Discovering one of the best ways to run your warmth pump can depend upon numerous components, together with life-style, desired temperature and price range.
To maintain it easy, we’ve damaged down essentially the most environment friendly and cost-effective methods to warmth your own home.
What’s going to occur to my vitality payments now?
Once you swap to a warmth pump, you’ll see your gasoline invoice drop significantly (and even drop to zero when you select to have your meter eliminated). Your electrical energy invoice will enhance because it’s now protecting your heating and common electrical energy utilization.
Preserve your heating payments down
There are two foremost methods to maintain warmth pump prices low – reducing the price of vitality with a sensible tariff and maximising the effectivity of your warmth pump. Right here’s how one can make these choices give you the results you want:
Be a part of a sensible tariff
Total, we’ve discovered that clients save most cash on a sensible tariff like Cosy Octopus.
In the event you’ve signed up for a sensible tariff like Cosy Octopus (which presents two intervals of tremendous low cost vitality, and barely dearer charges in the course of the ‘peak’ time), working your warmth pump all day, as described beneath, might provide the finest SCOP however may cost a little extra to run.
To maximise financial savings, we advocate setting your schedule to warmth in the course of the cheaper ‘off-peak’ intervals when potential. As a result of the heating isn’t saved at a steady temperature, you’ll use extra vitality and enhance SCOP in the course of the heating intervals, however you’ll doubtless have saved cash by utilising cheaper fee electrical energy.
Most warmth pumps can solely do one factor at a time. We’d recommend heating your scorching water first, it ought to solely take a couple of hours and keep heat for a lot of the day, after which warmth your own home within the remaining off peak time. Discover a really useful Cosy schedule right here.
Maximising effectivity
In relation to value, desired room temperatures make an enormous distinction. A superb consolation setting for a warmth pump could be round 19° or 20°. In the event you set it to 22°, for instance, then the warmth pump will keep on longer till the room temperature meets its goal. That is more likely to value a bit extra, and will cut back your effectivity (SCOP). It’s additionally value noting that you probably have good insulation, warmth shall be retained for longer.
Like with any heating system, it’s additionally finest to cut back radiator temperature in rooms which can be used much less, like your bed room, so the recent water could be directed to the place it’s wanted most.
Most textbooks advocate working warmth pumps frequently at low temperatures (round 19°), aside from once you’re out or sleeping. Because of this the warmth pump works exhausting to convey the
temperature of the room up, then will idle at minimal output to take care of that temperature – conserving it working effectively for longer. This methodology ought to have your warmth pump assembly or exceeding a SCOP of three.3, which Octopus has designed your warmth pump to realize. Discover a really useful commonplace schedule right here.
What’s the SCOP and why is it essential?
The COP (Coefficient of Efficiency) is a determine that’s usually used to measure the effectivity of your warmth pump, which in flip will impression its value to run. A low COP signifies low effectivity, and a excessive COP signifies excessive effectivity.
COP is the effectivity measured over a brief time frame. The Seasonal Coefficient of Efficiency, or “SCOP”, is measured over a full 12 months.
Technically COP is the measurement of the quantity of vitality you get out (on this case, warmth) versus the quantity of vitality that goes into the warmth pump.
The COP is influenced by numerous components, however it’s primarily affected by what’s occurring in your house, like if the water is heating.
One other issue could be the temperature outdoors. For instance, on the coldest day of winter, if you’re extracting warmth from the air to heat up the water, then effectivity shall be low and so will the COP. Nevertheless if you’re doing the identical on a heat summer season day, the effectivity (and COP) shall be excessive. So don’t be alarmed in case your COP is decrease throughout colder months – that is regular.
SCOP VS COP
Octopus Vitality designs warmth pump installations to realize a mean SCOP of three.3 over a 12-month interval, utilizing a most stream temp of fifty° on the coldest time of the 12 months.
Because of this there are occasions all year long when your “COP” is perhaps greater (e.g 4.8 within the hotter months) or decrease (e.g. it could dip beneath 2.0 on the coldest days), however over 12 months, your warmth pump ought to meet a SCOP of three.3 at 50°.
Under is an instance schedule for dwelling heating (left) and scorching water (proper).
Commonplace tariff schedule instance (Versatile Octopus)
The next charts present a really useful heating schedule for a warmth pump on the Versatile Octopus tariff, run with the intention of maximising effectivity and saving cash. It’s essential to notice that each one temperatures beneath are solutions for a ‘regular snug’ temperature however ought to be adjusted to your own home and preferences.
