General Air to Water Questions

Fake Tales

I moved into a house with an air to water unit last year, its worked okay but have a few questions.

The radiator in the converted attic isn't getting hot so I bled it, removed a lot of air. However still no heat. I note the pressure might be low. Showing about 0.5 bar. Is this something I can fix or need to get serviced?

I want to turn off my hot water to the kitchen sink to change a tap (no valve under the sink), there are a lot of valves coming out of the tank. Any issue with me just trying them to find which one it is?

I would also like to relocate the air to water unit from he back of my house to just outside the utility room. Its a small garden and its in the sun spot. I got a quote for €2k ish. Seems high, no new equipment. Just relocating existing unit and a few meters of pipe and electricity. I guess they are in demand. Would like to get some quotes, is it work any plumber can do? Who are the go to people for such work.

Cheers!

Sleeper12

On the moving part. It's not as simple as you might think. Heat pump system holds refrigerant. The installer needs special equipment to remove this before he can start. Heating system needs to totally drained down. Heat pump needs to be repiped in order to move it. Heating system needs to be filled again. Heat pump needs to be recharged and serviced. Heating system needs to be tested and balanced.

I don’t know if €2k is a lot or not but there is a fair amount of work involved with specialist equipment and chemicals

Wearb

Also they work best on a south facing wall, preferably one with a good bit of thermal mass.

Fake Tales

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045009#Comment_120045009

Thanks. Ya sounds like there is a bit too it alright.

Fake Tales

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045117#Comment_120045117

It's at the back of the house which is south facing but not attached to the wall. Just free standing perpendicular. It's in the sun spot where I'd like patio seating. When spinning it blows cold air on to the existing patio. Not ideal!

What does the thermal mass of the wall have to do with it?

I'd like to move it to the side of the house which faces west but is in shade most of the day. Would this be an issue? It would be a much shorter run to the tank from the fan.

Wearb

Thermal mass will store heat from the sun and the A/W pump benefits from this when running. They need to be a bit removed from the wall for air circulation.

Moving it away from a south facing wall will lower its cop (efficiency).

BTW. It will rarely be running at the time of year that you are most likely to use your patio.

Fake Tales

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045319#Comment_120045319

Thanks, anywhere I should look for number / percent loss estimates for different factors?

Its a small garden and its right in the last sun spot of the evening. I guess that's good placement! But I'd prefer to sit there! I already found it kicked in a few times when sat on the patio, making a cool evening cold.

Alternatively I could just move it further down the garden. Away from the wall but still south facing. Just say a 4m extension. I guess it would still involve the draining.

Latro

Moving heatpump to shaded area will have no impact on its efficiancy. Well, perhaps somwhere around 0.0001% but this can be rounded to 0.

Also that thermal mass advice is silly.

People do not realise how much air is pumped through the heatpump to produce energy.