17.03.2026 Air-air heat pump Pt.2

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 Tuesday 17th 36F/2.2C [6.45] Light overcast with a tobacco filter in the east. 66F/19C in the room. 57F/14C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 4am. Wide awake. No visit to my friend today. 

 Watching videos on heat pumps. Moving furniture to make room for low level and floor standing indoor units. My original idea avoided sitting in "the wind" but directed the heat to the open stairwell. That would leave the main sitting area in the cold. 

 While a low level unit could blow warm air along the floor from the wall near the TV. Towards the computer desk, TV chair and the bed. Where it would rise by convection to form and circular air flow.

 A long time owner of a heat pump said that high level units struggle to match the heat required. Due to stratification. While his low mounted unit kept an entire upstairs room arrangement warm. Consisting of a living room, office, bedrooms and bathroom. Good to know.

 My original drawing is horribly out of scale. This end of the L-shaped room is far more roomy than it appears. So I have now redrawn the east wall to better match reality. Still not to scale!

 The outside heat pump unit coincides with where I keep the three, recycling, wheelie bins. Not a problem. Plenty of room. I have discovered that the heat pump's mains plug must be earthed. The nearest sockets indoors are close but not earthed. They date from a period where Denmark did not have earthed sockets and plugs. 

 However, the plastic water supply pipe lies close to this wall. The storm of '99 brought down a telegraph pole with TV aerials mounted. This broke the buried water pipe at its base and it had to be rejoined. So hammering an earth rod in just there might be risky. I might have to dig down to expose the pipe's exact position. An earth rod would be far simpler and probably cheaper than indoor rewiring back to the consumer unit. Which in on the other side of the house.

 9.30 Sunshine. I drove into the village to shop. Having run out of essentials. I'll ride in again later. When the pharmacy is open.

 12.00 Back from the chemist. I have to have an annual checkup at the doctors. Twice, next month.  

 

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16.03.2026 Heat pump?

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  Monday 16th 37F/3C. Heavy overcast. A wet morning clearing to sunshine. 61F/16C in the room.43F/6C in the greenhouse. I am using the new wireless digital thermometers for monitoring the greenhouse. Both are reading identically to 0.1F. My old digital thermometer, with a sensor on a lead, is reading high at 47F. The sensor is trapped against the house wall by a shade card. Not to be trusted. 

 The wireless sensors are separated and resting in the open. On a slatted wooden table in the shade of large plant pots. Not under them! I am hoping this will overcome solar heating of the sensors and their immediate surroundings. Which was a constant battle out there last summer. I tried all sorts of shading but was always limited by the length of the sensor leads. The two thermometers were showing wildly different measurements. As much as 30F! As the sun heated the southern brick wall. 

 9.45 Up at 8.22 after a ridiculously busy night attending the fire bucket. I was going to get up several times but went back to sleep each time. I have lit the stove. 60F is not warm enough!

 I lit the stove and the room quickly rose to 70F. That consumed only four logs. The sunshine after lunch maintained both the room and greenhouse at 70F/21C. I had already let the stove go out mid morning.

 No walk with it raining steadily. 

 Another day on YouTube. Researching heat pumps again. I have been considering having one for years. Air to Air of course. I can't afford a wet system. Even though that could utilize the underfloor heating pipes in the kitchen and bathroom. Starting at £10,000 equivalent and needing a plethora of pipes and umpteen tanks. The Danish taxpayer will subsidize a wet unit to the tune of about £3k. The UK offers £7500 handouts for a wet system! 

 The main problem is deciding where to place the indoor "blower" unit. It doesn't want to be blowing directly at the TV seating area. I would much prefer it on the far end of the long leg of the L-shaped lounge. This would minimize any draughts. While avoiding blowing warm air directly up the open stairs. 

 The online advice is to place it on the short wall wall blowing towards the long leg. This would be above my bed and the windows. Which is the worst position for blowing onto the computer desk and TV watching chair. The far end of the long leg has a low ceiling height and a door. Making positioning anything there a real struggle. It also requires lengthy plumbing pipes. Since there is no suitable outside wall for the exterior unit. 

 So, I have placed a red box with a question mark at top right on my rough drawing for the outside unit. With the indoor unit on the short wall between the window and the corner. The dining table is probably far enough away not to cause storm tossed hairstyles. 

