When switching from an oil or gas boiler to an air source heat pump (ASHP), in some retrofit projects you may need to introduce some additional devices to get more control over your ASHP. There is a lot of thought that needs to go into in this, and Kirsten and Mars from My Home Farm, speak about how they had to add additional devices to their system in order to be able to call for heat and improve the efficiency of their central heating.
In this video, Kirsten and Mars reveal how their underfloor heating and radiators call for heat, and some of the issues that they faced.
The following products on how to control an air source heat pump were mentioned in the video:
- Salus smart thermostats (a review by My Home Farm)
- Eve Thermo smart TRVs (a review by My Home Farm)
- Heatmiser Neostat smart thermostats (direct link to the official Heatmiser page)
Honeywell EvoHome smart TRVs similar to the Eve units but can call for heat too
Hi Kirsten and Mars
i’m pretty sure I watched this video last year or earlier and thought I must watch it again – it was so good because it’s the only time that I thought I was getting closer to understanding the mystery with which we were – and still are, faced!
Like you we moved into an old stone farmhouse with a sprawling footprint with extensions added over the years and mostly vaulted ceilings – big issue with insulation. It was heated by an oil boiler and we had a fair understanding of how that system was controlled, or at least thought we did(!). Things became more complicated once a heat pump was installed with most controls in the garage and we were left with three radiators in significant rooms, that never became warm and a Hive control system that remained a mystery – Hive since told us it is not designed to work with heat pumps. Three radiators in key rooms, one being the kitchen, never became warm. We had to throw out all packets of food last winter because of mould. A functioning radiator would helped avoid that, though the root cause lay elsewhere.
Just over two years later we’ve had heat pump associated pipe work in the garage changed and all three radiators now become warm. (Thank you to Brendan and Jordan from Heacol). It will be interesting to see what the electricity bills are like this winter. …
Hearing your description of the confusion and associated feelings when asking questions this time has made me laugh out loud – not something I usually do when trying to fathom out all the things you’ve described – many thanks for that – I now have the energy to try to tackle the whole issue of where pipes run, where controls were wired originally, how might smart TRVs communicate with other controls etc again!
You’ve also reminded me to look at your posts on the mesh system again as it could provide an answer to Wi-Fi issues with numerous stone walls.
We use a smart meter tariff for electricity and are OK with using the apps for ev and Powerwall, but can be challenged when there is a power cut or power surge – it can take us a while to work out where the problem lies with the effects of these, (wires disappearing into walls and going who knows where?)
We’re interested in learning more about other smart controls but not sure what works with what. Is there a logical hierarchy in the order of things to consider please? Sounds like a new router with more connection points might be a good idea?
Thank you very much to both of you for your posts – so many of them on different topics are helpful to us.
Di