Waiting for the AirCon man

[xmexclusive]

Not had much time to look in here for the last few days.
Been clearing one of the junk heaps for space to fit a new thermodynamic domestic hot water system.
All installed now in the back of the garage with panels on the roof.
Just needed the AirCon man to couple up the pipework and evacuate and charge the system.
He eventually rang up to say perhaps tomorrow if rain stops.
Muttered something about brasing copper pipe on the roof in heavy rain not being his thing.
So we are still waiting to try out our new green hot water.

John

[Peter.N.]

Well done John, we had some free solar panels fitted about a year ago, the company that fitted them get the the subsidy and we we get two or three Kwh of free electricity when the sun shines, as it is this morning We have had a heat pump warming our bedroom for about 10 years very effectively. Will be very interested to know how you get on.

Peter

[Dieselman]

Have you gone for solar hot water or a heat pump, John?

If anyone is after Solar to fit, speak to me for advice and components.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Will

I think it is a variation on the air source heat pump.
The air source part went live late this morning.
The storage tank (300 ltrs) was plumbed to supply our hot water a couple of days ago.
It then ran on the back-up electric heater (1kw) until today.
It was switched off for about 3 hrs to couple up and charge (R134A) the system.
During this time we drew off somewhere about 50 ltrs of water.
Then as soon as the compressor was started the panels frosted.
It took about 30 mins to reheat the top of the tank.
Since then the compressor has been off much more than running.
As the panels do not rely on sunlight then they should run happily through the night.
The claim is that it will provide all our hot water needs (at 55 degrees C) for 98% of the year.
I insisted on a tank with the extra coil for aux heating from a gas boiler.
We shall see what happens over the next few weeks as the new boiler gets fitted mid Jan.
In the interim the old boiler now only does central heating.
Target for air source plus new boiler is a 25 to 30% reduction in gas usage.
Electric will be up a little as the compressor takes more than a pump.
Will let you know what really happens.

John

[Dieselman]

Thanks John, that sounds interesting. How hot can it heat the water?

[xmexclusive]

Hi Will

The compressor block is delivered set to 50 but the installers turn them up to 55 degrees C.
Thats ideal for hot water but no good for full central heating with standard radiators.
SWMBO found the suppliers and system.
Being a bit of a cynic I asked to see a working system to back-up the claims.
The house I went to had 2 panels on the side for hot water and 6 on the roof for underfloor heating.
I am now looking at the boiler installation circuit design.
Hoping to add the controls to leech heat off the hot water tank at times of low water demand.
Aim is to use that to pre heat the boiler return.
We have 3 seperate rad circuits and the summer rads might even be fine at 50 degrees.

John

[CitroJim]

Interesting stuff John

Dad, in his sheltered housing bungalow, has just had his storage heaters removed and replaced with radiators heated by geothermal heat.

A few weeks ago they bored a 330' hole in front of his bungalow in which various pipery was installed to extract the heat that far down in the ground via a heat exchanger and onwards to radiators and a hot water cylinder..

It seems to work very well and all for the cost of running a couple of relatively small circulation pumps - one each side of the heat exchanger...

Dad tells em he is as warm as toast - something that as never the case with the old electric storage heaters.

All the old people’s bungalows, some 50 in all, have had this system installed.

Seems like a good idea and one I was unaware of. Apparently it's not good for everywhere as it depends on the strata under the ground.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Jim

My daughter looked at both air and ground source heating for her previous house.
Ground source was way too expensive an install for a single house.
Price per installation dropped dramatically if you were fitting an estate.
System noise levels were minimal.
The first generation air source she looked at was killed stone dead by the noise from a working system we visited.
The second generation air source I have had fitted makes little noise.
I believe the first UK installation was earlier this year.
My installer had fitted about 30 systems totally, mainly very big house installs with the swimming pool heating option.

Sounds like your dad is very pleased with the results of his new heating.
Hope it makes a big reduction in his heating costs.

John

[Dieselman]

Seems like a good idea and one I was unaware of.

Ever wondered where a volcano is getting it's heat from?

[CitroJim]

Seems like a good idea and one I was unaware of.

Ever wondered where a volcano is getting it's heat from?

Can't say as I've noticed many of those on the Somerset Levels recently Will...