Joining the Renewable Heating Hub forums is completely free and only takes a minute. By registering you’ll be able to ask questions, join discussions, follow topics you’re interested in, bookmark useful threads and receive notifications when someone replies. Non-registered members also do not have access to our AI features. When choosing your username, please note that it cannot be changed later, so we recommend avoiding brand or product names. Before registering, please take a moment to read the Forum Rules & Terms of Use so we can keep the community helpful, respectful and informative for everyone. Thanks for joining!
Looking for reference sites and installer recommendations
Posted by: @iancalderbankthere are no other heat sources
Don't forget people are heat sources. If you had a number of house guests, you had a number of mobile radiators/convectors... Estimates vary as to how hot we are (sic) but a commonly quoted figure is we are rated at 100W so if you had ten people in the house that's the same as a 1kW heater.
I agree, empirical evidence is always better than theoretical predictions. I also agree with @kev-m, even manufacturers' engineering data can be optimistic. The way to spot whether defrost cycles have been factored in is to plot the output against ambient temp, and look for a dip in output around 5 to 0 degrees ambient. If there is one, that is probably the defrost cycle effect showing up, meaning their effects have been included. Here's a quick plot for my 14kW (ha ha very funny) Midea heat pump at 50 degree LWT. It's not perfect, because of course with weather comp you don't have a constant LWT, but you can see a dip around 5 degrees either side of zero ambient, meaning defrost effects probably have been included:
Here's another way of looking at the data, from a chart I did a while back. It's a bit harder to get your head round, as it plots output against LWT for various ambients, but the clue to defrosts is in the gap between the drab olive 5 degree line and the mid blue zero line. That gap is the effect of defrost cycles kicking in:
Midea 14kW (for now...) ASHP heating both building and DHW
Posted by: @jswhite@derek-m
I've been trying to think of a solution to this. Apparently the inner wall and outer stone is not suitable for cavity insulation. I was wondering if I could line the inner wall (and ceiling) with kingspan or equivalent straight onto the current plaster and then finish off with something a little more attractive. Half the room is already well insulated but the other half might benefit. We would lose width on a 3.3metre wide room but could probably live with that if it made a difference.
I'm not an expert when it comes to insulation, so I would suggest that you talk to a suitable company. Though more expensive, external wall insulation would probably be better, since the walls then form part of the thermal mass.
@jswhite you can buy insulated plaster with vapour barrier built in. However its best to install a vapour barrier if you want to insulate a wall like yours - it'll prevent condensation and will allow you to insulate the room on the inside.
https://www.fastbuildsupplies.co.uk/knowledge-hub/does-project-need-vapour-barrier/
Somehow I managed to screw up the x-axis in the second chart in the post above - here is the chart with the correct x-axis labels (can't edit the previous post):
Midea 14kW (for now...) ASHP heating both building and DHW
Posted by: @jswhiteI was wondering if I could line the inner wall (and ceiling) with kingspan or equivalent straight onto the current plaster and then finish off with something a little more attractive
I hate to be that person, but please do consider the vapour-openness of your walls. Sealing in the moisture with kingspan or a vapour barrier or even gypsum plaster could lead to issues down the line. There are insulating lime plasters (made more insulating with cork, glass bead or hemp), but are intrusive, time-consuming and expensive to install.
Posted by: @chickenbigPosted by: @jswhiteI was wondering if I could line the inner wall (and ceiling) with kingspan or equivalent straight onto the current plaster and then finish off with something a little more attractive
I hate to be that person, but please do consider the vapour-openness of your walls. Sealing in the moisture with kingspan or a vapour barrier or even gypsum plaster could lead to issues down the line. There are insulating lime plasters (made more insulating with cork, glass bead or hemp), but are intrusive, time-consuming and expensive to install.
If problems were to occur in the future, could MVHR help to resolve them?
Posted by: @derek-mIf problems were to occur in the future, could MVHR help to resolve them?
For the moisture inside the house? I suppose so. https://www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk/information-hub/internal-wall-insulation/ seems relevant!
