ᐅ Underfloor heating with an air-to-water heat pump. House gets too warm when the sun is shining.
Created on: 4 Dec 2019 14:18
C
chewbacca123
Hello everyone,
I have a general question.
We moved into our new build four months ago. The living area on the ground floor has three large floor-to-ceiling windows facing south. We have underfloor heating and an air-to-water heat pump.
It provides a really comfortable temperature inside the house, but we have a problem – whenever the sun is shining in winter, even if it’s -2°C (28°F) outside, the temperature suddenly rises to 24°C (75°F) in the living room. It gets uncomfortably warm in here, and the underfloor heating can’t be turned down quickly.
Should we assume that the large floor-to-ceiling windows are responsible for the heat gain? A photo of the south-facing side of the house is attached.
What would you do – always lower all the blinds as soon as sunlight is forecast? That seems quite annoying...
We have motorized blinds controlled by Somfy. Would you consider buying a sensor that automatically lowers the blinds at a certain temperature?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
I have a general question.
We moved into our new build four months ago. The living area on the ground floor has three large floor-to-ceiling windows facing south. We have underfloor heating and an air-to-water heat pump.
It provides a really comfortable temperature inside the house, but we have a problem – whenever the sun is shining in winter, even if it’s -2°C (28°F) outside, the temperature suddenly rises to 24°C (75°F) in the living room. It gets uncomfortably warm in here, and the underfloor heating can’t be turned down quickly.
Should we assume that the large floor-to-ceiling windows are responsible for the heat gain? A photo of the south-facing side of the house is attached.
What would you do – always lower all the blinds as soon as sunlight is forecast? That seems quite annoying...
We have motorized blinds controlled by Somfy. Would you consider buying a sensor that automatically lowers the blinds at a certain temperature?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
chewbacca1231 Oct 2020 08:51Hello everyone, I wanted to give you a quick update on my heating system now that it has started up again during the colder days.
It was noticeable that it was cycling a lot again, with 34-40 starts in 48 hours. Together with Daniel-SP, we analyzed the data and quickly realized that it was definitely caused by the bypass valve!
A short background story:
In the summer, we had an error message because the compressor was heating up for hours (8-10 hours). This was due to our heat pump heating above 35°C (95°F), as it is located on the south side in direct sunlight. That was not a problem and was fine. A technician from the manufacturer Novelan also came.
He basically looked at all my settings and adjusted the bypass valve from almost closed to almost fully open. According to him, this was completely fine and it would just release any excess pressure. He said the valve had to be that open.
We quickly found out that the frequent cycling was only happening because the valve was open. After I almost fully closed it again (yesterday morning), the situation already looked much better this morning.
I’m sharing this so you don’t run into the same issue. But I’m shocked that a professional, the technician from Novelan, would make such a statement that could cause more harm than good...
Best regards and all the best to you,
Ina
It was noticeable that it was cycling a lot again, with 34-40 starts in 48 hours. Together with Daniel-SP, we analyzed the data and quickly realized that it was definitely caused by the bypass valve!
A short background story:
In the summer, we had an error message because the compressor was heating up for hours (8-10 hours). This was due to our heat pump heating above 35°C (95°F), as it is located on the south side in direct sunlight. That was not a problem and was fine. A technician from the manufacturer Novelan also came.
He basically looked at all my settings and adjusted the bypass valve from almost closed to almost fully open. According to him, this was completely fine and it would just release any excess pressure. He said the valve had to be that open.
We quickly found out that the frequent cycling was only happening because the valve was open. After I almost fully closed it again (yesterday morning), the situation already looked much better this morning.
I’m sharing this so you don’t run into the same issue. But I’m shocked that a professional, the technician from Novelan, would make such a statement that could cause more harm than good...
Best regards and all the best to you,
Ina
chewbacca1231 Oct 2020 09:22As I mentioned above, I was really shocked!
Before anyone makes any adjustments to our heating system from now on, I will always record data beforehand and, most importantly, be present whenever anyone is working on it.
Before anyone makes any adjustments to our heating system from now on, I will always record data beforehand and, most importantly, be present whenever anyone is working on it.
A
Alessandro1 Oct 2020 09:38Is it still possible nowadays for a regular person (non-expert) to operate or meaningfully adjust a heat pump with underfloor heating without having to spend 1000 hours studying it? I have neither the interest nor the time for that.
The whole topic of hydraulic balancing, the use of ERR, cycling, and data reading or analysis annoys me so much that I already have sleepless nights.
If you can't even rely on the manufacturer's technicians, how can you trust the installer?
The installer has the heating limit set by default to 18°C (64°F) and the return temperature target set to 38°C (100°F) at an outdoor temperature of 10°C (50°F).
You can't sell and install an efficient heating system and then leave the homeowner alone with the thing, using arbitrarily set values.
It’s really frustrating.
The whole topic of hydraulic balancing, the use of ERR, cycling, and data reading or analysis annoys me so much that I already have sleepless nights.
If you can't even rely on the manufacturer's technicians, how can you trust the installer?
The installer has the heating limit set by default to 18°C (64°F) and the return temperature target set to 38°C (100°F) at an outdoor temperature of 10°C (50°F).
You can't sell and install an efficient heating system and then leave the homeowner alone with the thing, using arbitrarily set values.
It’s really frustrating.
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