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Thread: Heat Pumps..........

  1. #1
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    Default Heat Pumps..........

    I've found a problem with our heat pump and wonder if any of you have had the same experience.

    Now, call me stupid, but I want to put on the heat pump when it's cold and believe me, there have been some bone chillingly cold nights and early mornings lately.

    Now, we live in a brand spanking new single story home with good insulation - no double glazing though.

    Anyway, now the weather has turned really quite cold, our heat pump is only blowing out warmish air and no matter what we do, we can't get it any hotter. So we called in 'The Man', in fact we called in a few men to get varied opinions.

    They all came up with the same conclusion : yes, our heat pump is big enough to do what we are asking of it, but apparently, because (like all heat pumps) it draws in cold air from the outside then warms up said air as it passes through the unit and then blows it into the room, it will only blow out really hot air if the outside air isn't too cold !!!!!!!!

    The 'Man' that came to look at it this morning confirmed it yet again by saying 'Oh, it's frosty this morning, so the air from the pump won't get hot.'

    Just going out now to buy a gas fire - we have mains gas so I can buy one of those Rennai flue-less heaters - oh and then (apparently) I'll have to turn the dehumidifier up too - happy days.

    Julie

    xx

  2. #2
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    I had a heat pump for years. It blew out hot air in the winter no matter what the temp was outside. If I set the thermostat on a hotter temp, it got the house toasty warm and kept it at that temp until I lowered the thermostat.

    What's the point in having one of those things for heat if you only "sort of" get the house warm?

    Sorry, I'm no help, really, but I don't understand why your heat pump is acting this way, either!! What a pain!

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by CjChris View Post
    If I set the thermostat on a hotter temp, it got the house toasty warm and kept it at that temp until I lowered the thermostat.


    Tried running it as hot as it will allow (30 deg) and it makes no difference.

    Utterly useless thing !!

    Julie

    xx

  4. #4
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    I understand that a heat pump sucks in cool air from inside the house, sends it through it's heating system (situated outside the house) and then blows the warm air back into the house. Then it gathers the cooling air and does it again. Ours works on a thermostat so the temperature is maintained.

    I was also told that the colder it is outside the more effective the unit is supposed to be.

    Mind you I'm no expert!!!

  5. #5
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    Dont know how it works but ive been told the same, if its really cold outside it wont heat up the same..............strange hey!
    Sorry im no help at all

  6. #6
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    Sudden thought -

    ...Just remembered, heard recently of a similar situation to yours and the problem was that the unit needed re-gassing. Once that was done there was no problem!

  7. #7
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    Does that mean that in the summer the air will be too hot outside for the pump to cool it properly ? This doesn't sound right to me, but I aint no heat pump expert, so who knows.

    Take it outside and hit with something heavy. It won't make it work any better, but it'll make you feel great and might even warm you up too

  8. #8
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    Heat pumps warm the air indoors by pulling heat from the outside air by attempting to cool it. So when you need warmth the most, the unit attempts to cool down the outside air which is already quite low, so it's hard work for the unit which if not operating at top efficiency may show reduced performance

    We had a frost this morning, so around 0 deg's outside but our heat pump was powering hot air out.

    In the summer it works in reverse, and the pump attempts to heat the outside air while cooling the inside, so if it is very hot outside, a similar lowering of performance can sometimes occur.

    Most modern heat pump are designed to work with outside temperatures of between -10 and +40 degs C, but you may want to check the spec on yours.

    Heat pumps don't actually heat the air indoors they just transfer the heat from outside. Some heat pumps for use in very cold areas have secondary heaters which kick in when the outside temperature drops below a certain level.

    The suggestion it may need re-gassing is worth following up and I am surprised none of the experts suggested this.

  9. #9
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    Julie, we had one in the rental - I wouldn't get one in our house if I was given one! it did the same, if it was freezing it would go into defrost mode to defrost off the ice on it outside,... it also made a big puddle underneath - which would freeze to make a nice booby trap for an unsuspecting visitor LOL

    it blew the gas line out in the end (*cheap china model) but we left before we had any more cold days to try the replacement in the winter.

    Good luck with the fire - I need to get a dehumidifier too.

    Kat

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by martinp View Post
    The suggestion it may need re-gassing is worth following up and I am surprised none of the experts suggested this.


    What does re-gassing mean?

    Also, this is a brand new pump and the man who came to inspect it on the suppliers behalf said it was working fine, hence we got in other 'men'.

    You're right Martin - we need an expert.

    Thanks for all your replies..........

    Julie

    xx

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