@anng 

Hi Ann,

Whilst you collect some data, it may be useful if I explain what it may be possible to do to make your system more efficient.

ASHP's extract energy from the outside air, the warmer the air then the more energy is available, so the heat pump does not have to work so hard. Obviously, the lower the outside air temperature, the harder the heat pump has to work.

The larger the home and/or the greater the heat loss, then the harder the heat pump has to work.

ASHP's are more efficient when they are heating the central heating water to low temperatures, the higher the water flow temperature the harder the heat pump has to work.

Unfortunately, it is not just a matter of reducing the water flow temperature, because you will get to a point where there is insufficient heat energy being emitted from the radiators and/or UFH to meet the heat demand, the indoor air temperature would then start to fall.

To maintain a reasonably constant indoor temperature, it is necessary for the water flow temperature to be varied to meet the heat demand.

The best way of achieving this balance is by using weather compensation to vary the water flow temperature as the ambient air temperature varies.

If there is anything that you are not certain about then please ask.

@derek-m when you say read meter do you mean the actual electric meter rather than the smart meter which reads ever half hour?

Posted by: @anng

@derek-m when you say read meter do you mean the actual electric meter rather than the smart meter which reads ever half hour?

Hi Ann,

Sorry I forgot that you have a smart meter. The totaled reading on both should be the same, so the reading from the Smart meter is fine, in fact 30 minute readings would possibly be better.

@derek-m The LG engineer who came yesterday set the water temp to 50 as the AI setting wasn’t suitable at the moment (he said). We really had to get heating up to at least 20 as when he arrived the temp was not getting above 16.5. I’m just conscious that it is costing us a fortune as we seem to be eating kWh at least £20 per day!!! He also said that the 16kw LG was working exactly as it should with all the readings  and data he took. He is questioning the thermostat and rads he is going to white a report in the next few days

Posted by: @anng

@derek-m The LG engineer who came yesterday set the water temp to 50 as the AI setting wasn’t suitable at the moment (he said). We really had to get heating up to at least 20 as when he arrived the temp was not getting above 16.5. I’m just conscious that it is costing us a fortune as we seem to be eating kWh at least £20 per day!!! He also said that the 16kw LG was working exactly as it should with all the readings  and data he took. He is questioning the thermostat and rads he is going to white a report in the next few days

Hi Ann,

Because of the lower water flow temperature preferred by heat pumps, it can take quite some time to warm up a home from cold, and like a car accelerating to pick up speed, your heat pump will use more energy until the desired temperature is reached. £20 a day at 26p per kWh would equate to approximately 76 kWh, which would seem rather high for a property of the size of yours. By collecting the necessary data it should hopefully start to highlight some possible problem areas.

Other than say that weather compensation was not suitable, did he give any reason why?

@derek-m he didn’t really say except that he needed the temp to be at a constant setting so we could see how well the house heats up.

Posted by: @anng

@derek-m he didn’t really say except that he needed the temp to be at a constant setting so we could see how well the house heats up.

Hi Ann,

Did you manage to collect any of the data that I suggested?

@anng are your radiators all warm?

Hi Derek, I’ve been trying to send data but the links don’t seem to work for me. I’ve taken pictures of the last 5 days of data. I can break down  the half our readings if that helps. 

@batalto no we have had to change our thermostat to 19 degrees as when we set it to 21 just to get some heat it just about managed to get to 20…but only using loads of kwh and costing a fortune..we can’t cope with the ongoing cost it’s frightening!!! The rads when we set the thermostat to 23 do get hot but it takes such a long time …most of the day

Posted by: @anng

Hi Derek, I’ve been trying to send data but the links don’t seem to work for me. I’ve taken pictures of the last 5 days of data. I can break down  the half our readings if that helps. 

Hi Ann,

Whatever information that you can provide may help identify the root cause of the problem. I too have sometimes had difficulty attaching files to the forum, I thought it may be something to do with my old, tired laptop. I will make Mars aware that there may be some sort of problem.

If you cannot post data to the website, you could try sending it directly to my e-mail address.

derek_marsh_aicss@yahoo.com

I look forward to hearing from you.

@anng the radiators aren't getting hot at all? Are some of them hot? Can you check to see? You might need to balance your radiators