I'm annoyed I didn't install MVHR when I had the chance. Retrofitting would be expensive and annoying.
- 26 Forums
- 2,607 Topics
- 60.8 K Posts
- 137 Online
- 6,967 Members
Join Us!
Worth Watching
Latest Posts
-
RE: Renewables & Heat Pumps in the News
@editor, I hear that too. I can confirm that out of ...
By ASHP-BOBBA , 7 hours ago
-
End-of-Life Heat Pumps: How Do You Dispose of an ASHP in the UK?
As many of you know, our Global Energy Systems heat pum...
By Mars , 7 hours ago
-
@derbygraham fully agree with James, and it’d be good t...
By Mars , 7 hours ago
-
RE: Indevolt Batteries UK Support & Info Thread
Finally got around to installing and setting up the Sol...
By Mars , 7 hours ago
-
Unfortunately its a function of the physics. Max heat ...
By JamesPa , 8 hours ago
-
RE: Microbore heat pump installs
In principle you are almost certainly right, but in pra...
By JamesPa , 9 hours ago
-
RE: Electricity price predictions
@old_scientist We are a low mileage home, so bulk of ou...
By ChandyKris , 10 hours ago
-
There are just too many unknowns for me to comment on p...
By Transparent , 12 hours ago
-
RE: What is the main ‘dictator’ of Agile’s unit price?
@toodles I keep an eye on wholesale prices and energy m...
By ChandyKris , 12 hours ago
-
RE: Brand and installer questions for ASHP
Strange, perhaps it doesnt use modbus which the third p...
By JamesPa , 14 hours ago
-
RE: Upgrading my system, how far do I go?
For comparison, my PW3 with 11.04kW inverter, will char...
By Old_Scientist , 17 hours ago
-
RE: Changes to Tesla Powerwall Charging Regime?
Elon gate - legendary! I take my hat off to you @toodle...
By Old_Scientist , 20 hours ago
-
RE: Mitsubishi Ecodan not good enough ?
Thanks @goody, appreciate the feedback and sorry you ha...
By marcexec , 1 day ago
-
RE: Minimum and Zero Disrupt Heat Pump Installations
True (first sentence) Thats the reason to consider th...
By JamesPa , 2 days ago
-
RE: High air source heat pump running costs – Vaillant AroTherm Plus
Quite right. I was using a rough guesstimate of doublin...
By Majordennisbloodnok , 2 days ago
-
RE: My Grant R290 9kW Heat Pump Installation
Again, really don't know how accurate this is! &nb...
By petch , 2 days ago
-
RE: MCS Quality Audit – Has Anyone Had One? Did It Lead to Remediation?
@toodles The whole scheme is a shocking waste of money....
By Papahuhu , 2 days ago
-
RE: Anyone concerned about GivEnergy?
Many thanks for your, and the subsequent, answers tk qu...
By KevH , 2 days ago
-
RE: DIY or Don’t Touch? Solarman Smart Meter Install
Yes, and these guys would probably be my preferred inst...
By Batpred , 3 days ago
-
RE: Hot water tank lose heat rapidly on random days
@jamespa Hopefully their reasons are well intended! ...
By Bash , 3 days ago
-
RE: Ecoflow UK Support & Info Thread
As mentioned above, we’ve got our full review of the Ec...
By Mars , 3 days ago
-
RE: Say hello and introduce yourself
@sonosppp welcome to the forums. I see you've posted in...
By Mars , 4 days ago
-
RE: Guidance with installing a new heating system
@bobflux Great, thanks for the advice. The pipe has an ...
By Hamilton , 4 days ago
-
RE: Daikin Altherma 3 LT compressor longevity question
@optimistic-optimiser I have has a Daikin for a few yea...
By madsid , 4 days ago
-
RE: UK DIY Battery: SEPLOS 48V 200Ah x2 + Sunsynk 8K – Safe Installation for Garage Conversion
The rule of thumb is to ensure that you can isolate any...
By Transparent , 4 days ago






