Ideal HP290 14kW ASHP - how to optimise

cmartinbwmba · 2026-01-12T16:28:19Z

Hi all I appreciate that stuff like this gets discussed all the time but I find the details of everyone's different systems so confusing I thought it was just easier to pluck up the courage to put my own specific system out there. The essence of what I want to do is to run my ASHP more efficiently as at the moment it is very expensive. I live in a fairly large detached 4-bed stone house which has been extended in each direction so only one stone wall remains in contact with the outside. The extensions have all been reasonably well insulated. I have south-facing solar panels which generated around 3800kW in 2025. I am on a decent FiT with British Gas. I had a 10kW (4kWh) SunSynk battery installed in May 2025. I'm on Octopus Flux and this charges the battery during off-peak and exports anything it can during peak prices but this is negligible really. My electricity use has tripled compared to this time last year when i didn't have the heat pump - that was put in Sept 29th 2025. I am saving on oil but I think this saving will be wiped out by the high electricity bills. The ASHP is an Ideal Monobloc HP290 and runs with Honeywell Evohome. I appreciate that TRVs appear to be badly-thought of here but I do find it handy to have 3 zones in the house as I have a woodburner in the lounge, I want to run the bedrooms slightly colder so not uncomfortable at night, and also need to turn the heat down at night (from 18C to 16C) or the noise from the ASHP would be too much to be able to sleep with. The house isn't running particularly warm but it is comfortable at around 18C. Even then, this is my house energy use (with Octopus Flux and a battery): September 343kWh / (ASHP installed) / October 735kWh / November 1067 kWh / December 1302 kWh - currently ~ £400/month. My main questions are: 1. Does this seem right? I appreciate it will perform a lot better in warmer months and with sun on the solar panels. Maybe the ASHP is oversized? 2. How can I do better? Currently it runs with a few zones at 16C at night and 17-18C during day. Having read around it seems I'd do better to bypass the Honeywell altogether and run from weather compensation only - I guess I could get an independent heat pump electrician to do this? Anything else? 3. If I reduce the flow rate maybe the high-pitched noise through pipes will reduce? I don't know how to do this as these settings are exclusive to installer and I currently don't have the login code. Am asking the installer to come and investigate. 4. Devil's advocate - shall I go back to oil?! My decent boiler and half a tank of oil are still available to me to reinstall if I choose.. Obviously this is not eco-friendly option. I really appreciate any help as the installer engineers are not really geared up for my questions and Ideal were quite dismissive over email - I was surprised to see another user here describe their support as good. Am very happy to give any other info I possibly can to help get the right answers - apologies if it's currently too vague.

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Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

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bobflux

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22/02/2026 10:56 pm

Posted by: @cmartinbwmba

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due to the continuing high-pitched noise through the pipes

You can get a stethoscope for less than 10€ on Amazon to listen to your pipes.

Candidates are heat pump compressor, fan, circulator or circulators if you have several.

Then turn off circulators one by one, then turn off heat pump with the thermostat. It'll probably stop the compressor immediately then still run the internal circulator for a few minutes. Same when it starts, the circulator will start then run for a few minutes, then the fan, then the compressor starts. So you can find the culprit depending on what's on when the noise appears.

If vibration comes from the heat pump and travels through pipes you can put in a flex hose in between to stop propagation. Another culprit can be a bit of junk stuck in a circulator impeller.

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