The Mitsubishi main controller will be where the system is reading the room temperature unless you are using the Mitsubishi wireless room controller which then is set to supersede the hard wired one and it will read the temperature of where ever it is sited. 

Hive may be a problem as it is an on/off thermostat and the Mitsubishi wireless controller in auto adaptive mode is much more sophisticated.  There are others here more knowledgeable than I who will surely comment.

The main controller or the wireless room controller needs to be in the house so it can read the temperature.  The hive needs to be set a couple of degrees above the desired temperature so it acts as a limiter only and basically leaves the control to the heat pump.  Weather compensation needs to be set up correctly, trvs if any on the majority of the emitters set above the desired temperature so they act only as limiters.  The radiators or ufh loops if there are more than one need to be balanced .   Your installer should have done all of this.

Basically, for efficient and effective operation, the heat pump controller needs to control the heat pump, not external controls.

@jamespa Thanks, appreciated.  I don't think it has been done correctly (e.g. the controller is in the garage and not the house, but easy to move - they had to do quite a bit of re-work on piping etc).  Pondering whether to replace the Hive with the Mitsubishi remote controller, so it is all on the same platform/system (it doesn't need to be hive). 

I think the installer is out of their depth as reading between the lines they have only done it before where the system is in the house and there was quite a bit of staff turnover during the installation/commissioning.  Also different staff came for different parts of the job (radiators versus ASHP) and I don't think they were talking to each other.  To be fair, I'd assumed that they were project managing things, but in hindsight I should have checked that or got our builder involved.

As far as I can tell the system is not running on weather compensation, so won't be as efficient as it could be.  It's all a learning curve!  I need to figure out whether to go back to the installer, or find someone else to come and review (I'm assuming Mitsubishi won't be much help, but I haven't tried that route).  Thoughts apprecaited!

Did you have Hive before the heatpump that was connected to a boiler, when the heat pump was installed the existing controls should have been connected to the heatpump. 

Your Hive's should be telling the heat pump when to turn on and off as you are not using the Ecodan main controller as the thermostat as its not in the house. 

That's what it sounds like from your description.

Yes you could move the controller inside the house and use it as a thermostat but then you don't need the Hive's or just connect the Hive's to the Ecodan.

What is the house Hive connected to if its not connected to a heat source?

Posted by: @gary

↑

Your Hive's should be telling the heat pump when to turn on and off as you are not using the Ecodan main controller as the thermostat as its not in the house. 

 

It really shouldn't!

Posted by: @gary

↑

Yes you could move the controller inside the house and use it as a thermostat but then you don't need the Hive's.

 

And you really should!

Most heat pumps should be controlled in most situations by their native controller.  The use of external controls other than as temperature limiters (but definitely not temperature controllers) is pretty much certain to reduce efficiency.

Posted by: @abernyte

↑

Mitsubishi wireless controller in auto adaptive mode is much more sophisticated. 

Indeed, and designed specifically to control a heat pump, with its particular characteristics, not a boiler which has very different characteristics.

Using the heat pumps native controller with properly adjusted weather compensation will ensure that the heat pump is on for long periods operating at a flow temperature which is as low as it can be to deliver the energy required to the house.  This massively improves efficiency (and comfort!).  This is fundamental to the thermodynamics of how they operate which is very different to a boiler.  Using an external thermostat/temperature controller will do the opposite.  There is possibly a place for simple external controls, but not as the main temperature controller.  The exception to this general statement is Homely, which is specifically designed to optimise some heat pumps. Whether Homely can do better than the sophisticated controller built into the Ecodan is an open question at present.  Quite probably not unless you use the tariff optimisation/look ahead functions which I believe require a subscription

@jamespa Thanks, really appreciate the response!

So sounds like I need to move the controller inside (or get a wirless one and pair) and remove the hive, as a first step!

Follow-on question is that the kitchen diner has under-floor with a pump and was using a secondary hive thermostat to control.  Presumably I still need something that opens the manifold there and activates the pump?  It is not set-up as a secondary zone from the ASHP as that would have required a second distribution pipe from garage to house - IIRC, and it isn't that large a property.

