Hi all,

the split aircon unit we bought last spring did a cool job cooling the
bedroom down, but it also has a heat function. I have tried this and it
gets a room upto 18c in no time...im sure it is more economical than using
other forms heating as the unit only draws 1.2kw when operating. Is there
any info online about using them for heating?

cheers

Steve

In message ,
R.P.McMurphy writes
the split aircon unit we bought last spring did a cool job cooling the
bedroom down, but it also has a heat function. I have tried this and
it gets a room upto 18c in no time...im sure it is more economical than
using other forms heating as the unit only draws 1.2kw when operating.
Is there any info online about using them for heating?

Include the term "heat pump" in your search. Heating a house with a
heat pump (what's in most AC units) is very efficient.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:21:25 +0000, Clive Mitchell wrote:

In message ,
R.P.McMurphy writes
the split aircon unit we bought last spring did a cool job cooling the
bedroom down, but it also has a heat function. I have tried this and
it gets a room upto 18c in no time...im sure it is more economical than
using other forms heating as the unit only draws 1.2kw when operating.
Is there any info online about using them for heating?

Include the term "heat pump" in your search. Heating a house with a
heat pump (what's in most AC units) is very efficient.

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John

In article m, John
writes

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John

No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself which
means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so that, but
anything above those temps, its fine.

If you could imagine its working in reverse to what its doing in the
summer months.. its trying to "cool" the outside air and get rid of the
heat inside the room!...
--
Tony Sayer

"tony sayer" wrote in message
...
In article m, John
writes

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out
of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John

No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself which
means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so that, but
anything above those temps, its fine.

If you could imagine its working in reverse to what its doing in the
summer months.. its trying to "cool" the outside air and get rid of the
heat inside the room!...
--
Tony Sayer


However, don't some just have a "fan heater" type of element to provide
heating? Simpler and cheaper models.

In message , tony sayer
writes
No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself
which means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so
that, but anything above those temps, its fine.

If you could imagine its working in reverse to what its doing in the
summer months.. its trying to "cool" the outside air and get rid of the
heat inside the room!...

But where heat pumps really do work for heating is where there's a
modestly accessible geothermal source. This could be a bit of pipe laid
at a modest depth under the garden or a heat extractor in a local
stream.

Not particularly easy DIY projects though.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In message , Huge
writes
Could you suggest a system suitable for dropping down my well?

Yes. Anything by Microsoft.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In article ,
tony sayer writes:
No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself which
means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so that, but
anything above those temps, its fine.

Same with mine. Useful if you are working at home and only want
to heat that room too, rather than the whole house.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 9 Mar, 19:32, Clive Mitchell wrote:
In message , Huge
writes

Could you suggest a system suitable for dropping down my well?

Yes. Anything by Microsoft.

--
Clive Mitchellhttp://www.bigclive.com



ROFPML!

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 19:32:48 GMT, Clive Mitchell
wrote:

In message , Huge
writes
Could you suggest a system suitable for dropping down my well?

Yes. Anything by Microsoft.


I did notice two other threads today related to hanging gates, but
sadly they weren't what I thought.


--

..andy

In message , Clive Mitchell
writes
Could you suggest a system suitable for dropping down my well?

Yes. Anything by Microsoft.

The serious answer being that the water based heat extraction does
require water flow to maintain the temperature difference.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

Andy Hall pretended :
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 19:32:48 GMT, Clive Mitchell
wrote:

In message , Huge
writes
Could you suggest a system suitable for dropping down my well?

Yes. Anything by Microsoft.


I did notice two other threads today related to hanging gates, but
sadly they weren't what I thought.

:-))

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"John" wrote in message
s.com...

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John


I.ve checked the unit's label, it says 1280w input power for 13000 btu
output. 13000btu is 3.8kw...seems a good way to heat my house...will defo
be using it more often from now on!

Steve

On Sat, 10 Mar 2007 18:51:11 -0000, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:


"John" wrote in message
ps.com...

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John


I.ve checked the unit's label, it says 1280w input power for 13000 btu
output. 13000btu is 3.8kw...seems a good way to heat my house...will defo
be using it more often from now on!

Steve



Interesting if Cost{electricity) 3 x Cost (gas)


--

..andy

"R.P.McMurphy" wrote in message
...

"John" wrote in message
s.com...

But is that what it does when it's heating? Does it chuck cold air out
of
where it would put out warm air when it's cooling (IYSWIM)?

Exactly right, hence the term "Heat Pump".
The down side is that they generally don't work at low outside
temperatures.

John


I.ve checked the unit's label, it says 1280w input power for 13000 btu
output. 13000btu is 3.8kw...seems a good way to heat my house...will defo
be using it more often from now on!

