Beelbeebub

A proposal I made for a different model of subsidy from the current lump sum for install. In short, the HP is installed with a "smart heat meter" basically the heat version of the smart gas and electric meters. It records the kwh heat delivered. It also records the electricity used (thus generating Cop as well). The energy Co rebate the consumer for the difference in price between the cost of the heat delivered assuming a modern gas boiler (let's say 110% of gas price to allow for inefficiencies) and the cost of the ekectricity used to produce that with a HP assuming Cop of 2.5 (the carbon break even cop). This lasts for 5 years then tapers out over the next 5 so after 10 years there is no subsidy (or the assumed scop climbs over 10 years) So the consumer is guaranteed (assuming their installation is at least SCOP 2.5) not to pay more than gas. In fact if their system is better than 2.5 they "make" money. That is the incentive to upgrade stuff like rads or insulation to boost the performance. The scheme is paid for via a levy on the gas price. There are some variation that can be played with like the starting scop, the taper rate etc. Also you coukd have it just make it so the cost is always the same as gas for the period, though that removes some of the incentive to upgrade. D You also continue to offer subsidised upgrades like insulation or (say) a radiator scrappage scheme with money off new high performance rads when replacing old ones.

Absolutely, but the capability to hit that higher temp is a good marketing point in this soundbite age. "heatpump can't get hot enough"...... "yes they can, they can produce 75C down to -20C outside". Yes the nuance of efficency is lost, but the opponents don't do nunace. They gloss over fact that you can heat your house using 50C water. It"s also why I like my tapering price guarentee subsidy scheme. It removes the "but they cost more" argument. Once installed the system can be tuned over a period of actual operating conditions to become more efficient. Which spreads the upgrade cost of the emitters.

Nice to see some positive press for once.

Thanks. I had a look at the manual and the wiring to the controller seems to have many connections but they are labeled "valve 1", "valve 2", "min" etc. I think they are just switched lives to activate the 2 way valve, or the min/med/max fan speed. If that is the case the it should be pretty easy to integrate into the. Existing system. The system already has a 2 way valve per zone. All I need to do is turn the fan on.

Let's pretend out government was actually interested in doing something useful rather than whatever it's up to at the moment.... A2A systems can be installed alongside existing gas systems. This sidesteps the "what if it's too cold" issue and also the "wahg if it costs more to run". The A2A system can just be run when it is cheaper than gas. Hopefully over time the householder realises that the fgas system is very rarely used and can retire it. So the market for installing these systems could be huge. With some appropriate subsidies and import tariffs, local manufacturers would be in incentivised to appear. With a strong local market they could gain size and experience. The presence of a successful UK regulatory framework would pressure the EU to cut and paste the UK standards and practise into their own standards (albeit this is less certain now UK is out). If this were to happen you would have a strong UK base making EU compliant products ready to sell into a massive EU market. Or we could have pints of wine that nobody actually wants.

I'd point out that the reason we don't have people blowing themselves up with domestic gas connections is precisely because we have regulations. All domestic mains gas is certified installer only. The gas hobs and ovens all must have flame safe devices. The gas has an odorant added so leaks are really easy to dect well before the explosive range is reached. Plus methane is lighter than air so disperses easier than propane. Pretty much every time a house blows up, it's because someone who shouldn't be monkeying with gas was monkeying with gas. But as you point out there are other risk sources that we tolerate. 150g is less than a plumbers propane touch and some camping gas canisters which people have indoors all the time. The EU is making steps towards allowing r290 splits, if Britain is going to make any use of it's supposed post EU freedoms beyond allowing points of wine to be sold (FFS), this migbt be an area we could steal a march. Allow, encourage even, r290 splits. If we can add an oderant (I believe the standard one used in gas isn't compatible with the use cycle in heat pumps) then we should be looking at allowing DIY kit r290's. Just sell the flare kits and vaccum pumps in the same aisle at B&q.

R290 looks like a good option, certainly for monoblocks. For A2A units the theoretical explosion/fire risk is pretty low. Mind you the last thing we need is a few fires/explosions for the daily mail to get all lathered up about. If we could come up with some way of mitigating the risk, say oderant in the gas (as we do with gas supplies) or even just mandating some sort of detector (as we do with carbon monoxide) then I reckon the way should be clear for home installs of mini split A2A units. If they could use some sort of push fit connection (I believe daikin have one) to removed the need for flare nuts or brazing that would be great. If the outdoor units were pre approved for noise, pretty small and paintable (or have swappable covers) so that tgay could be installed without any need for planning in the majority of cases that would really open the door.

the unit i am looking at is actually the floor mounted FW800 which tops out at over 4kw @50C, so even with the de-rating I should be fine. I'm more after anyone who has experience of the units in terms of things like build quality, noise (my plan is to use to oversized unit and run the fan at minimum for the lowest noise), ease of fitting etc.

