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Why does an ASHP provide a more comfortable environment than a gas boiler?

AndrewJ · 2025-09-23T12:58:56Z

I heard this a lot: having a heat pump creates a home environment that is a consistent warmth throughout, because it's always on, and is a lot more comfortable than the heating provided by a gas boiler which is an on/off system. With my old boiler, I used to have a schedule set as follows: 05:30 - 23:00 21c; 23:00 - 05:30 19c. It was run from a Hive thermostat which measured the temperature in the living room and requested heat from the boiler as needed. I.e. when the temperature is < 21c then the boiler fires up; when it's >21c then it shuts down (notwithstanding an amount of hysteresis) I now have a Cosy 9 which has a Primary Pod in the Living Room and an app schedule that is essential 00:00 - 23:59 22c (I may well play with a setback period but it isn't the point of this post.) This primary pod is used by the Cosy 9 controller to call for heat from the Heat Pump as needed. I.e. when the temperature is < 22c then the heat pump fires up; when it's >22c then it shuts down. In both these cases the heating system is controlled by a thermostat in one room which calls for heat, the implication being that different rooms will experience a different air temperature based on the difference between their heat loss and the living room's heat loss. My expectation, I guess from a general misunderstanding of what "always on" meant was the following. The house has a heat loss of 7.5kW @-3c and the system has been designed on that basis with individual radiators sized to the installed room's heat loss. The ASHP runs on Weather Control and is always on. Therefore the heat pump is continuously providing hot water around the system at a temperature determined by the outside temp and the requirement to provide enough heat into the house such that it is balanced at the required temperature (22c say) given the heat loss. It does this by adjusting the flow temperature as needed. In this scenario no thermostat is required just some adaptation of the weather curve to suit the particular buildings and actual vs design differences. Each room has a radiator sized for its particular heat loss and thus an overall temperature is maintained across the house (give or take a small amount of 0.Xc degrees.) This "fails" (if it's the right word) at edge cases where the outside temperature is too warm for it to reduce the flow temperature enough so would either turn off or would require an intervention in the house, e.g. opening windows or putting on a jumper. So, on the basis that it seems the heat pump is also run as an on/off system, how is it actually different to a gas boiler in terms of thermal comfort?

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Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

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AndrewJ

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Topic starter 25/09/2025 11:03 am

A bit more info. The Cosy App has the Target Temp to reach, and an internal temp measured by the Primary Pod sensor positioned somewhere in the house, just like a traditional thermostat. The Cosy Controller will use that to turn on/off the heat pump as required, just like a thermostatically controlled system. This is what seems to be happening even with the Flow Temperature control set to Weather Compensation. The current values for the WC curve endpoints are 36C for Hot Weather Flow Temperature (at 12c) and 57c for Cold Weather Flow Temperature (at -10c.) I am led to understand that the WC curve is linear between these two points.

From discussion elsewhere it would seem that it is currently controlled by the Primary Pod sensed temperature as the Cosy 9 has no problem putting out a flow temperature that can reach the requested 22c. What I should do is whack that required temperature up to, say, 28c (accurately - a temp the heat pump can't reach), which will prevent the Controller turning the heat pump off. Then the temperature in the house can be controlled by careful adjustment of the WC end point temperatures. As the water flow and return temperatures start to reach the dT (is that 5c on a Cosy 9??) then the flow temperature will be maintained by the Heat Pump (based on outside temperature NOT inside temperature), energy usage reduces, and the system stays on, ticking over. If at that point, the internal temp is 23c I can tweak down/up the WC curve endpoints to bring it closer to the temperature I want. Clearly requires the system to be properly balanced.

I'm away for a couple of weeks, back in mid-October, so at that point I may well try some fine adjustments based on this approach. I certainly wish that Octopus would explain this properly in their help because it's quite confusing when you have an expectation in mind and an actuality that is different! I still have my fingers crossed that I don't have some serious explaining to my wife to do - this whole thing started because our old gas system just couldn't keep the house comfortable.

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JamesPa

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25/09/2025 11:18 am

@andrewj

It sounds to me like you are onto the correct approach.

If the app/pod acts like a traditional thermostat then the right thing to do is indeed to turn it above the desired level, then use WC to adjust the house temp (balancing radiators if necessary).

Make small changes to WC at say daily intervals, to allow the house to stabilise in between. It took me a couple of weeks tweaking to get the optimum value but once done its done more or less for good. You shouldn't have to explain anything to your wife, its just a process of tweaking which, because the house responds slowly, inevitably takes a bit of time.

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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AndrewJ

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Topic starter 25/09/2025 11:31 am

Posted by: @jamespa

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You shouldn't have to explain anything to your wife, its just a process of tweaking which, because the house responds slowly, inevitably takes a bit of time.

It was more of a "Why does this house still have cold rooms when we've just spent £6.5k?" sort of explanation! She wouldn't be interested in the tweaking.

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JamesPa

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25/09/2025 12:09 pm

Posted by: @andrewj

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Posted by: @jamespa

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You shouldn't have to explain anything to your wife, its just a process of tweaking which, because the house responds slowly, inevitably takes a bit of time.

It was more of a "Why does this house still have cold rooms when we've just spent £6.5k?" sort of explanation! She wouldn't be interested in the tweaking.

Balancing the emitters is the key to that, although the sharing of heat between rooms plus always on philosophy helps also.

4kW peak of solar PV since 2011; EV and a 1930s house which has been partially renovated to improve its efficiency. 7kW Vaillant heat pump.

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AndrewJ

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Topic starter 25/09/2025 12:37 pm

Posted by: @jamespa

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Balancing the emitters is the key to that, although the sharing of heat between rooms plus always on philosophy helps also.

Actually, I think the issue is the different rate of heat loss of rooms when the system is on/off. If the heating doesn't stay on long enough to bring a room up to temp or it gets to temp but loses heat too quickly - because the area with the thermostat warms up quickly/cools down slowly - no amount of balancing will work because you just can't maintain enough heat surely. It's the main reason why I swapped for an always on system and why I will run it without set back: balancing in this scenario, as you have said amongst all your other great advice, is essential to even out any temperature differentials between rooms.

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