Sorry for the silly questions, I'm learning as we go along here.

Thanks!

Archibold

The OP's issue is that the house is not being heated when the Hive's are calling for heat this is because they are not wired into the Ecodan, to resolve this they should be. 

I never said it should be used as a temperature controller or a limiter or anything other than to resolve the issue of the Hive's calling for heat and not activating the heat pump.

I said you could move the main controller into the house but in 2 of the 3 heating modes (fixed flow temp and WC) it will only work the same as the Hive will as a temperature limiter.

If you want to use autoadapt mode then you would need the main controller in the house but we are now into too much detail for the OP's original issue.

The first time people post with an issue who are unfamiliar with how heat pumps function, they want a response they can understand, I was merely trying to keep the answer simple.

Posted by: @gary

↑

The OP's issue is that the house is not being heated when the Hive's are calling for heat this is because they are not wired into the Ecodan, to resolve this they should be. 

I never said it should be used as a temperature controller or a limiter or anything other than to resolve the issue of the Hive's calling for heat and not activating the heat pump.

I said you could move the main controller into the house but in 2 of the 3 heating modes (fixed flow temp and WC) it will only work the same as the Hive will as a temperature limiter.

If you want to use autoadapt mode then you would need the main controller in the house but we are now into too much detail for the OP's original issue.

The first time people post with an issue who are unfamiliar with how heat pumps function, they want a response they can understand, I was merely trying to keep the answer simple.

I do agree with your final sentence!  However...

If, as you say, the Hive isn't wired to the controller (do we actually know that?), and assuming that the heat pump switches on at least sometimes, then just wiring it in is unlikely to help so far as I can see.  Currently the presumption, based on the behaviour, is that the heat pump is set up to respond to its own controller (which is in the wrong place).  This means that (if the hive is disconnected) it is effectively behaving as if the Hive were permanently calling for heat (otherwise it would never switch on), and deciding what to do based on its own measurements.  If you wire the hive in, the behaviour unlikely to change unless the heat pump autodetects the third party on/off signal and uses this to override its own controller, or you also change some other setting on the heat pump to tell it to ignore its own controller and respond only to the hive.

If the hive is in fact connected then the explanation is exactly as suggested by OP, but obviously wiring it in has already been done.

Either way I cant see how 'wiring the hive in' can alone fix the problem.  

So to my way of thinking we need to go back to basics and set the heat pump up as its makers intended.  In many ways that's simpler to understand, ditch the hive and use the ecodan controller but relocated to the correct place!  Furthermore its what OP actually themselves suggested, which tends to imply that they understand it!

In short, and unless I have missed something, the simple answer to the question posed by OP is 'yes'.

Thanks both, really appreciate the responses and attempts to explain!

I wouldn't go as far as saying I really understand, more likely proving that a little knowledge is dangerous again 🙂  Trying to improve as we go (like a lot of folks, including a lot of the installers it seems!)

Thanks again,

Archibold

Posted by: @jamespa

↑

If you wire the hive in, the behaviour unlikely to change unless the heat pump autodetects the third party on/off signal and uses this to override its own controller, or you also change some other setting on the heat pump to tell it to ignore its own controller and respond only to the hive.

Exactly my point, once wired in to the FTC and appropriate dip switches changed the Ecodan will ignore the main controller and use the Hive to call for heat.

Currently, we have no idea to what if anything the hive is connected to.

Alternatively, as we have both said move the main controller into the house.

Like most things there is more than one way to solve the problem

Posted by: @gary

↑

Posted by: @jamespa

↑

If you wire the hive in, the behaviour unlikely to change unless the heat pump autodetects the third party on/off signal and uses this to override its own controller, or you also change some other setting on the heat pump to tell it to ignore its own controller and respond only to the hive.

Exactly my point, once wired in to the FTC and appropriate dip switches changed the Ecodan will ignore the main controller and use the Hive to call for heat.

Currently, we have no idea to what if anything the hive is connected to.

Alternatively, as we have both said move the main controller into the house.

Like most things there is more than one way to solve the problem

Understood