@alec-morrow thanks Alec. My heat curve is set at 0.8 and the heatmiser units set to 20.

How low should i set the heat curve and how high should I set the heatmiser units?

I work from home and use very little hot water (cold shower enthusiast!) but am in and out of rooms all the time, office is bedroom 1 of two bedrooms. Lounge, boot room and kitchen have UFH. The VCR is located permanently in the downstairs toilet.

After reading something Mars posted on his site, I set the water to heat to 42 and only for three hours in the morning according to my usage. I'm thinking even that might be more than I should or incorrect 

Would be most grateful any other tips or forum posts you can recommend! thanks 

@london-trader really it depends on floor structure. ceramic tiles on screed can have a curve as low as 0.2 or 0.1

also make sure the time windows on the vrc700 are shorter than the heat miser units, and correspond. I’d. not use time windows on heat miser units. have them calling at 25c, and concentrate on the vrc 700 Maximise the use of set back on vrc700 (that’s when the heating isn’t on following a timed period.) what are the two desired temps  set at?

Posted by: @london-trader

I have a Unistor unit in the loft. I signed up with Octopus and the tariff unit rate is 22.97p kwh.

So that Unistor is a hot water cylinder. Is it supplying just your taps (DHW)?

No storage for the UFH?

Octopus is a good start.Their Agile tariff is a genuine Time-of-Use tariff with differing prices throughout the day at half-hour intervals. But if you have no energy storage for space heating, then there's little point having a ToU tariff yet. You need to address the storage issue first.

@transparent tbh, I'm not sure, I'll have to speak to the installer. Thanks for highlighting this key point

I didn't know that Octopus offer that tariff, I'm currently paying a set 22.97p kwh which seems high to me, but then I'm aware of the energy price hikes across the board.  1 issue I have is that due to the topography and poor signal connections in the immediate area Octopus has been unable to collect auto readings from my smart meter so I may not be able to get the Agile tariff even if i wanted it.

@alec-morrow my kitchen has heavy, thick ceramic tiling but the VCR only shows one zone, so i guess I shouldn't lower the current curve setting from 0.8?

Totally confused tbh - my VRC is set at 21, not sure about 2 temperatures

Posted by: @london-trader

due to the topography and poor signal connections in the immediate area Octopus has been unable to collect auto readings from my smart meter

This simply must be resolved. Smart Meters are an essential building block for future energy strategy in GB, which is called Demand Side Response.

Discussing missing data from your Communications Hub isn't really a subject best addressed on this Renewable Heating Forum. Pop over to the Smart meter section on the OVO Forum where there are scores of discussions on the topic - including answers I've written over the years! The OVO Forum is open to anyone, not just their customers. It gets over 60k hits/month.

22.97p/kWh isn't especially high in the present energy crisis. I'm paying 20.57p atm.

The problem for Energy Suppliers is that no-one is taking out new Fixed-term contracts because the basic 'variable rate' is cheaper due to the price-cap imposed by Ofgem. The announcement of a higher cap is due any day now and the market will be in pandemonium as everyone tries to find something they can afford.

Us consumers can help by shifting our usage away from the early-evening period of peak-demand. But you can't do that if your heat-pump has no storage (electric or hot water) with which to keep the space heating 'live'.

Resolving the storage issue is extremely important for both consumers and the energy-industry.

You're asking all the right questions. Keep going 🙂 

Posted by: @transparent

Posted by: @london-trader

due to the topography and poor signal connections in the immediate area Octopus has been unable to collect auto readings from my smart meter

This simply must be resolved. Smart Meters are an essential building block for future energy strategy in GB, which is called Demand Side Response.

Discussing missing data from your Communications Hub isn't really a subject best addressed on this Renewable Heating Forum. Pop over to the Smart meter section on the OVO Forum where there are scores of discussions on the topic - including answers I've written over the years! The OVO Forum is open to anyone, not just their customers. It gets over 60k hits/month.

22.97p/kWh isn't especially high in the present energy crisis. I'm paying 20.57p atm.

The problem for Energy Suppliers is that no-one is taking out new Fixed-term contracts because the basic 'variable rate' is cheaper due to the price-cap imposed by Ofgem. The announcement of a higher cap is due any day now and the market will be in pandemonium as everyone tries to find something they can afford.

Us consumers can help by shifting our usage away from the early-evening period of peak-demand. But you can't do that if your heat-pump has no storage (electric or hot water) with which to keep the space heating 'live'.

Resolving the storage issue is extremely important for both consumers and the energy-industry.

You're asking all the right questions. Keep going 🙂 

Hi,

You could actually move some of your heating demand from the peak period by boosting your indoor temperature slightly during the afternoon period and then lowering it during the peak period.

That would be an altruistic move by @london-trader of course. It will be financially beneficial to his Energy Supplier, and an ethically responsible move to assist in combating climate-change.

Short intro – 1920 cottage, South Oxfordshire no gas, the supply is tantalising close but will never be supplied to the house. We have had a variety heat sources, bottled gas, oil, ten years ago we were an early adopter of a Trianco heat pump, ( It failed), then moved solid fuel stove with back boiler and now finally back to heat pumps, which work amazingly well !

I just want mention its not always necessary to go for a huge centralized wet system, consider breaking it down to separate units for different area of the house currently  we have two Daikan FVXM35FV1B9 wall mounted units with an outdoor units, so warm air.  Not currently heating the whole house with the heat pumps we supplement with electric radiators. But they are able to cover the most used areas of the house.      

@jezzaf, welcome to the forums and for sharing your set up. Air to air heat pumps should, in my opinion, be more widely used in the UK. Would love to hear more about running costs when you get a chance. Please feel free to start a new thread/topic related to your home and system.

Hi

Just found this forum and thought I'd partake of the combined wisdom 🙂

My background: Eco Self build bungalow, solar PV panels, ASHP, rainwater collection in South Wales. Looking to move though so my thoughts are turning to creating an equivalent or better set up at my new place. Obviously thinking about insulation, but also solar PV and water panels, battery system and whether a heat pump can work economically in an old retrofit property.

Cheers Woody

@bontwoody we are now 4 days into operation of our ASHP. We are a 200 yr old random rubble cottage originally 2 beds now 5 beds with over the years 2 extensions one on each end. We have re insulated the attics ignored the advice re the walls as 3 foot thick walls carry their own insulation no matter what you read. We had ripped out all the old radiators and micro bore piping and that 24mm feed pipes running to 15mm drops to new sized ASHP radiators with a 240 ltr tank. We are running 2 x 7 kWh Valliant pumps (there is a reason for this explained in an earlier post) one to hw and slaved to the other as additional heat if needed. We are too early for COP or SCOP so i am simply running off my smart meter - having made records of electrical usage and LPG + wood over the last 5 months. So this morning it was 1.5 outside temp and at 8am the house was 20 in the main sections with the back end being 16.7. It hadn't dropped below 18 overnight with the heating being set to keep above 18 overnight and to raise to 21 from 4am. Total cost as at 13.15 today for electricity is £7.49 including several kettle boils grill toaster etc no LPG no wood. The total bill for the last 4 days has been about £11 per day also giving me 50 degree hot water - which is really too hot!

some may think this is expensive and the temp too high but it is £3.50 a day saving on LPG and probably the same on wood, the whole house is warm as toast - something it has never been in 38 years and apart from frantically trying to play with the system I am happy  so far.

i think the answer is a good installer, a good scheme don't scrimp on the size of pump and make sure that your radiators can push through the amount of flow needed to make the system work - deep pockets help