Happy new year all! https://www.orionairsales.co.uk/cool-energy-high-wall-reverso-water-fan-coil-ce-hw400-12kw-cooling168kw-heating-230v50hz-16622-p.asp Does anyone have any experience with these units? Am looking to put one in to a bedroom at my parents house to replace a failed underfloor heating loop. Estimated heat loss for the room is around 1800w. The flow temp is 40C as it will be taking the flow originally meant for the UFH loop so I need to derate the output as their stated performance is at 50C flow. but my rough calculations is the derating is roughly 50%. Any thoughts or experiences?

No I mean we *should* be selling them at B&q for anyone to have a go with *if* we can get redridgerant that is low GWP (like single digit), no-toxic and non-flammable. At that point there isn't a down side to people cocking up and letting the gas out. If it wasn't for the flammability thing r290 would be near perfect. Ammonia is great aper from the material compatability and the slight issue of it being toxic (though also very easy to detect) and mildly flammable. CO2 has too high pressures and not great performance. Maybe a super small monoblock (say 2.5kw) and fancoil (no DHW), so the only thing the installer has to deal with is 15mm push fit pipe would be a possibility. I totally get the installation cost issue. But if someone. dumps the 800g charge from an r32 minisplit into the air because they opened the wrong valve that's about 10% of a person's co2 emissions on one hit. If it's an r410a unit it's more like 80%.

The letter needs the details of the registered installer or the seller is breaching the regs. Granted the buyer could lie and put down some random installer's details. At the end of the day, the regs are there to try to ensure proper handling of f-gases. If you look at the us where there seems to be less caution there seem to be some bad practices. Eg purging by venting. Given f-gasses can gave very high co2 equivilent that could be counterproductive. Until we get f-gases with very low gwp and no flammability or toxicity issues we're going to need some sort of installer regulation. If such gasses arrive then we should absolutely be selling these units for sny numpty to try to install.

The only time you don't need evidence of registration is for the person transporting the item (so parcel force etc) or if the item is sealed (eg monoblock). Saturn Sales were pretty clearly breaching the regulations if they were only requiring the details "for registering the warranty". I guess someone eventually had a quiet word.

It"s illegal to sell to someone without an f-gas ticket. (from Gov website) You can only sell F gas to customers that: hold relevant certificates and qualifications employ people that hold the relevant certificates and qualifications If you sell F gas to a customer who will install, service, maintain or repair equipment containing F gas (or uses F gas to function), you must check that the customer holds individual qualifications or employs people holding a qualification. If they’re doing this work on behalf of someone else, you must check that the customer has relevant company certificates. You must keep records of: the customer’s certificate number quantities of F gases they buy You must keep these records for at least 5 years and show them to your regulator when asked. A person without qualifications may collect, transport or deliver F gases. .... Get a letter from end users of F gas equipment If you sell stationary refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pump and fire protection systems, you must get a letter from the end user to confirm the details of the qualified technicians they are using to: install service repair decommission

Probably a letter from the regulators.

E911 is a problem with the flow and e101 is the controller not being able to see the outdoor unit?

the door frame in the first picture perfectly covers up the most important bits! 😁 Reminds me of the "cover up" scene in Austin Powers

pretty sure the intraklean filter should be vertical. Not a great sign if it was left likethat. In fact, the general state of the cupboard is pretty bad *if* this was how it was handed over to you. if this is mid job, or during some other work then it's forgivable. I notice the bucket and what appears to be some sort of cable tied repair?

Wouldn't surprise me if it was the latter - HPs, especially the Asian ones seem to have a massive array of functionality for every conceivable circumstance.

I thought it was the edual that required the resistance? A number of HPs can take an on/off input to start DHW mode

Do you know what voltage the eduals use to measure resistance? If it's.low voltage eg 5v you could knock up a thermostat to resistance converter box from off the shelf parts (a.phone charger, and Arduino and a digital potentiometer) for about £30 of hardware and not much programming skill.

Things might be changing with high energy prices but we've never had a tenant ask about running costs. They are all enthusiastic about the "period features" and "cute stone cottage" andnstuff like that. We are the ones who.raisenrunning costs. I'm upfront about it with prospective tenants - yes they are original Victorian sash windows, not they don't make them like they used, they make them with double glazing now so they don't run with condensation every morning. Or - these are storage heaters, the worst form of heating, your bills will be high or yes this is stone cottage, it was originally a stables and as such there is no damp course, it has damp and very littoe insulation. You will need to run the boiler a lot or be cold and damp. Does anyone ever take notice? Nope

Gonna be hard to compete on upfront cost with that solution

Yeah sorry! Was too easy.

Stick a slogan on the side of a bus, that should do it.

As I mentioned, my friend (carpenter/joiner, lots of wood and lots of steel tools he doesn't want rusting) uses a single split HP to keep his workshop at a stable temp. He's been very happy.with the environment and cost. Should also mention he got the idea from his dad and brother who installed HPs to heat various workshop spaces for an agricultural engineering company. Think big barn workshops with tractors in them. They do use several units for the big workshops.