@transparent 1. no intermediate store, as far as i know water cylinder for dhw inside my standing unit.

2 MvHR fully separate from heat pump. Has big unit in attic that changes air in the house constantly.

Things could be fine, im just thinking my kwh usage is high and rooms take a good while to heat up so if most settings seem normal maybe im just being nit picky and expecting too much. 2 water schedules is probably too much for 2 people and both for 2 hours, reheat at45 too high im told so ill change them today. Where can i see temp flow and return? Have no temp gauges on manifold.

Heat pump noise - does this noise sound normal?

https://youtube.com/shorts/D4Gdsnbgh8I?feature=share

@newhouse87 As I don't yet have a heat-pump, I'm unable to comment on the sound.

But I could comment on the inappropriate approach to wiring the actuator valves if you really need me to!
Here's a still from your video:

Not only are those wires attached to a heating pipe by a tie-wrap (ugh!), but they look suspiciously like solid-cored twin-and-earth (T&E) lighting cable.

They should be flexible cables... and heaps thinner because an actuator typically takes 3w (about 12mA current)!
I'd also be using 'heat resistant' flex that close to a domestic heating system.

Posted by: @newhouse87

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Where can i see temp flow and return? Have no temp gauges on manifold.

There's usually a connection piece between each manifold level and its isolation valve.
That has a 'pocket' in it, which can accept a thermometer or a digital temp-probe.

Returning to your earlier photo; do these UFH pipes all go directly into the concrete floor?

... or are most of them running through pipe insulation until they reach the room where they're actually intended to export their heat?

If there's no insulation around any of them, then all 12 circuits will be heating up the same concrete pad in the room which has the heat-pump.

@transparent Cheers man, unfortunately the wiring is done now and my spark not the most approachable so going to stay away from that. as far as im aware everything ok with actuators.

just changed my heating schedule to12pm-1pm daily, dhw temp to 48 and reheat to 38. hopefully 1 heating cycle in middle of day will do the 2 of us. Have you noticed anything with installer settings that may need altering?

@transparent all pipes are going into screeded floor that has i think 6 inch insulation on top of base floor. So pipes were layed directly on top of insulation.

Posted by: @newhouse87

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just changed my heating schedule to12pm-1pm daily,

That's why @derek-m suggested that you're "running it like a gas boiler". 😉 

You don't control a heat-pump with periods of being "on" or "off" using a time-clock.
Instead, the heat-pump should remain operational 24/7.

It's designed to deliver a slow trickle of heat.... which coincidentally is what you also require for UFH loops.
The slower it supplies the heat, the more efficiently it runs, and the lower are your bills.

@transparent as far as i know most people use a schedule for their water. Anybody i know with similar system has a schedule for water and legionella cycle. Dont understand that i could have all loops open on manifold with heat trickling through them constantly. House would get way too hot, weather dependent mode is best practice im told.

An air source heat pump is designed to run constantly when required. Unless there's an issue with a heat pump, it can be common for a heat pump to run continuously where outside temperatures are low and/or demand for heating and/or hot water is always high.

Thats from source heat pump.com

Posted by: @newhouse87

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@transparent as far as i know most people use a schedule for their water. Anybody i know with similar system has a schedule for water and legionella cycle. Dont understand that i could have all loops open on manifold with heat trickling through them constantly. House would get way too hot, weather dependent mode is best practice im told.

 

An air source heat pump is designed to run constantly when required. Unless there's an issue with a heat pump, it can be common for a heat pump to run continuously where outside temperatures are low and/or demand for heating and/or hot water is always high.

Thats from source heat pump.com

Sorry about the delay in responding, it has been one of those days. I will try to answer your questions very shortly.

Posted by: @newhouse87

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@transparent as far as i know most people use a schedule for their water. Anybody i know with similar system has a schedule for water and legionella cycle. Dont understand that i could have all loops open on manifold with heat trickling through them constantly. House would get way too hot, weather dependent mode is best practice im told.

 

An air source heat pump is designed to run constantly when required. Unless there's an issue with a heat pump, it can be common for a heat pump to run continuously where outside temperatures are low and/or demand for heating and/or hot water is always high.

Thats from source heat pump.com

Okay, let's go through the different aspects of your system.

Transparent has already pointed out some very valid points, such as lack of insulation on the pipework, possible incorrect cabling, and possible incorrectly installed UFH pipework. You may be able to check the latter item using a thermal camera, or measuring the floor temperature where the pipework runs and and compare with other places.

I think the confusion may have occurred when you stated that  you had 'just changed my heating schedule to12pm-1pm daily, dhw temp to 48 and reheat to 38', which I assume means that you have scheduled your DHW heating to be done between 12pm and 1pm i.e. lunchtime.

I forgot to ask if you have a solar PV or solar thermal system installed.

