ᐅ Air-to-Water Heat Pump: Current Consumption and Data

Zaba, photovoltaic systems are definitely a great thing, but they do cost some money 😀. Where can you still get something for free?

The funny thing is, the heating is already off again or actually wasn’t on at all. Now that the outside temperature has risen to 4°C (39°F) and the room temperature setpoint has adjusted 🙂.

Now the sun is heating up the house. I’m curious how this will continue, maybe my plan will actually work 😀

I have to say, everything is running great. The temperatures are mostly stable, except for the bathroom, which remains a bit of a problem area at just 21.2°C (70°F). Otherwise, everything is the same despite the heating curve being 2°C (3.6°F) lower.

Now for the interesting part: consumption has nearly halved! We currently use 10–12 kWh and no longer need to ventilate as much to release heat. The system also runs only 4 hours a day instead of 8.

Oh, and for reference, the average outside temperature has stayed pretty much the same, currently at 4.6°C (40°F).

I don’t have an explanation for this—it just shows how temperamental heat pumps can be 😀

Sounds good. 21.2°C (70.2°F) in the bathroom is great. The bathroom is not a living space. Besides, if you can play outside in a T-shirt and shorts at 19°C (66.2°F) with sunshine, you can definitely handle 21.2°C (70.2°F) in the bathroom. The same goes for the lady...

You will have the chance to test the heating system in 1-2 weeks during cold weather. Although last night we had -5.8°C (21.6°F). If I were you, I would just keep it running and balance it out with solar gains.

The question is, why is the heat output decreasing...?

Yes, I’m going to keep it running like this, and if it does get too cold, I have prepared some wood and can react quickly.

Regarding the amount of heat, my only explanation is that we are overheating, which is why we ventilate so much and the system keeps reheating. But I haven’t fully understood it yet either.

Just for fun, I turned off the gas heating completely for 3 days this week. Hot water was provided by solar thermal...

During the day, all the blinds were up, so we had around 24-25°C (75-77°F) on the ground and upper floors (when we heat, it’s usually set to 24°C (75°F) :p). In the evening, the fireplace was on, which helped maintain the 24°C (75°F) until midnight. In the morning, the house temperature was around 22.7°C (73°F).

Since I work from home in the basement, it was about 20°C (68°F) down there after the 3 days... I didn’t want to sit in the cold, so I turned everything back on 😀. But when the sun is shining, we could actually stay self-sufficient in terms of heating—if you’re willing to give up some comfort. Because even at 24°C (75°F), the floor was still unpleasantly cold.

Question to the group: How would a timber frame house behave in such an experiment? Wouldn’t it cool down much more significantly at night? Anyone have experience with this?

I'll start by promoting a photovoltaic system. Considering February is one of the darker months, the sun was surprisingly strong. If there had been no snowfall or snow cover at the beginning of the month, I would have generated at least 130 kWh (143 kWh) more photovoltaic electricity. So, by the end of the month, the total photovoltaic electricity produced will probably be around 395 kWh (435 kWh).

The total household consumption including the heat pump is 600 kWh (660 kWh), although we didn’t pay much attention to electricity usage in the last 10 days to maintain comfort.

Total household consumption per day:

Photovoltaic electricity per day: