Posted by: @ellyse

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heating is only running early morning, before 6am, then warm enough all day to stay off.

That would be fine if it was a boiler... but it's not.

A heat-pump should be running continuously, but at a lower temperature
... and with the inbuilt Weather Compensation system making the adjustments because it 'knows' the outside air temperature.

What you're seeing is indicative of a heat-pump which hasn't (yet) been commissioned.

I finally got some answers today.  The settings for water and heating are set and not to be touched for a month.  I can set a program for timings for high and fall back temperatures but that's all. 

Solar panels were fitted today and working.  8 panels.  No paperwork at all.  We have to wait for certification to be able to set up payment for any electric feeding back into the grid. I guess they get it free until then? This afternoon after they left my smart meter was showing a pylon with lightening which I have never seen before. I assume this was feeding into grid.  Why is because when radiators pump kicked on it vanished despite bright daylight so we were using what the solar was giving. 

We are NOT entitled to copies of any of the surveys that were done.  Oh and OVO are going to be handing responsibilities over to Eclipse soon. 

Any time I mention any of this stuff to my other half he gets exasperated with me. "why can't you just accept it, it's free" is the kind of comment I'm getting and right now I'm getting nowhere.  I'm not willing to spoil our relationship over it so I'm going to ease back and see how things are in a month (but I will be watching costs like a hawk). 

Frustrated but taking a break. 

@ellyse As you are obviously curious and perhaps getting a little frustrated not knowing what progress is being made - let me guess at the possible solar PV generation.

PV panels are rated by their wattage (peak) when working in what are referred to as ‘Standard Working Conditions’; we don’t know the specification of your panels as yet so let us guess that they may be perhaps in the region of 400 Watts at peak conditions. This rating also assumes ideal orientation and full summer sunlight without any shadows from chimneys, trees etc. I have arrays totalling 8.1 kWp and the best output I have ever seen is 7.3 kW for a few minutes in late June last year. This time of year, I am likely to see at best, 25% - 30% of this value.

Your eight panels might as I say be rated at 400 Watts peak and without shadows and with sunny weather, you might see approx. 1.5 - 2.0 kWp. So if you have these favourable conditions for perhaps 3-4 hours a day, you might see production of 4 - 6 kWh’s total. Bearing in mind that your heat pump may well run consuming 1 - 2 kW for say 50% of the time, it is likely there will be little energy being exported at present when your heat pump is running.

I hope this perhaps rather gloomy summary will give you some idea of your situation. Roll on the day when your export meter set up is completed! Will you have a battery to store any of that lovely generation? Regards, Toodles.

@toodles no battery.  Inverter is wrong type for it. Not allowed on the grant. 

solar panels are in 2 directions.  4 panels get sun all morning (rear), 4 get afternoon sun (side).  (my bungalow is a semi)

Timer is for now set to 18c from 9pm to 5am,  21c from 5am to 7am (we wake 5ish and night rate ends 7am, so best time for boost) then 20c from 7am to 9pm.  

Those settings for different temperatures across three time periods are not the crux of how the heat-pump has been configured.
The main consideration is how Weather Compensation has been set up.

I think we need to look at the solar-panel system as entirely separate from the heat-pump.

The heat-pump installation will be part-funded using a government grant, which is most likely the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
That has to comply with Building Regulations, which means that you will be provided with documentation.

The solar-panel system is entirely unconnected, and you're unlikely to achieve much benefit from the panels in the running costs of the heat-pump.
I have no idea what 'grant' is paying towards the solar part of the work.

Yes, you will receive no credits for any electricity exported to the grid until OVO have registered your meter for the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG).
This should be straightforward, and usually is.
But any piece of information which your installer doesn't provide to OVO will halt the entire process.

I was with OVO when an MCS-accredited Installer put the first solar panels on my roof.
However, he undertook the portion of the SEG registration which needed passing through the MCS online database,
and I then took over and provided all the other relevant details to OVO.

It took OVO many months to finally confirm that the SEG was active and I could receive credits for exported electricity.
That delay was due to a failure by one group in OVO to send all the required information to their own SEG Registration Team.
Once I realised what was missing, I took action myself... because I had the necessary paperwork and knowledge to do so.

