19.11.2022 How to use a heat pump in a real house?

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 Saturday 19th 33F/0.5C. It held 62F/17C overnight upstairs. The stove was almost out at 11pm at bedtime. Though the soapstone cladding was still very warm. Up at 5.10. A misty, crescent moon was shining through the bedroom window.

 8.00 First white frost on the lawn and ice on the puddles. 55F/13C downstairs.

 9.15 36F/2C. Overcast. Back from a walk along the road. Fleeting sunshine added drama. I lit the stove and had morning coffee. I badly need a continuous heating system. Just as the estate agent clearly indicated. Home buyers are usually working and cannot feed a stove all day.

 So I have requested three fixed price offers [online] for installation of an air-to-air heat pump. Two have answered so far. One suggested a smaller model to heat only the areas not served by the wood stove. The other suggested a heat pump to heat the whole house. If I only wanted to heat smaller areas then the heat pump could easily manage this too. 

 So I did some research online. Some "experts" say that the heat pump must be closely matched to the heating needs of the entire building. Or only the rooms to be heated. Over-sizing was strongly condemned.

 While others claimed the larger system would be cruising effortlessly. Using the analogy of a large engine in a car. Compared to a smaller one. The latter would be working hard all the time. So better suited to heating a smaller space.

 If only life were simple. I could heat the whole house simply by opening all the internal doors. Where would the internal "blower" be sited to achieve this? Ideally in the kitchen. So it could simultaneously warm the bathroom via the small entrance hall.

 Which begs the question: How well would heat then travel to the lounge [via the small front hall through two doors. Then on upwards to the "living" attic space? 

 Vents in the kitchen ceiling to the attic might be illegal. [Fire hazard?] As well as letting the heat and cooking steam/smells escape all too readily upwards. Resulting in a damp, overheated bedroom. While the lounge would and could be left well behind. 

 Putting the internal blower in the lounge would deny heat to the kitchen and bathroom. Not the idea/ideal situation at all. Two heat pumps? At say roughly £2k equivalent each installed? Things are now getting as costly as a basic, air-to-water heat pump system. Underfloor heating and DHW combined. With space heating radiators where needed. Roughly estimated at £10k!

 Which is where my target for my last two day's walks comes in. They have at least three heat pumps easily visible from the road. The house is a modestly sized, 1½ storey, detached. Is one heat pump internal "blower" too inefficient to share heat with more than one room? 

 Or too inefficient to heat the house at all? Such that three heat pumps are needed just to cope? Perhaps they simply wanted flexibility and cooling in the upstairs in summer. I don't even want to think about their electricity bills. Of course I know nothing of their insulation standards either. If could learn a great deal from this homeowner.

 I drove along to ask. It seems they used a heat pump supplier/installer from further afield. They have three floors, including the cellar. Hence the need for three heat pumps.  

 I have been to town. Where I bought some inexpensive, digital thermometers. With usefully large screens and digits. I have been struggling to read my older thermometers in winter lighting conditions. I also bought a large, stiff foam [polyurethane] plasterer's trowel. The Danes don't seem to use hawks. So I improvised.

 The log I left in the stove when I left was still burning well. 64F downstairs. 63F upstairs. Heavily overcast with lighter winds.

14.25 36F/2C. It has just started snowing! Briefly.

21.15 34F/1C. Dinner over. Still feeding the stove. 65F/18C upstairs. All doors closed.

 

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