Pompe a Chaleur : Air to Air

[cooperlola]

How noisy are they?  Anybody got one?

[JohnRoss]

A neighbour has one and I would say that it is not that noisy, just a slight fan noise when running. Mind you I am a bit Mutt and Jeff. One would hope for at least a 3 to 1 return in kW but what about during power cuts?.................JR

[cooperlola]

We've already got electric heating and so are used to it going off during power cuts and huddle round the wood burner!

[JohnRoss]

Yes did think about getting one of these but don't think you get as much tax rebate, if any, now. Like the idea though. Some provide cooling in Summer which could be useful. The power cut issue solved, as you say, by having the wood burner in Winter and a poêle pétrole mèche for chilly evenings in late Spring, very late this year. The turbo poêle pétrole we also have is better but you need electrickery for that of course!....................................JR

[krusty]

We have two , noise not to bad and no complaint from neighbor.

Heat output great even at -10`c

[woolybanana]

What make and power are they please? How much electricity do they use?

[JohnRoss]

Lots of sites like this on the net. http://pompe-a-chaleur.comprendrechoisir.com/  ............................JR

[cooperlola]

Here's the deal.  One of the bricos has one for at the mo for less than 300€ - advertised as for "one room" producing 2600W in winter and 2800W in the summer with a consumption of 850 and 805 respectively.  We are renovating (some time in the future) our downstairs bedroom.  It currently has two small electric heaters in it worked on a radio controlled thermostat.  What we would like to do is use a p a c for that room, as the garage is just next door and thus we can store the exterior bit of the kit without ruining the look of the house (although I admit all the junk outside already does that!)  However, as it's for a bedroom it would be good to know if it would keep us awake or not!

[Chancer]

Are you not talking about a reversble air con unit Cooperlola?

I kow that it is technically a heat pump but a pompe a chaleur proper is much more powerfull and all the noise is outside the dwelling, with the clime you have the noise of the inside unit in addition.

If you do mean the aircon, and unless you have dropped a zero from the price I think you must then I can answer your question as I have had one for 3 winters and summesrs now.

Inside unit very quiet 30DBA although it does now have an annoying squeak on balayage, some people might find it to be too noisy in a bedroom but its better than being too hot or cold in my view. Heat output and cooling very impressive and it works well at minus 10 but there are quite long dwell periods for degivrage and the efficiency does drop.

You may find that the raccord kit will ba another €80 or so I recommend against you buying one of the self fit ones with quick connectors as the seals quickly deteriorate, indeed most of the precharged ones have already lost all the refrigerant, buy a standard raccord kit and pay a frigorist to charge the system which will probably cost you as much as the unit costs.

Mine was the last of the generation where the outside unit was overcharged and you could bleed through the system yourself, unfortunately H&S concerns have stopped the sale of them, mine was only €129 and my neighbour recently bought one from the local paper for €300 and fitted it himself.

[cooperlola]

Well it calls itself a "Pompe a chaleur Air/Air ou chauffage reversible" but clearly from the figures it's doing what a heat pump does in that it is converting heat from the air outside to usable indoor temperatures.  However it sounds exactly like the thing you have.

They do two connection kits - one Standard at 30€ and one Pret a Poser at 90.

Made by a company called Air Ton and has a 5 year warranty.

If anybody has a local Brico Depot, it's in their pub this week.

[Chancer]

Mine and my neighbours are Airton and we are both happy, me more so than him as he paid a lot more.

One dissatisfied brit customer started his own blog about Airton and Brico-Depot but from reading his comments I reckon he got no more than he deserved in terms of customer service.

Theye are often at that price Cooperlola and sometimes a lot cheaper as I found to my luck, they are still way overpriced compared to the rest of the world, my friend just bought one in Turkey and it was €200 including installation, he said that the install team had got to house house before he had returned from the shop.

I recommend the standard connection kit but get a devi from a frogrist first, it will be bloomin expensive and they may not even want to touch a customer supplied unit, if you do get it regassed and commisioned by a proffessional Airton give you a better guarantee, better than nothing that is [:P]

[woolybanana]

And what are the likely running costs, say, compared to oil, as they do use electricity I understand?

[powerdesal]

[quote user="woolybanana"]And what are the likely running costs, say, compared to oil, as they do use electricity I understand?[/quote]

 

2.6Kw of heat for an electrical consumption of 0.85Kw means:-  assuming 10hrs per day on full chat in winter = 8.5Kwh / day, at (say) 11c / unit = E0.935 /day cost

say one Euro per day.

[woolybanana]

thank you pd, that I can understand

[cooperlola]

[quote user="woolybanana"]

thank you pd, that I can understand

[/quote]Me too.  Steve, I can think of a few companies who could do with your approach in their marketing!

[powerdesal]

Thank you, its called the 'KISS' principle

[cooperlola]

I guess Wooly and I qualify...[Www]

[powerdesal]

Just as a quick comparison,    wood pellets give approx 5Kw / kg and cost about E250 / t, ie 25c / kg

The same 2600w of heating for 10 hours a day would cost E1.30 a day.

I allways assumed that wood fired heating would be cheaper, ah well !!!!

[oldgit72]

I have a couple of dead oak trees and a chainsaw. My labour costs are bu99er all but I have a 10% chance of doing my back in/cutting off a couple of fingers. Can you do a cost benefit analysis for me.

[powerdesal]

Certainly, for a fee [:D]

[Chancer]

Cooperlola.

Have you ever slept in a hotel room that had a ceiling fan or aircon unit?

If it disturbed your sleep then the Brico-dept unit will also.

[powerdesal]

During my holiday visits to France it takes quite a while to get used to the lack of aircon noise, its just too quiet at first.