Steve

That is a rating at certain temperatures only usually around 15 deg'c
outdoor temp (and besides the Ebay Chinese specials are notoriously dodgy
with their ratings.) the lower the outdoor temperature the closer to 1:1 it
gets. However the better the manufacturer is the lower the outdoor temp can
be before that point is reached.

If it's on this list

http://www.eca.gov.uk/etl/find/_P_He...b=ResultsPanel

it's worth considering however some are still more energy efficient than
others. The best overall in my view are Daikin but even within their own
range of splits strangely some of them are more efficient than others.

The added bonus from this list is that anything on it has a 5% VAT levy.
This applies to the unit and associated building costs. Whatever that might
mean ;-)

Cheers

Richard

No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself which
means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so that, but
anything above those temps, its fine.

If you could imagine its working in reverse to what its doing in the
summer months.. its trying to "cool" the outside air and get rid of the
heat inside the room!...

But where heat pumps really do work for heating is where there's a
modestly accessible geothermal source. This could be a bit of pipe laid
at a modest depth under the garden or a heat extractor in a local stream.

Not particularly easy DIY projects though.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

As it happens i have a stream flowing past my garden...is it easier/better
to use that as a heat source than burying pipes? I have considered seeing
if it'd be possible to have my own hydro electrical generator running of it
too..but am unsure where to start!

Steve

On Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:38:21 -0000, "R.P.McMurphy"
wrote:


No they don't!. The one we have is fine except when it gets down to say
less than 2-3 deg c when it spends a lot of time defrosting itself which
means that its taking quite a bit off the mains in order to so that, but
anything above those temps, its fine.

If you could imagine its working in reverse to what its doing in the
summer months.. its trying to "cool" the outside air and get rid of the
heat inside the room!...

But where heat pumps really do work for heating is where there's a
modestly accessible geothermal source. This could be a bit of pipe laid
at a modest depth under the garden or a heat extractor in a local stream.

Not particularly easy DIY projects though.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

As it happens i have a stream flowing past my garden...is it easier/better
to use that as a heat source than burying pipes? I have considered seeing
if it'd be possible to have my own hydro electrical generator running of it
too..but am unsure where to start!

Steve



I have some friends in Sweden who have this scenario and looked into
it for heating of a swimming pool.

As it turned out, unless the water flow was substantial and with
considerable drop (it wasn't either), the hydroelectric idea wasn't
viable.


OTOH, there did seem to be a range of geothermal equipment available
that would work with a borehole and they went with that. It could be
that this kind of equipment could work with water circulated from a
stream as well


--

..andy

In message ,
R.P.McMurphy writes
As it happens i have a stream flowing past my garden...is it
easier/better to use that as a heat source than burying pipes? I have
considered seeing if it'd be possible to have my own hydro electrical
generator running of it too..but am unsure where to start!

Is the stream fairly fast flowing and consistently full during the
months when heat is needed?

Is it prone to heavy flow with attendant rock movement? My dad has a
small river at the bottom of his garden and it can be very destructive
to anything that gets in it's path.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com

In article ,
Clive Mitchell writes:
In message ,
R.P.McMurphy writes
As it happens i have a stream flowing past my garden...is it
easier/better to use that as a heat source than burying pipes? I have
considered seeing if it'd be possible to have my own hydro electrical
generator running of it too..but am unsure where to start!

Is the stream fairly fast flowing and consistently full during the
months when heat is needed?

Is it prone to heavy flow with attendant rock movement? My dad has a
small river at the bottom of his garden and it can be very destructive
to anything that gets in it's path.

I would be tempted to look for a solution which didn't leave a
heat exchanger in the path of all the crap coming down the river.
You could have a settling tank off the stream, overflowing back
into the stream, and have an exchanger in that or pump a flow of
water from it to an exchanger above ground, returning to the
river.

One of the first buildings to use heat pump technology for heating
was the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank when it opened in
the early 1950's. It used a heat exchanger to take heat from the
Thames. It was rather quickly abandoned due to continual failure
of the river heat exchanger, but it was a new technology at the
time.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

As it happens i have a stream flowing past my garden...is it
easier/better to use that as a heat source than burying pipes? I have
considered seeing if it'd be possible to have my own hydro electrical
generator running of it too..but am unsure where to start!

Is the stream fairly fast flowing and consistently full during the months
when heat is needed?

yes


Is it prone to heavy flow with attendant rock movement?

no. It a small stream about 5 foot wide and a foot deep, but there are no
rocks in it. In the summer flow is greatly reduced, but there is still
flow.

My dad has a
small river at the bottom of his garden and it can be very destructive to
anything that gets in it's path.

--
Clive Mitchell
http://www.bigclive.com