Heat pumps & tariffs: £ saving method 3: Automation
- 11 hours ago
- 4 min read
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Method 3 - Automation
As you may have read in another article, some heat pump controllers have party tricks that allow you to do clever things with weather compensation that allow you to confidently save money using time of use tariffs.
They allow you to schedule alterations to flow temperatures over the course of a day to save energy costs during different tariff periods, and are a significantly better method than using thermostat set back schedules.
These weather compensation tricks rely on manual judgement and experimentation. Great as they are, these party tricks won't make decisions that are perfect or bring the most savings.
There are now innovations available on the UK market that are set to completely change the user experience, and so much for the better!
These are genuinely smart approaches that completely automate all this brain-draining complexity.
They are all software and cloud-based innovations (though they usually rely on a small amount of additional electronic hardware in the home).
They:
Talk directly to your heat pump and take control of the thing that is most important: water flow temperatures
Learn the behaviour of your heat pump
Learn how your house responds to your heating and the weather
Know what the weather will be in the near future, including sun, wind and temperature
Know what tariff you are on
Know what your comfort preferences are
Using software that continually analyses all the above information, they continually refine heating flow temperatures. They work the heat pump a little harder or back it off a little, as and when appropriate to suit the tariff or your needs.
As a result, they provide you with the comfort level you ask for at the lowest possible cost.
For example, if you tell the system that you never want the indoor temperature to fall below 20°C, it will pretty much guarantee this.
The software helps your heat pump use your home as a heat battery. It stores heat energy in the house when it thinks it can do so cheaply. That stored heat then helps keep the house warmer later when tariff periods might be more expensive.
This means, for example, that your house might be warmer than you would normally expect at some times of the day. This is perfectly fine. The software is doing this to guarantee you the minimum 20°C you want at other times. It knows this is the cheapest way to do things.
I talked of twiddling earlier. This is automated twiddling.
It is the sort of approach that is expected to be used to control most heat pumps within the next decade.
These innovations completely remove the need for you to understand weather compensation or the need for you to use your existing controllers.
This will particularly please people I've met who have controllers that:
Are so dreadful to use people want to take an axe to them
Are in the loft, covered in spider webs
Are locked in a cupboard by the landlady (not a lie, I know of one)
Once set up
With these innovations you just tell your phone app what minimum temperatures you want in the house, and what tariff you are on. That's it. All the heat pump flow temperature decision-making is then handled automatically.
No more manual tweaking, guessing or experimentation. A real blow for geeky types like me!
Even if you make changes to your home (e.g. new windows or more loft insulation), your heating system will automatically learn and adapt.
The providers of this genius
I have listed below the companies I know of which are offering this sort of heat pump wizardry. There are links to their websites so you can check for more detail on heat pump model compatibility and find further information.
Compatible with Samsung, Mitsubishi, Vaillant and also now Daikin
Compatible with Airwell, Clivet, Daikin, Ebac, Grant, Ideal, LG, Midea, Mitsubishi, Nordis, Riello, Samsung, Tiranco, Worcester Bosch
Compatible with Aux, Airwell, Baxi, Carrier, Clivet, Daikin, Ebac, Grant, Haier, Ideal, Kensa, Midea, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Riello, Samsung, Worcester Bosch.
Compatible with Midea, Haier, Clivet, Samsung, Riello, Vaillant.
There are slight differences between them all, such as cost, installation requirements and their ability to work with other home technologies such as solar and battery storage.
If my heat pump was compatible with any of these innovations, I'd have it in heartbeat.
Sadly, my heat pump was installed when Michael Jackson was alive, so there is no chance it'll ever be compatible with any of them. Curses!
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In the meantime, there is plenty of great YouTube content on these new automated systems that will help you get to know them better.
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Thanks.
Mark Thompson
Get Energy Savvy - simple practical home energy efficiency information
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