ᐅ Air source heat pump is not heating, but hot water works fine
Created on: 4 Oct 2018 07:21
S
Snowside
Hello everyone,
After it initially seemed like our construction would proceed without major issues, we now face a serious problem.
We have an air-to-water heat pump from Tecalor, installed by our plumbing specialist and inspected by Tecalor about 10 weeks ago. (We have been living in the house for just over 12 weeks.) The Tecalor representative was very impressed with the heating contractor’s work and assured us that he has known him for a long time and that he always does an excellent job. He said there was hardly any need to check much because the quality of work is always that good.
Well, now that the warm season is over, we discovered on Monday that our system is not heating. We do have hot water, but the underfloor heating does absolutely nothing. The plumbing company came by on Tuesday but could not get the heating to work either. I immediately tried to arrange an appointment with Tecalor on Tuesday, but the woman on the phone told me the earliest available appointment was Monday. Considering the temperature in the bathroom was only 16°C (61°F), I found that offer quite unreasonable and told her so, but all I got was a dismissive "What am I supposed to do if all employees are busy?" Reluctantly, I accepted the appointment; what else could I do?
Of course, we are now facing the worst-case scenario: on Monday, someone from Tecalor comes and tells us the system must be replaced, but that this can only happen after several weeks, and until then we will be freezing. Fortunately, the weather is expected to warm up again next week, but that’s no solution either.
Is there anything I can do or demand? Even something like a portable heater for the bathroom, with the cost covered by the plumber or Tecalor? Or are there any other legal or contractual claims in cases like this?
This whole situation makes me even more frustrated because this is not the first time we have had minor disagreements with the plumbing company (prices for ceramics, the outdoor unit of the air-to-water heat pump placed too close to the garage, price of the maintenance contract). Why should I even take on a maintenance contract with a company that makes such serious mistakes? My trust in their work has definitely been shaken. And then I have to listen to the Tecalor employee telling me how great their work is.
I hope you understand my problem and my question. I think my frustration comes across clearly.
Best regards
After it initially seemed like our construction would proceed without major issues, we now face a serious problem.
We have an air-to-water heat pump from Tecalor, installed by our plumbing specialist and inspected by Tecalor about 10 weeks ago. (We have been living in the house for just over 12 weeks.) The Tecalor representative was very impressed with the heating contractor’s work and assured us that he has known him for a long time and that he always does an excellent job. He said there was hardly any need to check much because the quality of work is always that good.
Well, now that the warm season is over, we discovered on Monday that our system is not heating. We do have hot water, but the underfloor heating does absolutely nothing. The plumbing company came by on Tuesday but could not get the heating to work either. I immediately tried to arrange an appointment with Tecalor on Tuesday, but the woman on the phone told me the earliest available appointment was Monday. Considering the temperature in the bathroom was only 16°C (61°F), I found that offer quite unreasonable and told her so, but all I got was a dismissive "What am I supposed to do if all employees are busy?" Reluctantly, I accepted the appointment; what else could I do?
Of course, we are now facing the worst-case scenario: on Monday, someone from Tecalor comes and tells us the system must be replaced, but that this can only happen after several weeks, and until then we will be freezing. Fortunately, the weather is expected to warm up again next week, but that’s no solution either.
Is there anything I can do or demand? Even something like a portable heater for the bathroom, with the cost covered by the plumber or Tecalor? Or are there any other legal or contractual claims in cases like this?
This whole situation makes me even more frustrated because this is not the first time we have had minor disagreements with the plumbing company (prices for ceramics, the outdoor unit of the air-to-water heat pump placed too close to the garage, price of the maintenance contract). Why should I even take on a maintenance contract with a company that makes such serious mistakes? My trust in their work has definitely been shaken. And then I have to listen to the Tecalor employee telling me how great their work is.
I hope you understand my problem and my question. I think my frustration comes across clearly.
Best regards
The thread is drifting in a direction I didn’t intend, and my original question has only been addressed once so far, but oh well. Let’s try to fix this together:
The “heating circuit pump” symbol runs continuously. The “tap” symbol only appears after showering or when we’ve used hot water, which makes sense. The compressor only turns on if the temperature in the tank falls below 45°C (113°F).
We have an error log currently showing 20 errors of the same type, each with different timestamps, labeled “min overheated.” According to the manual, this error means the refrigerant is overheated. Hot water is still available, though.
I haven’t even seen the actual heating symbol yet. The heating system’s diagnostic tool has only shown 2 hours of heating, and that has been the case for several weeks.