If you experience any such issues, feel free to write here again.
We can use our combined experiences to better inform you what's going on.

@transparent you can get all the paperwork they hold on you by submitting a data request, GDPR I think it’s called now. Total rubbish refusing to give her those documents.

Weather compensation is my head hitting a brick wall.  Electrician today said "that is only really useful when it's freezing outside. runs the pump to stop it freezing up." "do not mess with it, give the system a month to 'bed-in'".  To which my guy said "she won't touch it", with a pointed look at me. 

Sorry.  I've had enough. 

Posted by: @ellyse

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Weather compensation is my head hitting a brick wall.  Electrician today said "that is only really useful when it's freezing outside. runs the pump to stop it freezing up." "do not mess with it, give the system a month to 'bed-in'".  To which my guy said "she won't touch it", with a pointed look at me. 

Sorry.  I've had enough. 

Unfortunately your electrician is speaking out of the wrong orifice.  Weather compensation means altering the flow temperature up or down according to the outside temperature, and has absolutely nothing to do with freezing up.  

If you operate without weather compensation your heat pump will cost 15%+ more to run.   Although getting weather compensation 'spot on' can be a bit of a challenge, even a crude curve will significantly reduce costs (and make the house more comfortable because it reduces temperature swings).

If you are happy with this then obviously thats up to you, if not then you have the right to demand it, or an explanation why it is not applicable (which, presumably, should not be BS).  Here is an extract from MIS3005-I the MCS requirements for installers.  If they don't conform to these then MCS can take action including striking them off.  If you wish to pursue the matter then I suggest you show them this and ask them to write down the explanation, advising them that you intend to forward it to MCS.

I can't just ignore this all.  

I had a problem finding the controller cos I was looking for a screen with buttons.  Not the tiny touch screen thing they almost hid on the sidewall. 

It's an Ecodan FTC7. I finally found a picture online of what the screen looks like but I do not know what the icons are. 

This is not my settings. This pic is clipped from the Mitsubishi website.  Can anyone explain the icons for me please?

I do know the guy that was here Friday increased the hot water temperature. It was only warm/hot before. Now we can't hold a hand under the tap cos it's too hot.  I need to change that.  Also I have heard it's possible to slightly lower pump speed for the radiators?  It's waking us up at night. 

as for cost:  Today we did one washer load, two dryer loads, showers, and normal laptop and TV use, and cooked one meal on the cookertop. Add the heatpump, with very little solar as it was a miserable day.  cost so far is £4.53   That is the highest it's been so far since install. No idea if that is good or bad. 

Is it correct that you get either a remote control for program (time/temperature) OR get to use Melcloud app.  Not both?  Is that true or bull? 

Thanks

@ellyse the icons you can get online and what they do. You will need to do that so you know how to lower dhe temp.  The pump speed is determined by flow rate so you need to know that before you touch the pump. You wont know costs until it gets cold, and weather compensation is so important to get correct, not just the default settings. 

But heat loss in your house is paramount to efficiently running your system, so ask them what thickness of insulation was specified for your installation because it looks too thin and fitted badly.  You need to supply photos of the outside install and look to see if the insulation goes through the wall and not just up to it or you will be heating the wall. 

@ellyse  - here's the list of on-screen icons, which I've copied from the online FTC7 user-manual:

You require the entire manual of course, not just these two pages.

It is a breach of Building Regulations Part-L that you do not have the required documentation and training to correctly operate your heat-pump system.

In essence, the Building Regulations come down to common sense.
It's astonishing that the scheme offered by your Council in conjunction with OVO Energy doesn't satisfy the legal requirements.

Finally managed to get the screen to light up and give me a menu. Unfortunately it does not look the same as that picture. 

I did find some info.  At 10.30am today used was 39kw and provided was 116kw. 

weather compensation curve is set to 55c at -15c.   I have seen some on youtube set theirs lower than that. Wondering whether to try 45c at -15c? not altered it yet. 

Hot water was set to 50c, I've dropped it to 47c to see if that's better.

I cannot find any pump settings.