency if the inside temperature is set to 19 C, you'll get better efficiency if it's set to 18 C, better still set to 17 C and so on.  Set the temperature to what you want it to be! 

All heat pumps have timer controls that let you turn the heating off, or down, at night but if we knew the make and model of your heat pump and the controller it uses then we could tell you exactly how to do that.  Turning the heat off at night will not necessarily have a big impact on your overall efficiency but it's the right thing to do if it makes you more comfortable.  Just be aware that you may need a few hours to bring the house back up to temperature (so in winter I turn my heat pump off (actually down) at 22:30 and back on/up at 04:30).         

lindcariad

Thank you everyone. I’ve added some photos, and from what I’ve gleaned here it’s definitely a split system. And you are right Reed_Richards I am my worst enemy because should have asked more questions and read the manual at the start- I did flick through it but in all honesty I’m not good at reading instructions at the best of times. In the chaos since, it’s been put away ‘safe’ and I need to find it. In the meantime I’ve been turning down the temperature at which the heating kicks in internally- down to about 14. If the temp outside is low ( they said below 10, I don’t know how accurate this is or where to check) then the system starts up (it woke me three times last night), but the heating doesn’t come on. We usually then change the temp at which the heating kicks in sometime in the morning. If the sun is coming in we might then turn it down until the evening. 

I’ve added some photos, and am very grateful to people taking time to raise my awareness and educate me
i think FlorayG’s advice is sound, and I definitely wouldn’t have agreed to this if I’d known. They were very good at leaving info out, even when directly asked. When they said they would replace the boiler, I showed the rep the gas boiler, situated nicely in a cupboard in the downstairs bathroom, and he said yes we will replace that. Unfortunately I wasn’t here when they turned up to start the work ( they had supposed to start the week earlier and I had taken time off but they said they’d been in a RTA- this was actually untrue) and they had the tank off the van and into the house before my partner had time to draw breath. Everything was done at break neck pace, hence the numerous mistakes. I got home to find it all fitted, the. Got woken up at 1am with the tank sounding as if it was going to explode, hot water purging through the ceiling, and then the electricity went off. It was frightening.   I’m still convinced they haven’t installed the solar panels correct, or have mis-sold the benefits given the paltry £10 they generated. 

FreeBear

lindcariad said: I’ve added some photos, and am very grateful to people taking time to raise my awareness and educate me

The photos are just the hot water tank (or "DHW tank" for short) and a basic thermostat.

We could do with a photo of the outside unit and if there are any other controls, a shot of them.

Initial opinion of the tank installation - It looks rushed. Insulation on the pipework isn't particularly neat, and missing on a couple of pipes. If the uninsulated pipes are for cold feed, not a big issue.

QrizB

I can't offer much comment on the heat pump (there are people here with much more experience than me) but I think the main controls for it are under the flap that I've circled:

lindcariad said:

I’m still convinced they haven’t installed the solar panels correct, or have mis-sold the benefits given the paltry £10 they generated. 

Regading the solar panels, it's (almost) impossible to install them incorrectly. Provided they're in the sunshine, they'll generate electricity.

However, the winter is never a good time for solar and (based on my experience and the others on the Green & Ethical forum) this past winter has been worst than most. March however has got off to a decent start.

Also, £10 is not the whole story. Since October or November you'll have used most of the electricity that you've generated, rather than export it. This will be a reduction in your electricity bill rather than a profit on your export tariff.

NedS

lindcariad said:

I have the same EPH wireless room thermostat. This can be used to turn the heating on or off.

In the picture above, the room temp is showing as 18.4C and the heating is currently off. When the heating is on, you will see a flame symbol on the right hand side, just below the wireless symbol that is visible.

In the top picture, you can see the other end of the wireless room thermostat system (square white EPH box with red light showing). The light will be red when the heating is off and green when the heating is on.

You can turn the desired room temperature up or down by pressing the + or - buttons and then pressing OK (under the fold down cover. It's pretty intuitive to operate.

michaels

In general there are a few things that might need doing to optimise a heat pump system:

1) Decide if you want a constant room temp or a timed programme, if the latter, decide what time period you want the higher and lower temps for and set the time programme and temps

2) Find out if your system supports 'weather dependent' radiator temps (where the radiator water temps are higher when it is colder outside to keep the house the same temp, referred to as weather compensation by Grant heat pumps) as this is normally more efficient that using a fixed radiator temp and turning the heat pump on and off to maintain the required room temp.

3) Set the timer programme for hot water heating to suit when you use hot water (eg do you bath/shower in the morning or evening)