@HAL06120 “Doesn’t work” basically means “the house is not getting warm.” How else am I supposed to describe the problem if even the (hopefully) trained heating technician can’t figure it out? They have absolutely no clue what the cause is either.
@apokolok The bathroom floor is so cold that I’m even starting to wonder if they connected the cold water line to the heating system. But surely the plumber should have noticed that on Tuesday.
The fact that the bathroom is only about 16°C (61°F) is simply because I shower and ventilate very early in the morning, and my wife does so late at night.
The “heating circuit pump” symbol runs continuously. The “tap” symbol only appears after showering or when we’ve used hot water, which makes sense. The compressor only turns on if the temperature in the tank falls below 45°C (113°F).
We have an error log currently showing 20 errors of the same type, each with different timestamps, labeled “min overheated.” According to the manual, this error means the refrigerant is overheated. Hot water is still available, though.
I haven’t even seen the actual heating symbol yet. The heating system’s diagnostic tool has only shown 2 hours of heating, and that has been the case for several weeks.
@HAL06120 “Doesn’t work” basically means “the house is not getting warm.” How else am I supposed to describe the problem if even the (hopefully) trained heating technician can’t figure it out? They have absolutely no clue what the cause is either.
@apokolok The bathroom floor is so cold that I’m even starting to wonder if they connected the cold water line to the heating system. But surely the plumber should have noticed that on Tuesday.
The fact that the bathroom is only about 16°C (61°F) is simply because I shower and ventilate very early in the morning, and my wife does so late at night.
then just start...
The heating circuit manifold in the living area. Does it get warm? Do the circuits have flow? Take a close look—there are small tubes with floats inside, where you can read the flow rate in liters per minute (L/min).
If there is no flow and the manifold is warm: turn the thermostats all the way up; if there is still no flow, unscrew the motorized valve heads on the manifold.
If there is flow but the manifold is cold:
Do you have a heating buffer tank? Does it have a thermometer? Is it warm? Are the pipes going in and out warm?
Probably not.
Then CAREFULLY feel the pipes coming from the heating buffer and leading to the heat pump. Are they extremely hot near the heat pump?
If yes, then the loading pump in the heat pump that is supposed to transfer heat from the heat pump to the heating buffer is either broken or not wired correctly.
The heating circuit manifold in the living area. Does it get warm? Do the circuits have flow? Take a close look—there are small tubes with floats inside, where you can read the flow rate in liters per minute (L/min).
If there is no flow and the manifold is warm: turn the thermostats all the way up; if there is still no flow, unscrew the motorized valve heads on the manifold.
If there is flow but the manifold is cold:
Do you have a heating buffer tank? Does it have a thermometer? Is it warm? Are the pipes going in and out warm?
Probably not.
Then CAREFULLY feel the pipes coming from the heating buffer and leading to the heat pump. Are they extremely hot near the heat pump?
If yes, then the loading pump in the heat pump that is supposed to transfer heat from the heat pump to the heating buffer is either broken or not wired correctly.
fragg schrieb:
then just start...
The heating circuit distributor in the living area. Is it warm? Do the circuits have flow? Take a close look—there are small tubes with floats inside where you can read the flow in L/min.No, nothing is warm. All thermostats are turned fully on. The floats in the tubes all show 0 L/min. None of the tubes are completely filled with water; some are even empty. The heating technician checked the water on Tuesday and said there was enough of it. But water still isn’t visible in the tubes.
If no flow and the heating circuit distributor is warm: turn thermostats fully on; if there’s still no flow, unscrew the actuators on the heating circuit distributor.All supply and return pipes in the underfloor heating distribution box are cold. The actuators, however, are warm. The actuator displays (Cosmo 300) also indicate that they are responding to the thermostat settings.
If there is flow and the heating circuit distributor is cold:
Do you have a heating buffer tank? Does it have a thermometer? Is it warm? Are the pipes leading in and out warm?
Probably not.
Then CAREFULLY feel the pipes coming from the heating buffer and going to the heat pump. Are they extremely hot near the heat pump?
If yes, then the loading pump inside the heat pump, which is supposed to transfer heat from the heat pump to the heating buffer, is either defective or not wired correctly.We have a 200-liter (53-gallon) hot water tank, if that’s what you mean by heating buffer. The pipes at the pump are all very well insulated; I can hardly feel any temperature difference, no matter the direction. (Thickly wrapped with aluminum foil) I will check everything again when I’m home this afternoon.
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