 A heat pump would free me from the ever increasing burden of collecting firewood for the stove. Then double handling it from the trailer into the greenhouse. Then stacking it in the greenhouse from the wheelbarrow. Then bringing in heavy baskets full to the living room for a day's burning. It seems more logical to do this in loads. To avoid repeatedly opening the greenhouse door when it is cold out there. The small front hall out to the greenhouse is often feels as chilly as a walk-in fridge. 

 It is fortunate there are two doors to treat the small hall as an air lock. Between the living room, hall and kitchen. I fold back the kitchen door in summer to free up the foot traffic flow. The living room door opens back against the airing cupboard doors.

 18.30 Time to make dinner. Still 68F/20C in the room. 

 I have sent emails to five heat pump installers to hear their responses. There is no old heating system to remove so it should be a quick job. 

 I should have gone shopping. The last two slices of bread to toast. Four day old beans. 😋

   

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15.03.2026 33km.

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  Sunday 15th 38F/3C [8.30] Overcast with a threat of sunshine later. When it might reach 8C/46F. 62F/16.7C in the room. 49F/9.4C in the greenhouse.  The two new digital thermometers are showing different temperatures for In/Out. Even though their wireless sensors are alongside the main display. A difference of half a degree is disappointing. The odd thing that both readings are identical between the pair.

 Up at 8am after clock watching at 6am. A repeat of yesterday. I have a painful lower back and don't know why. I don't remember doing anything silly. Except for going off-road in the forest. Where I was using Turbo mode to overcome the foolishly steep inclines. Hardly a valid excuse for "excused boots." 

 9.40 Walkies! 

 10.05 Back again. It was cold. My back took longer to walk off than usual. More worrying was my breathlessness. I was literally panting from just walking along the flat section of the road. The thought of climbing back up the incline after my turning point did not fill me with confidence. So I took out my nitro bottle and sprayed the underside of my tongue. 

I can never tell whether the instant relief is psychosomatic. The bottle is not supposed to be kept in a warm place and should be replaced at intervals as it loses efficiency. Nevertheless, my breathlessness was immediately gone. As I continued back up the gentle slope. 

 The problem is knowing that the nitro's effect is to rapidly open up my heart's plumbing system. Not the main blood flow but the supply which keeps the heart muscles working and healthy. That the nitro was even needed suggests the plumbing is becoming clogged again. Why else would I be breathless and panting just from walking? Just as I am when I have to lift a basket of firewood.

 I have no problem cycling thanks to the motor assistance. So that is hardly a test of fitness. I have another appointment for an ultrasound check of my heart at the end of next month. I think I may need to see the doctor before then. 

 11.30 A brightening though without clear sunshine. Smal patches of blue sky are visible.

 13.45 Going for a ride. 

 15.30 46F/7.8C. Back from a 33km ride to monitor the progress on the new railway line. I left home with 68% battery charge and had to use Tour mode to compensate on the way home. I was right down to 5km range at 17% charge according to the NYON computer. Well into the orange "battery warning" band. It usually cuts power at 12%. Presumably to protect the battery.

 I had seen the opposite end of the closed road the other day. Today I could see the cutting and bridgework from the other side. The road is supposed to repopen at the end of next month [April.] The top image is looking west towards Ejby and Middelfart. The next image is looking east towards Grønnemose and distant Odense. The third a view of the various toys in the machine park. 

 It was mostly sunny but hardly warm today. Much more windy than yesterday. Far stronger than the DMI forecast. Which made progress even harder on the main roads. Where I was overtaken by far too many sociopathic fuckwits for one ride. They were too retarded to read the road ahead and adjust their speed accordingly. Far too many brushed past at high speed. Well within one meter in many cases. Instead of easing off. As the only visible car approached from the opposite direction. 

 No ill effects from this morning's breathlessness. Having to use Tour mode on the climbs did occasionally find me short of breath. Though only briefly while I was actually climbing. I soon recovered afterwards. I was never in any distress.  

 The thermometers proved to be far better than first impressions. I placed the outdoor sensors out in the greenhouse. In different places but at the same height and in the shade. They soon settled to within 0.1C. Which is impressive. Despite being made by two different manufacturers for two different retailers.

 Dinner was a chicken and mushroom curry. The rice is a year out of date. 

 

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