I agree up to a point; heat pumps don't seem to have advanced much in the last 20 years.  However, sometimes simplicity is better.  Manual TRVs are popular for a reason; they are cheap and they work.  I would certainly not want to see heating go the same way as cars, where technology (e.g. touch screens, keyless ignition, even electric rear windows) seems to proliferate for no good reason other than to justify higher prices. 

By all means use technology, but not just for technology's sake.    

@kev-m, what I would love to see is a self balancing system that shuts down or closes TRVs that are getting too much heat and diverting that hot water to rads or UFH zones that are not getting enough. 

Posted by: @editor

@kev-m, what I would love to see is a self balancing system that shuts down or closes TRVs that are getting too much heat and diverting that hot water to rads or UFH zones that are not getting enough. 

As Kev pointed out, the simpler the system, the less there is to go wrong.

It would be quite feasible to have control system and equipment similar to that used for many years in industry, but at what cost. The other problem is that many of the installers cannot fit an ASHP and get it to work efficiently, so adding more complexity would only make matters worse.

As many of you are now discovering, it is not necessary to have all these app controlled devices, to be able to get reasonably consistent temperatures in your home.

@derek-m, I hear you guys. With poorly fitted pipework (like we inherited) and despite a professional rad rebalancing there are still some rads that are hotter than others. Having a system that compensated for this would help efficiency and deliver equal heat around the house. There would be a lot of sensors and tech, so there’s stuff that can go wrong.

Posted by: @editor

@derek-m, I hear you guys. With poorly fitted pipework (like we inherited) and despite a professional rad rebalancing there are still some rads that are hotter than others. Having a system that compensated for this would help efficiency and deliver equal heat around the house. There would be a lot of sensors and tech, so there’s stuff that can go wrong.

Hi Mars,

Yes, my wife and I had a wonderful meal together, thank you for the good wishes.

To answer your query, it would be quite feasible to design a system with flowmeters to measure the flow rates, and control valves to adjust the flow rates, in conjunction with temperature sensors to balance the temperatures in different rooms. All monitored and controlled by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), but this would add several hundreds of pounds to the cost of a system, and require staff with specialist skills to install and commission, which would add further to the overall cost.

If you have rooms that are consistently warmer than others, then close in the lockshield valve slightly and check the temperature again next day. Another problem could be varying heat loss due to differing weather conditions, such as change of wind direction, solar gain on the sunny side, rain on some of the outside walls. Without knowing the exact cause of temperature variations, it is difficult to come up with a solution.

Modern HP adjusts performance vis weather compensation it does this by monitoring ambient temperature. However other factors affect the internal temperatures of a home, wind chill, and heavy rain. Weather compensation taking these factors into account could improve heating efficency. 

Posted by: @prjohn

Modern HP adjusts performance vis weather compensation it does this by monitoring ambient temperature. However other factors affect the internal temperatures of a home, wind chill, and heavy rain. Weather compensation taking these factors into account could improve heating efficency. 

Ecodan's, and I think other ASHP's, use auto adaptation to monitor the actual indoor temperature, and adjust the weather compensation to fine tune the heating control.

I think that Mars was asking more about individual room temperature control, rather than the whole home control.

This is such a sad topic. Heating systems in the U.K. can be state of the art as anything..from optimised use of energy to minimise consumption maintaining stable room temperature  all the way to letting the installer company know about faults before the consumer does.

U.K. consumers have not historically been very demanding and standards and regulations are based on freedom of choice over energy efficiency, comfort and reliability 

@alec-morrow, there is nothing sophisticated or state-of-the-art about water-based central heating. We have smart TRVs, thermostats, etc. with an ASHP that has settings upon settings, but I can't intelligently regulate which rad gets more heat or hot water – we have to open and close valves based on trial and error. or attaching probes to the pipework. Water-based heat has a long way to go before its can be called state-of-the-art, intelligent or sophisticated.

@editor you are missing the point, all that is possible with the right products (not Evohome unless it’s on the opentherm bridge) Tado on any bus connection, and vaillants senso comfort all do what you expect