How to set the heat pump correctly: This is how it works
Heat pump heating systems only consume one kilowatt hour of electricity to provide three or more kilowatt hours of heat. They are considered particularly efficient and ensure low heating costs. For this to be true in practice, it is important to heat correctly. After all, only if you set your heat pump correctly will it achieve maximum efficiency. Below we explain what is important and how you can optimize an existing heat pump.
Optimal conditions for environmental heating: what matters
Do you want to save heating costs and heat properly with your Carrier heat pump? Then optimum conditions are essential. You can create these above all with low flow temperatures. It also makes sense to combine the heating system with a solar thermal system and/or install a hot water heat pump. The following list provides an overview of the most important requirements:
- Low flow temperature due to larger heating surfaces
- Hydraulic balancing of the existing heating system
- Combination of the heat pump with a solar thermal system
- Installation of a separate hot water heat pump
- Window replacement and thermal insulation of the envelope surfaces
Low flow temperature: the most important prerequisite for high efficiency
The flow temperature is the temperature at which the heating water flows from the heat generator to the heating surfaces. It directly influences the efficiency of the system and should not exceed 50 to 55 degrees Celsius. The reason for this is the technical process with which your heat pump heating system harnesses environmental heat. If you lower the heating water temperature, you save around one to two percent of the heating costs per degree Celsius. This is possible with large heating surfaces or a panel heating system.
Hot water heat pump: Heat even more economically with your heat pump
A hot water heat pump also helps to optimize the heating heat pump. This is because it uses warm exhaust air from the house to heat the drinking water in a storage tank. This means that the central heating system only heats the rooms. It can be operated with a lower flow temperature and works more economically. A combination with solar thermal energy or photovoltaics is possible to heat even more efficiently with your Carrier heat pump.
Insulate buildings: Save energy and set your heat pump optimally
If you want to optimize your Carrier heat pump, it also helps to improve the thermal insulation of the building. This reduces heat loss and the heating system has to work less. Measures such as loft or basement ceiling insulation are particularly interesting, as they can often be done easily by yourself.
Optimal heating with a heat pump: Setting the room temperatures
Heating correctly with a heat pump also requires suitable room temperatures. Avoid heating rooms excessively in order to save electricity and heating costs. The following table shows which values many consumers find comfortable and how these can be set on the thermostat:
It is also advisable to replace simple thermostats in regularly used rooms with digital ones. These can be set with a time program or even remotely to provide the optimum room temperature at any time of day. This makes sense in bathrooms, living rooms and bedrooms, which are often empty for several hours a day.
Are you already familiar with the cooling function of heat pumps? Find out more in our guide Cooling with a heat pump.
Extra tip: Vent radiators and optimize the heat pump
You will achieve even better results if you do not adjust your radiators and clean and vent them regularly. In this way, the heating surfaces transfer heat optimally to the room. You can usually lower the flow temperature slightly and save on heating costs.
Set the heat pump correctly: Specialist installers ensure efficiency
To achieve optimum results, you should set your heat pump correctly. This is possible with individual time programs, a suitable heating curve and smart heating control, among other things. If you need help with technical questions, specialist installers are on hand to provide advice and assistance.
Heat pump in the home: Heating without night setback is more efficient
Night setback is a heating function that was primarily known in older gas and oil heating systems. If you switch this on, the heat generators allow the building to cool down more at night in order to save energy. This is followed in the morning by a heating phase in which the room temperatures rise again more quickly due to the higher output and higher flow temperature. However, if you install a heat pump, you should only set the night setback very low or do without it completely. The reason for this is the higher output in the morning. This is because the system consumes more energy during the heating phase - often even more than it has saved during the night.
Choose the right heating curve: Setting the Carrier heat pump correctly
If you want to set your Carrier heat pump correctly, the optimum heating curve is also important. This is a control function that assigns a suitable flow temperature to each outside temperature. This is necessary to compensate for heat losses in every situation and to maintain the desired room temperatures. Without individual settings, the heating curve often remains in the default state. The heating system then often operates with a flow temperature that is too high and consumes more energy than necessary. The aim is therefore to set the heating curve as low and as flat as possible. And this is how it works:
- With little or no insulation on the building, your Carrier heat pump has to work harder when the outside temperature drops. You should therefore select a steeper setting.
- If your house is well insulated, the influence of the outside temperature on heat loss is reduced and a low flow temperature is sufficient even on cold days. For this reason, you can select a flat heating curve.
- If your heating surfaces give off too much heat all year round, you can shift the heating curve slightly downwards.
- If, on the other hand, it is always a little too cold, you should adjust the curve upwards.
You can find the right setting for the heat pump with a specialist installer or by trial and error. To do this, gradually lower the inclination and height and observe the temperatures. If the rooms are sufficiently warm, you can adjust both values further downwards. If the temperature falls below the desired level, adjust the values upwards again.
Use smart heating control: Optimally reduce energy consumption
If you use a smart heating control system, you do not have to adjust the environmental heating. This is because it then takes over the optimization of the flow temperature. The correct values are usually determined by attendance times and weather forecasts. If the sun shines for a long time, for example, a lower flow temperature is sufficient, as heat input from outside also heats up the house. The technology therefore automatically ensures that you heat correctly with your Carrier heat pump.
By the way: With the Carrier Comfort Management T300 room control unit, both the heat pump and boiler can be regulated easily and intuitively - even via an app.