Assuming that you don't have any solar system, and that you don't have a cheaper overnight electricity tariff, then you are correct to do DHW heating during the daytime, though I normally suggest doing so when the outside air temperature may be warmest, possibly mid afternoon, though you will know best. The reason being that your heat pump should operate at a higher efficiency when the outside air is warmer. From the photo's it would appear that your system is set for R + S (Reheat + Schedule), so I would suggest that you change it to S only and see  how it performs. Is the WC curve shown in photo ending 2134 for DHW heating? Dependent upon the size of your water cylinder, and how much hot water you use, you could consider disabling the DHW WC mode or lowering the settings. I know that some forum members heat DHW to 45C to 48C and it is more than adequate for normal use. You should carry out the disinfection cycle up to 60C, at a suitable frequency.

It is difficult to tell from your sound recording, but it sounds like the flow rate through the pipework is varying. Am I correct in assuming they are water pipes? If that is the case then noise from water pipework would normally indicate that there may be some air in the system. I would suggest that you Google 'heating system air vent', and then look around your system for a similar looking device, which will probably be in the highest pipework. Then download the manufacturers manual, which should explain how to vent air from the system. Don't forget to top up the water pressure after venting.

I doubt that many homes in Ireland or the UK have MVHR installed, since most people are trying to keep the heat inside their home, rather than blow 10% of it outside. I think MVHR manufacturer's claim 90% efficiency. I am no medical expert, but I do believe that when human's run out of Oxygen, or inhale toxic fumes, they have a tendency to die, so I am not suggesting that you turn off your MVHR permanently. It may be worthwhile to purchase a Carbon Dioxide monitor, to measure the CO2 level, and run the MVHR to bring the CO2 level back down to normal levels, should it build up over a period of time. I don't know of any automatic systems that can control MVHR and therefore ventilate when necessary, but there may be some. As I state I am no expert, so please seek further information from people more knowledgeable.

Now for a subject I do know a little about.

As Transparent pointed out, heat pumps perform best when they are producing heat energy at the lowest acceptably LWT (Leaving Water Temperature), but to keep your home warm still needs sufficient heat energy to match the heat loss. As the outside air temperature falls, the LWT needs to increase, to maintain the balance between heat energy supplied, and heat energy lost.

You should therefore use WC (Weather Compensation) mode whenever possible. The actual WC curve settings will be dependent upon your particular home and its heat loss. With UFH the low outside temperature, high LWT, end of the curve should not normally need to be higher than 40C. Try these initial settings and make adjustments as necessary. LWT of 40C at an outside temperature of -5C, and LWT of 25C at an outside temperature of 20C.

To set up and operate your system you will need to set all your thermostats to 2C above the desired room temperature. If room temperatures start to increase then lower the cold end of the WC curve, repeating this process you maintain a reasonable constant indoor temperature. You may also need to balance the flow rate through the different UFH loops to get the desired temperature in each room. It is not a 5 minute job balancing the system, make a small adjustment then wait for the system to stabilise.

Photo ending 2149 shows that the BUH (Back Up Heater) is enabled, which I think is not the immersion heater in your hot water cylinder, but an additional heater to help out the heat pump. I would normally recommend that the BUH should be disabled unless deemed absolutely necessary that it be available.

I think that I have covered all the points, but if I have missed anything then let me know.

I do have whole-house MVHR.
I'm going to avoid commenting on that whilst we discuss the heating system.

Let's remember @newhouse87 that although we appear to just be talking to you, there will be scores of others who happen upon this thread in months to come.
So please forgive us if we seem to keep emphasising basic principles which you already understand.

Better still, go down the pub and tell everyone you meet that they really ought to be reading this Forum before they instruct a professional to install a heat-pump!

Posted by: @newhouse87

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Using 70kwhs a day on cold days in a well insulated 2600sq ft bungalow seems bit much.

I did not manage the entire thread and did not see your heat loss calculations.  A passiv house will be 15w per sqm, mine averages 60w per square meter @ -2.  Assuming your new build bungalow is 45w per square meter at -2 degC, then that is 260*45*24 = 280kWh in one day.  Assuming a CoP of 3, then that will be 93kWh of electricity in.  Of course this depends on how well your heating was installed and what temperature you chose to have the rooms at.

Given you have a new build, and underfloor heating, you should be well placed to absolutely "nail" the CoP in your house and minimize heating costs.

Regarding pipe insulation - you must insulate the pipes up to the cylinder (so the high temp circuit used to heat the cylinder is well insulated), and of course any pipes outside [the thermal envelope] must be properly insulated.  Any pipes that only carry water to heat the house AND are in the thermal envelope of your house, they do not need to be insulated [unless they are making the room too hot], think of that central heating pipe as an extra radiator. 

Further, If this pipe is carrying water to under floor heating, the flow temperature will be very low and the heat loss very low due to very low surface area of the pipe.  You only need to insulate  pipes inside the thermal envelope of your house if they are causing the room to get to hot.

I think you definitely have an issue with the way you are running your system, UFH + new build ... should equal Nirvana (if done well).