@batalto - I've installed an andoid emulator (LDPlayer 4, supposedly lighter weight than Bluestacks) and installed the Midea app but it fails to connect, coming up with this error:

I've tried to add the wifi network device manually in the emulator but it always fails ("Failed to add network"). 

If I log on to my router, there is an unknown device there, with what looks like a MAC code which I can't recognise.

My PC doesn't have bluetooth - that may be a problem. I do have a laptop that does have bluetooth and it sees a device with a name/SSID  net_c3_nnnn where n is a digit, which looks suspiciously like the Midea SSID in the screengrab, but that laptop is dedicated to something else and I don't want to bloat it with emulators etc. 

Any other ideas? I've spent a day on this and am not getting anywhere! I'm usually not a complete dunce when it comes to computers.

cathodeRay

PS the setup is emulator on PC connected to router with wifi (which works for other devices), PC itself doesn't have wifi

@cathoderay its a bit of a faff. You need to go to the controller and put it into AP mode, then connect to it via wifi to add it to your network. I am not sure if you can do that via the emulator.

@batalto - I did that (putting the controller in AP mode), followed instructions to the letter, tried to access it in Windows, but it still failed to connect... 

@cathoderay might be because it's an emulator. I used a phone so can't say for sure. Is there anyone you know with an Android or iOS device you can borrow for a few minutes?

@batalto - I'll see if I can find someone with an android phone who doesn't mind having the Midea app installed. I expect a phone will work, and you are probably right, the emulator is somehow getting in the way.

@cathoderay the emulator will be fine, once you've linked the ASHP and got an account. But I think you'll need the phone to get it setup

Posted by: @cathoderay

£100 seems rather steep for software that in a sane world would come bundled with hardware that costs several thousand pounds!

@grahamh - I wonder if you could comment on what's showing on my Midea controller? Specifically the capacity (output), power consumption and compressor current figures eg at one moment the figures were:

Heat pump capacity: 7.44kW

Power consumption: 1024kWh (kW hours)

Compressor current: 10A

They don't really make any sense, eg 10A = 2.4kW at 240 volts, but the stated capacity (output) is 7.44kW, and the COP (capacity divided by consumption) is whopping 7.3 which is great news - were it not for the fact I don't believe it! 

Hi,

The fact that the Power Consumption is measured in kWh would indicate that it is the quantity used over a period of time and not an instantaneous value. If as you state your compressor was drawing 10A and the heat output was 7.44kW, then your COP would be in the region of 3.

To measure the COP with any degree of accuracy, you would need to install a heat meter and an electricity meter. The electricity meter to measure the quantity of electrical energy used by the heat pump, within its specified accuracy. The heat meter consists of a water flowmeter and two temperature sensors. The temperature sensors measure the flow and return water temperature and the flowmeter measures the quantity of water flowing through the heat pump. So if the delta T between flow and return is 5C and the flowrate is 10L/min, then the heat output from the heat pump would be approximately 3.5kW.

The values obtained are not 100% accurate since each of the component parts have a specified accuracy, which could lead to a inaccuracy of several percent.

@derek-m - I think may be right, kWh are energy used, not power, I've watched it for a while the kWh figure never goes down, only up, and stays at whatever it is when the compressor is off, while the current and capacity values drop to zero when the compressor is off. The only odd thing is, the heat pump has a kWh meter on its circuit by the mains distribution board in the house, and that meter shows 993kWh while the Midea controller figure is 1144kWh ie the ASHP has consumed more energy than it has been supplied with... Perhaps neither meter is very accurate, and they are just at opposite ends of their range of accuracy.

And yes, 10A x 240V =2.4kW, 7.44/2.4 = 3.1 makes sense as the COP at that instant in time. I got confused because I am sure Graham said in one of his videos you could use the Heat Pump Capacity and Power Consumption figures on the same parameter page to get the COP.

@batalto - if I set it up on a physical phone, I'm not sure how I will get it transferred to the virtual phone on the emulator, which still needs to see and get data from the Midea controller. I'm starting to wonder if the problem might be the lack of a wifi card in the PC, so it can't see wifi devices, but that seems odd because I can network the laptop and desktop via wifi (desktop - ethernet wired connection - router - wifi connection - laptop).   

@cathoderay it's linked to a user, not a phone. You can log in from anywhere to see the data

@batalto - I got past the signing up bit (email and password), it's the PC <wired> router <wifi> Midea Controller bit that isn't working. 

Hi @cathoderay

The reading on the electricity meter, I suspect, will be more accurate than that measured by the heat pump. If you Google the model number of the electricity meter it should state its required accuracy.

@cathoderay yes you need a phone to set it up, but once it's linked you could use an emulator. It's only that first bit you'll need a phone for