ᐅ Compressor failed after 6 years (Ecoforest ground-source heat pump / well construction by Heth)
Created on: 24 Mar 2023 09:38
J
jx7
After 6.5 years, the compressor of our ground source heat pump has failed.
The expected lifespan of such compressors is stated to be 25-30 years.
Has anyone else experienced something like this?
Could the heat pump have been improperly installed, or what might have caused the damage?
Additionally:
The installing company Brunnebau & Erdwärme Heth from Lorsch is refusing to carry out the repair, citing a shortage of skilled technicians.
Overall, no official Ecoforest partner could be found to do the repair; a local heating and cooling company will now handle the repair.
It is an Ecoforest geothermal heat pump (model C3 3-12KW HTR EH) with a Copeland Scroll compressor ZPV36K1E-1E9-130.
Could it be that the 12kW heat pump was oversized for our house? (There are 190 sqm (2045 sq ft) of underfloor heating and domestic hot water for 5 people supplied by the heat pump. The house is built to nearly KfW-55 standard: final energy demand: 21.4 kWh/(m²·a) / primary energy demand: 51.4 kWh/(m²·a) / building envelope thermal quality: 0.25 W/(m²·K)).
The expected lifespan of such compressors is stated to be 25-30 years.
Has anyone else experienced something like this?
Could the heat pump have been improperly installed, or what might have caused the damage?
Additionally:
The installing company Brunnebau & Erdwärme Heth from Lorsch is refusing to carry out the repair, citing a shortage of skilled technicians.
Overall, no official Ecoforest partner could be found to do the repair; a local heating and cooling company will now handle the repair.
It is an Ecoforest geothermal heat pump (model C3 3-12KW HTR EH) with a Copeland Scroll compressor ZPV36K1E-1E9-130.
Could it be that the 12kW heat pump was oversized for our house? (There are 190 sqm (2045 sq ft) of underfloor heating and domestic hot water for 5 people supplied by the heat pump. The house is built to nearly KfW-55 standard: final energy demand: 21.4 kWh/(m²·a) / primary energy demand: 51.4 kWh/(m²·a) / building envelope thermal quality: 0.25 W/(m²·K)).
andimann schrieb:
Hello,
Something doesn’t seem to add up in your numbers. Could there be a misplaced decimal point somewhere?
6.5 years is about 57,000 hours. That would give you a start per hour (which I think is way too high). And a runtime per start of 1/3 hour = 20 minutes per start.
What then does “starts/hour 35.596” mean?
Best regards,
AndreasYes, that’s exactly how I would interpret the numbers and I’m just as confused.
jx7 schrieb:
Yes, sometimes it’s just bad luck.
I understand that a unit rated for 25-30 years can last only 15-20 years or sometimes even 35-40 years.
But just 6.5 years is very short and quite frustrating.
The geothermal heat pump display shows:
Hours: 19,672
Starts: 57,579
Starts per hour: 35.596
The suspicion of oversizing comes from the professional installer. Let’s see how it develops.I don’t want to offend you because you’ve already had a tough time getting the new compressor, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But your heating system is not maintenance-free, and as a homeowner, you were given the user manual for a reason.
Who maintained the heating system? Was it done regularly?
For example, after the first year when I saw the heat pump turning on as shown in the screenshot, the service technician came the very next day. Back then, the counter showed just under 9,500 starts (or one start every 12 minutes). Now, three years later, it’s about 11,500 starts in total.
You can see that this is not unusual and happens quite often, especially if something is defective (e.g., room temperature sensor malfunction, expansion tank failure, underfloor heating loops not refilled, etc.).
K
KarstenausNRW24 Mar 2023 13:18jx7 schrieb:
The geothermal heat pump display shows:
Hours: 19672
Starts: 57579First of all, I also think the heat pump is oversized, even though it can modulate down to 3 kW (3.3 hp).But when I see that you have three times as many starts as running hours, the heating system is really operating poorly. Sorry.
I would expect the opposite ratio – at least 2 to 3 times more running hours than starts.
If these numbers are correct, the compressor has started as many times in 6.5 years as a well-functioning heat pump would in 60 to 100 years. So the compressor has worn remarkably well (though I doubt you want to hear that).
Did no one explain the heating system to you or properly adjust it? What happened during maintenance? Did the installer notice nothing – or have you had no maintenance at all, which I could understand since very few people do.
The heating system was, of course, set up and we were instructed on its use.
There was maintenance carried out by the installing company, which was included.
The offered maintenance contract was so expensive that we did not sign it, especially since the heating system was presented to us before the house was built as maintenance-free, like a refrigerator.
There was maintenance carried out by the installing company, which was included.
The offered maintenance contract was so expensive that we did not sign it, especially since the heating system was presented to us before the house was built as maintenance-free, like a refrigerator.
jx7 schrieb:
The maintenance contract offered was so expensive that we didn’t sign it, especially since the heating system was presented to us before the house was built as maintenance-free, like a refrigerator.Well, hindsight is always 20/20...SoL schrieb:
Well, hindsight is always 20/20...The compressor is not broken now because we neglected maintenance, but most likely because it was incorrectly sized and configured.Similar topics