Air 2 Air ASHP insulated ducting

[sub7even75]

Hi,

 

My house I brought is 1920's and previous owner fitted ASHP air system only for heating.  Now house insulation is poor so why it was fitted I do not know but this was around 10 years ago.

 

My question is in my loft the ducting runs all over, is insulated.  But the actual loft insulation is very poor.  Can loft insulation be laid over the insulated ducting, or would this cause potential condensation issues?.  Any help would be really appreciated.

[A_L]

Hello and welcome,

 

Just to confirm this is an air-to-air ASHP with heat distribution by metal/plastic ducts? In this case covering the ducts with more loft insulation is fine except of course for any future access. You should aim for at least a total of 250mm of the usual fibrous loft insulation.

[sub7even75]

Hello,

 

Thanks for your reply.  Yeah its that system.  I think around ten years old.  Prev owner was heating engineer think he saw the potential in the system but didnt factor in some things.

 

I plan to add insulation throughout the loft, and where I have a boarded out section is to raise that above the insulation so as to have a storage area still.  The ducting runs around the edge and at each end where I do not need to get to anything.  My worry was is this ok to do.  finding this site has been a godsend.

 

Another question someone may be able to help with.  The actual system in the garden must be ten years old at least, are the newer systems more efficient?.  Mine is mitsubishi see pic

[PeterW]

41 minutes ago, sub7even75 said:

Mine is mitsubishi see pic

Says Fujitsu on it ..? Probably not inverter driven but split systems (assuming there is a big box in the attic somewhere..??) which will have the refrigeration pipe work to it are usually a bit more efficient. The good thing is that this sort of product is pretty easy to find a service engineer for as they are well supported - would probably be worth getting the gas pressure checked and the condenser /evaporator coils checked and cleaned. 
 

 

[SteamyTea]

43 minutes ago, sub7even75 said:

The actual system in the garden must be ten years old at least, are the newer systems more efficient

Not significantly. They all work the same.

Don't get temperature and energy mixed up, there is a reason that the words are different.

[sub7even75]

My mistake I did mean Fujitsu, no idea why I put Mitsubishi.

 

Yeah has the big box in loft with vent into hall upstairs.