What is most efficient way to run heating for my Mitsubishi Ecodan Air Source Heat Pump?

You’re in the right place, @Brennie66. Let me ping a few of the most helpful heat pump forum members and we’ll get you some advice @nealmurphy @jason.lewis @James_N 

From previous consensus, running the thing low and slow seems to be popular...

Hi @Brennie66 and thanks @Tim_OVO for the mention.

I haven’t got an Ecodan myself, though others on this forum have so may be able to personalise the advice.

It sounds like there may be an opportunity to turn down your flow temperature if you feel your flat is getting too warm if you need to override the thermostat.

Do you use a ‘weather compensation’ setting that adjusts the water flow temperature based on the outside temperature? You may be able to reduce the settings so that the pump is only having to heat the water to a lower temperature. This may mean the flat takes slightly longer to warm but should be more efficient. I try to stop my heat pump having to cycle on and off by doing this. The aim being so that it only just manages to reach my desired room temperature  - the room thermostat being used as an override to stop it getting too hot.

It may be useful if you can tell us more about the heating system. Is it standard radiators? Do you have thermostatic radiator valves? I assume you are on a single rate electricity tariff?

Hi, The heating system is a Mitsubishi electric Ecodan System. My radiators are standard so, I have them on 4. With this system the radiators do not get hot to touch but still warm in flat. Do you think I should only have the hot water on for once a day for an hour or so ? Also they have fitted a ventilation system in flat with a large disc in hall way when windy outside it is very cold as it comes from loft, they said it would cost £40 per year to run 

@Brennie66 you may want to look on YouTube at the range of consumer focussed vids by Heat Geek. They will teach you how to refine your system to be most efficient and comfortable - I have done this and it has made a difference.

As others have said, low and slow using weather compensation is the way forward with heat pumps.

Please feel free to ask further questions once you have looked at Heat Geeks

A few more questions @Brennie66 .

What control have you used to set 19 degC ? Is it a thermostat and where is it in your flat?
Do you know what make the ventilation system is ?

Also what temperature is your hot water set to ? It doesn’t need to be more that about 45degC (but needs a 60degC heat up once a week to avoid legionella).

Hi there @Brennie66 ,

I have an ecodan and would agree with the above posters’ comments. I have found that about ¼ of my electricity is for hot water, and ¾ for heating. So getting the heating right will save you the most money.

For hot water I changed 2 settings: the temperature that the system heats my water to is set to 49C, also i turned off the automatic heating so it just heats the tank up very early morning and evening.

For heating you probably want the thermostat set to the temperature you find comfortable (eg 20C) and leave it at that (or maybe switch down just a bit overnight eg to 18C). It takes a long time for heatpumps to change the temperature in your home, so its actually better to keep it at the same temp all the time. You want the heat pump set to weather compensation mode. This means that your radiators will get warmer when its very cold outside, and just slightly warm when it is mild outside. 

Changing these settings on the ecodan control panel isn’t very obvious so best to google it and watch a video of someone doing it

water should be straightforward once you see how. Let us know if you have problems

We had the Ecodan Airflow system fitted 21st November and the bills are running away with us. 

Our Thermostat never reaches the target temp which is located in a hallway where our front door and downstairs bathroom is, we can get a comfortable 20c in our living room and upstairs is warm but the system just keeps running, we have tried the timed settings but we're told by the engineer the system heating needs to run all the time which is just not affordable as it never goes off.

It is possible the thermostat is located in the wrong room? It took 5.5hrs for it to go up 1c in the hallway from 15c but the rest of the house was fine. 

I haven't heard of an Ecodan Airflow. What is it? Do you have pictures?