Ecodan FTC- Had a nightmare trying to balance the house temperature?
Hi all,
I’ve just bought a new build with a Ecodan FTC. I have had a nightmare trying to balance the house temps. Too cold. Now too hot. I tried the weather comp but my numbers were way out. Downstairs was ok but upstairs was far too cold. Yesterday I changed to auto temp which wacked the flow rate up to 45 and in turn got the upstairs to temp (although downstairs is now tropical!)
My understanding is that the auto temp on the Ecodan uses the room temp to make flow adjustments. My issue is that the room temp on the Ecodan is reading like 8 degrees. I imagine this is why it was just flat out all day long.
I see you can change the sensor to be either the FTC which it is set at and no doubt where the temp of 8 is being read from, or the TH1 to use a wireless controller.
This is where I need help. There is a wireless unit attached but I am not sure if this is the correct thing. Used to connect the app.
How can I get the actual house temp to the Ecodan FTC to take advantage of the auto temp feature?
Are you able to offer any useful advice overall on next steps for @razor
I think you all have an ecodan?
Hi @razor You need to sync your moveable wireless thermostat with the FTC, and keep the wireless thermostat inside the house. There are useful videos on youtube from Mitsubishi about all the syncing stuff. Your moveable wireless thermostat (wireless controller) (PAR WT50 R-E) speaks to the FTC receiver (PAR WR51R-E) to tell it what temperature you want indoors.
The Melcloud app is not essential to run the Ecodan, but it is extremely useful if you are away and you want to check up on how your ASHP is doing, or to shift the room temperature up a degree in anticipation of your return. There are separate videos on how to sync the app, for which you need to use the tiny hand held thing attached to the FTC - look them up on youtube - but here are links to the things you need to get the wireless controller up and running:
Heat Geek suggests that you keep all your radiator valves fully open and don’t use zones. Check out the Heat Geek channel on youtube.
At the moment my Ecodan is grappling with lying snow and overnight temperatures of -14C and it is managing to keep the house at my set room temperature (in my case 19C - I would swelter in 21C...) I don’t use timed settings at all. The fan kicks on on and off when the room temperature drops below my set temperature.
Hi @amanda1 unfortunately @razor doesn’t have the wireless controller. Wow -14 !!! Glad it’s running well
@razor read my reply. I have never had a clue what a Thermistor is. I just use layman’s language…..you need to use one of these (see photo 1) to set your room temperature If you do this, then your FTC display should look something like this (see Photo 2) on auto adapt. I gave you some good youtube video links in my last reply that will help you sort this out. Assuming you have actually got the Wireless Controller.
@juliamc I thought he mentioned the wireless controller in his first post, but maybe he was referring to the gadget that syncs with Melcloud. My Ecodan (“Hiroheater”) is running well. It is covered in frost in the mornings but this hasn’t affected it (so far) and it is currently using about 23-30 Kwh a day. As opposed to the 50kwh my storage heaters used to consume.
@amanda1 yes it’s the Melcloud gadget he has not the remote sensor. I’d love to see your heat pump in the snow !!
@juliamc At the moment we have only 6cm of icy snow lying. It has stuck around for a whole week due to the -12, -14, -11 temps we have been having. But it isn’t deep. Also, Hiroheater isn’t yet really ready for his close up as he is surrounded by wooden pallets which form the base for a shelter that I haven’t yet got around to finishing...this is the snow at the moment: Hiroheater is just to the left of the photo.
Hey @razor,
I wonder if these topics have any helpful information:
Hi all, had an ecodan for my 4th winter now but still not luck getting the house above 15 during anything below 4 degrees.
This year, I thought I would try weather compensation curve but still no luck. The Flow at present is around 50 but my rads don't feel that warm. My trvs are all on 5/max.
My melcloud app shows a report on flow temps but there's a lot of them so not sure what they all relate to. I'm concerned about the green/black one at the bottom . Why is this only 25? please help.
@M.isterW may be available to advise, Meanwhile do you mean things are running ok above 4degrees ? Can you post a photo of your controller screen please.
I think the green and black lines are used if you have multiple zones. If you don't, I wouldn't worry about them.
What controls do you have on your system?
Ftc5 or 6 in the living room (zone 1) and a basic mechanical style thermostat in zone 2, which I never touch. Many thanks
Hey @Cold,
Sorry for the issues you’re having,
These similar topics might have some helpful advice:
@Cold do you mean the house has never got above 15 deg during any of the 4 winters you’ve had it? Did you get it installed or have you inherited it? Have you been back to the installers to get it serviced?
Yeah, below 4 is a nightmare. I'm on £20 a day and I'm only on 15 degrees. I have an old house that I've insulated as well as I can. Draught proofed it where possible . Lots of the rooms have varying ceiling heights. I Inherited the ashp and had it serviced each year, but late summer. So the engineer didn't see it operating in cold conditions- Not sure if that makes a difference on not. Cheers
As your house isn't getting warm I'm wondering if your radiators aren't big enough. Are you running the system all the time or are you trying to heat the house quickly from cold? If it's the former then I'd suggest getting someone to do a heat loss assessment on your house and work out if your radiators are big enough.
Running all the time now as it's on weather comp. But yes, I think heat loss assessment is the next step. Just still think that a flow temp of 50 (at the moment) would give me warmer radiators. They feel luke warm if not cold. Many thanks
They won't ever feel hot because a heat pump delivers water at a lower temperature than a gas boiler. That's why they need to be bigger, to get more heat into the room.
Yeah I get that, just thought 50 would feel warm to the touch.
Another question for you. When using weather compenstion curve, will it ever try to achieve the inside target temp that you have in space heating mode? Or does the weather compensation mode override it and stay on constantly? Hope that makes sense.
The idea with weather compensation is that the heat provides just enough heat to get the house to your required temperature. You don't set a target temperature. Instead you adjust the compensation curve until you have the right inside temperature, then you leave it alone.
With an Ecodan heat pump you have an additional mode, called auto adapt. You need a mitsubishi wireless thermostat but it will then use your selected inside temperature to adjust your compensation curve. Many people find it gives better results than weather compensation.
A flow temp of 50 would feel hot to touch.
More questions: Does any of the pipework feel warm at all? You should have a 3 port valve which switches between tank and radiator heating (doesn’t do both together). Is this actually turning to the radiator position? Can you see what the flow rate is?
I’m not familiar with the Ecodan controller but I’ve looked up that symbol next to the house symbol and it means “standby” which suggests there’s no call for heat. If you set it back to fixed flow do you get any heat through the pipework?
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