Posted on 01/24/2023 7:30:49 AM PST by DUMBGRUNT
He's got heat meters fixed to the pipework. Room temperature monitors. And gadgets tracking how much electricity his solar panels are generating.
The jewel in the crown of this system, though, is a recently installed heat pump.
"It's like a geek's paradise, really," says Mick Wall of his 1930s semi-detached house in Sheffield.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Now we run the heat pump and use my beloved radiant floor heat to run lag for cold weather.
This saves over $100 per month for heating. For summer AC the heat pump mostly goes to prove Jevons paradox, cost less; use more.
I would like to know the COP of my unit in real-time, but my HP is an AIR TO AIR unit. The one in the article is AIR TO WATER a bit simpler to observe.
I have seven cheap temperature loggers and an electric meter all wi-fi and need to also monitor air flow to determine the COP.
I live in colder climate Michigan, and here the best heat pump installation is to use a ground loop of water/glycol buried below the frostline.
.
This dude needs a hobby - or a girlfriend - or something.
IMHO
Welcome to 1975........................
They sell similar systems here in Florida for AIR CONDITIONING!................
Heat pumps might work in the relatively mild UK climate, but don’t the buried water loops require a considerable amount of space? From what I have seen of UK housing large yards are not that common.
Had a heat pump in Va in 1988. Nothing new.
Really? How far down is the frost line in Florida?... ;^)
About an inch....................👍
Not very useful in NH.
If that!
I lived in NH back in the late 80s. The brand new condo we moved into had a heat pump system. Brand new, insulated building, double pane windows and only 2 (front and back) exterior walls. That place never went above 66F that winter. According to the builder/installer/super the HP unit was working perfectly.
I couldn’t get back to Texas fast enough.
I had an electric heat pump in a super-contemporary condo in my condo, back in Princeton NJ, in the late 70s/ mid 80s, and it cost $350-700/ mo to run it during the Winter. Terrible POS.
A heat pump is just an air conditioner with a flow reverse valve. Their air conditioning cost is the same as an ordinary air conditioner. Their cost to heat a home is efficient within a certain range, but more costly than other methods outside of that range.
—”Heat pumps might work in the relatively mild UK climate, but don’t the buried water loops require a considerable amount of space?”
Progress marches on...
We had 14 DEGREES BELOW ZERO FAHRENHEIT over Christmas so I did a propeller head experiment and let the heat pumps run without the radiant floors.
My HP is rated for -13F but is still under warranty...
The HP kept doing it but used more energy and had some cold spots. My radiant floors would have performed as good as ever.
Because the COP goes below two at zero F.the gas floor heat would cost less at sub-zero F and below.
But I wanted to see what the HP could do.
Not just ground loops anymore!
The closed well system, a guy I worked with had one on a small lot.
A well is drilled and a loop or two of PEX is run down the well. Only heat is exchanged NO mixing...
“He’s got heat meters fixed to the pipework. Room temperature monitors. And gadgets tracking how much electricity his solar panels are generating.”
That’s me to a tee !!
I have temp sensor in every air handler. That way I know of any underperforming system. I want to see a greater than 20 degree drop from the room temp.
“That place never went above 66F that winter.”
In Florida myself.
When the outside air drops below freezing, kiss your heat pump production, goodbye. And the second stage heat is expensive electric heater strips. Can be 7.5 to 10 kw.
As the outside unit approachs freezing it will frost up and have to go thru a defrost cycle — heating the outside coils a bit, inside air starts blowing cold for 5 minutes
—”I live in colder climate Michigan”
Here in Northern Illinois, it’s not as cold as Michigan, but close.
Air source is noticeably cheaper than the water source, but has a higher COP.
See #15
—”Welcome to 1975........................”
Either you are off a few years or I need some clues?
Pls, check your calendar and or, send help.
IIRC opec came into existence a couple of years earlier.
—”Had a heat pump in Va in 1988. Nothing new.”
That is a fact!
Also any refrigerator, freezer, AC unit... is a heat pump.
What has changed by leaps and bounds is the performance.
Even 10 years back not suitable for much north of the Mason-Dixon line.
My unit is rated for MINUS 13 F. and can kind of sort of do it here in northern Illinois.
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