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Daikin Octopus installation update - I saw my first defrost. 😍😂

Lucia · 2025-01-03T13:27:38Z

Three months and two deep freezes later and I'm pretty happy with how my Daikin heat pump is running. It is now running on what Heat Geek's Adam Chapman calls 'Pure Weather Compensation' and Daikin call 'Leaving Water Temperature control' on a 'home made' design temperature of 38º @ -3º . Today it was -3 when I woke up and the house is a comfortable 22º. I'm fairly sure it will cope with 37º @ -3º if not 36º. For those who didn't see my original post when choosing an installer it's here. I chose Octopus for cost and because as soon as I met the technical team (as opposed to the nice heat loss surveyor) I was very impressed with their keenness and understanding of heat pumps. I argued unsuccessfully against the Octopus 50º design temperature and then lobbied hard for radiator upgrades that weren't originally specified. I learned as much as I could, mostly from the experts in this very forum, and in my head designed for a 40º flow temperature with my radiator lobbying. Just to recap my home is a bungalow of about 89sqm built into a hill with a big cellar (partially) on the ground floor and a garage with a utility room/space inside (freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer etc.,) both of which were excluded from the measuring & heat loss. Loft insulation 300mm and very patchy/holey cavity insulation. The 28sqm living room is effectively on the 1st floor and pretty exposed. The 180litre tank is in the cellar back-to-back with the 6kw Daikin heat pump. The hall is a square room used for play and workouts in the centre of the house and I argued against the MCS guideline of 18º for 21º. I also had one bedroom designed for 21º as it is used for an office. I started off using the Madoka as a room thermostat alongside weather compensation. I have no monitoring equipment except the Octopus app which tells me my electrical consumption and the flow temp/speed etc sensors on the MMI monitor. I found this combination of Madoka/WC erratic. My electricity use was, at times, up and down like a yo yo no matter how I tweaked the curve. What suited one OAT didn't suit another - the heat pump would switch on and off. Finally, a month after owning the heat pump I switched to LWT control and ditched the Madoka - it just no longer controls the pump. Houston we had lift off! This method is genius and Daikin seem to have designed this very well. I'm impressed. No ups and downs in the Octopus electricity consumption just super smooth sub 200-300w lines most of the time. No cycling. The heat pump never turns off. The flow rate is usually very low at around 7-9 litres pm except when it does defrosts and it shoots up to 29 litres. Recently I started experimenting with a small night time set back. If Daikin are very good at the tech, they are famously dire at writing manuals or offering access to information. There is nothing on how to programme a set-back on LWT control, zilch, nada, nix - bearing in mind room temperatures are not part of the equation. Eventually I discovered that you can tweak the overshoot number +/- 1º or whatever. This also very usefully permits testing of the 'design temperature' without restarting the heat pump. If it runs well at the room temperature you prefer on the chosen minus (or +) degree number you can programme the left side of the curve accordingly. Easy peasy!Oh, and even in the 'Big Freeze' it doesn't run the defrost very often and today I actually saw it (it's very quiet). 😁Radiator design things to note: I kept my trendy towel rail in the shower room and added my own designer radiator. It was really hard finding a small radiator with a high output for low temp. heating. Solution: Nordic Omega Aluminium 790mm x 660mm - Italian made, kicks out the heat and it's a very stylish 'designer radiator' with vertical convection fins on both ends. Everyone both designer and techie has admired it including Octopus. Sadly, no VAT reclaim for a self-install which is crap. When looking for radiators use an online calculator to convert from the standard 50º delta T - I converted to 20º delta T - which provides a rough capability estimate for a 40º flow temp according to HG. (It clearly works). Big beastie K3s 'disappear' (to a degree) if you paint them exactly the same colour as the walls. I use Tikkurila Optiva 3 (super matt paint) on the walls tinted to my chosen colour and Tikkurila Helmi 10 on the radiator and woodwork. Tikkurila is a Finnish brand, not cheap but cheaper than Little Greene etc., and tint-able to any colour. The numbers are the sheen levels and it is super tough and water-based. I knew my install team were good - the quality of workmanship is meticulous, they weren't threatened by female geekiness, they listened, they are heat pump evangelists, they worked hard and long hours but were easy going and great fun to have in the house for a week. Every single one of them has been promoted recently. To sum up..... ditch those thermostats - you really don't need them except as fairy wheels in ...

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Judith

(@judith)

Prominent Member Member

Joined: 2 years ago

Posts: 353

03/02/2025 10:26 am

@mike-patrick it looks as if your pump is in a local hollow, does the cold air from the pump hang around there or does it dissipate? Have any of the experts you’ve used to try to improve the performance suggested this is a factor?

2kW + Growatt & 4kW +Sunnyboy PV on south-facing roof Solar thermal. 9.5kWh Givenergy battery with AC3. MVHR. Vaillant 7kW ASHP (very pleased with it) open system operating on WC

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Mike Patrick

(@mike-patrick)

Honorable Member Member

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 172

03/02/2025 11:09 am

No-one has suggeted that although I've checked myself that the exhaust air is clearing the ASHP. It's not so much a hollow as a gentle slope of the garden border at that point - looks worse in thge picture than it is. It is on the north side of the outbuilding so rarely gets direct sunlight, except in the summer months when the sun is overhead. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to site it elsewhere..

Mike

Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 3260

03/02/2025 6:15 pm

Had some fun with this one @mike @mike-patrick.

Sound on, and listen for the Mike shout-out 🤣

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Mike Patrick

(@mike-patrick)

Honorable Member Member

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 172

03/02/2025 10:49 pm

Great track. Love it.

Mike

Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP

😂

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Mars

(@editor)

Illustrious Member Admin

Joined: 4 years ago

Posts: 3260

03/02/2025 10:51 pm

@mike-patrick exclusively done for the forums. A “normal” version is available with a commercial track for the rest of the world to enjoy 😉

Buy Bodge Buster – Homeowner Air Source Heat Pump Installation Guide: https://amzn.to/3NVndlU
From Zero to Heat Pump Hero: https://amzn.to/4bWkPFb

Subscribe and follow our Homeowners’ Q&A heat pump podcast

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