Skip to main content
J
Rank 2
jenthomson
Rank 2
February 24, 2023
Solved

Holiday mode! Air source heat pumps (ASHP) and how you manage them when out of the house?

  • February 24, 2023
  • 18 replies
  • 5687 views

Hi everyone,

Back to thinking again about how to manage our heat pump better and I don’t think this has been covered yet, so I am looking to start a conversation with you all.

We got our second ASHP (after a Northern Gas special) in August 2021. We tend to go away twice each winter, one month at a time, so have now been away four times.

We got no information on what to do to ‘shut down’ our house for holidays from either installer. When we had a combi gas boiler, we’d just set our Nest thermostats to 9C (so the house didn’t freeze) and then tell the house to heat up again about 24hrs before our return - the app is particularly useful here.

We still have Nest and now an ASHP with a hot water tank and Eddi solar diverter. We were content to set our thermostats to 9C and tell Eddi not to heat our water with excess solar, but the ASHP still wanted to heat up the water tank all the time. Looking at the Operation Manual I was given for the Daikin Altherma control unit, there is a menu called ‘Holiday Mode’ in the list of menus, but this isn’t visible on my unit.

So good ASHP owners amongst us, what would you do if you went away for a month during winter and wanted to minimise electricity usage?

Jen

    Best answer by sylm_2000

    @jenthomson I have a similar config to @M.isterW as I have tado for many years. I control the heating when we are away and maintain the temperature to avoid freeze. This arrangement works very well except the water tank will continue to be maintained at the set temperature.

    I have a Mitsubishi ASHP which includes a holiday mode which I have not explored yet. During the installation, I was told unless you’re away for a couple of weeks don't change the setting as the water tank when not being used is pretty efficient in not demanding heat. 

    Also, we have travelled mostly during summer when the heating is not a concern.

    I will explore the holiday mode and see what it would mean, good nudge! 

    18 replies

    Show previous replies
    juliamc
    Rank 20
    juliamc
    Rank 20
    April 6, 2023

    No it’s this 

    Daikin Altherma C Series Contoller Setting the Schedule Times For Domestic Hot Water

    Brunstar Ports

    which is the older style controller which I think Jen has. I’ve got the one in BP’s video

    BPLightlog
    Super User
    BPLightlogSuper User
    Super User
    April 6, 2023

     

    Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
      juliamc
      Rank 20
      juliamc
      Rank 20
      April 6, 2023

      Fab - now why couldn’t I do that !!

      J
      Newcomer
      jason.lewis
      Newcomer
      April 6, 2023

      Hot water schedules for Daikin systems are in installer settings unfortunately- not very consumer friendly.

      We just leave everything switched on as if we are at home, but saying that I haven’t been away in winter for more than a long weekend.

      [Heat] Pump up the Jam! Yr2000 4bed detached, Radiators, triple glazed, ASHP Daikin 7kw R410 mono + 250l UVC, 5.6kWp Jinko/Enphase solar @195°, Tesla Model Y
      H
      Rank 4
      hydrosam
      Rank 4
      April 6, 2023

      @jenthomson as Jason has said you would need to change to schedule, or schedule+reheat in the installer settings. I can talk you through it if you like? 
      The reheat setting is very limited on our model of Daikin. You can only have a 5C hysteresis which isn’t enough in my opinion,  and results in the hot water being reheated unnecessarily often. 
      I have a daily schedule, and reheat. The reheat setting will only kick in when tank temp drops below 25C which only happens when my daughter decides to have a 30+minute shower 🙄😤😂

      15kwh grid-tied battery, ASHP Daikin 11kw R410 mono + 300l Cylinder. 3.3kw Solar PV. Kia e-Niro EV
      J
      Rank 2
      jenthomsonAuthor
      Rank 2
      April 6, 2023

      Thanks for all the help everyone - I tried looking for a video but I feel our system is so outdated, I was having trouble finding it. We’ll give it a go over the weekend and let you know. Thank you @hydrosam for the offer of detailed help!

      We also have an eddi which can reheat the water when there is excess solar and although it might not be as efficient as using the ASHP, we don’t use much hot water so limiting the Daikin heating of the water seems to be a good idea for the summer.

      Always learning!

      J
      Rank 2
      jenthomsonAuthor
      Rank 2
      April 8, 2023

      Hi everyone,

       

      Thanks very much @hydrosam for the help there - only discovered how to get into Installer mode the other day while trying to look for this, so that was massively helpful. Gone for the scheduled + reheat option, but thankfully with the Eddi we get a tank reading graph, so can further tweak the settings accordingly. Here’s hoping for no cold showers in the next few days!

      @BPLightlog - thanks for that great video is well - really helpful and all set up. Frustrating that the schedule option wasn’t given to us in the initial installation, but hugely thankful that you’re all so switched on!

      Right, time for a hot shower to celebrate! :)

        BPLightlog
        Super User
        BPLightlogSuper User
        Super User
        April 8, 2023

        Hi everyone,

         

        Thanks very much @hydrosam for the help there - …

        @BPLightlog- thanks for that great video is well - really helpful and all set up. Frustrating that the schedule option wasn’t given to us in the initial installation, but hugely thankful that you’re all so switched on!

        Right, time for a hot shower to celebrate! :)

        I was just passing on the find from @juliamc (acting tech support 😁) but glad you’ve been able to get your system operating as you want. 

        Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
          Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement

          OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

          OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

          OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd