As warmer weather arrives across the UK, many homeowners with air source heat pumps are scratching their heads. Do you leave your heat pump on? Switch it off? Adjust the weather compensation curve? What about hot water and short cycling?
Graham Hendra cuts through the fluff early, explaining that summer cycling isn’t the end of the world but can be optimised, especially if your controller lets you play with guard timers or flow rates. Karl Richardson shares his approach using a well-sized buffer tank to keep things ticking effortlessly without constant tweaking. Meanwhile, Rhiannon de Wreede delivers the voice of reason, reminding us that not all homeowners want to dive into their system settings… and they shouldn’t have to.
Simon Wardle offers up a goldmine of insight around control strategies, outdoor ambient cut-off settings and using the manufacturer’s app to override heating without affecting hot water schedules. If your installer hasn’t shown you how to do this, now’s the time to find out.
So if you’re trying to keep your bills low, avoid unnecessary compressor wear or just make the most of your system year-round, this is the must-watch episode.
This episode was sponsored by HIVE.
What about just switching the heat pump off for the summer?
I know that most people have linked their heat pump to domestic hot water so that is not likely but there are other ways to heat water for the kitchen and bathroom, which would leave the heating service of the pump pointless for about six months of the year.