ewancostar
DIY
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Hi,
I've got both a solar pv and an ashp system.
The solar system also has 2 batteries and it's configured to fill the batteries first and then export to the grid when they are full.
I don't think it matters, but the pump is an LG Therma V R32 monobloc.
From what I understand (I'm not an electrician or have any kind of technical background), the heat pump is connected to the cylinder in the attic in 2 different ways:
It's all working fine, except that I've still got an iboost+ (or similar) pending to be fitted. We've been back and forth with the installer for almost a year now.
The installers have tried the solic200 and the solar iboost+ so far without success. They designed the system with this (without specifying the model) and i didn't even know this existed before they mentioned it to me.
They've sent me a few electricians. Every new guy tells me a different thing about compatibility with the heat pump and even some times they manage to break things that were already working when trying to make it work. i've lost trust on them.
We have a bad relationship at the moment and I'd rather get this installed and working if possible rather than having to battle for a refund that may take a long long time.
the original design said that the diverter would be wired into the lg box and use energy that would go into the grid to heat the water.
however, now that i've looked into it, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
despite all the conversations with engineers and my own research, I'm not really an expert by any stretch of the imagination, so I would then like to ask you for your experience with similar setups. I've got 2 main questions:
I called iboost and solic manufacturers, and also LG. they all have told me that they have clients using the 2 things together, but wouldn't give me any hints/help/recommendation on how to set them up. they just don't want to offer any help with something they don't make themselves.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
I've got both a solar pv and an ashp system.
The solar system also has 2 batteries and it's configured to fill the batteries first and then export to the grid when they are full.
I don't think it matters, but the pump is an LG Therma V R32 monobloc.
From what I understand (I'm not an electrician or have any kind of technical background), the heat pump is connected to the cylinder in the attic in 2 different ways:
- it pumps hot water into the cylinder through the coil. that only takes the temperature inside the tank to between 45 and 50C.
- there's 2 wires from the pump to a box next to the cylinder (one for power and one for data). the box contains a circuit breaker and a contactor that decides whether energy is sent to the immersion heater to top up the temperature.
It's all working fine, except that I've still got an iboost+ (or similar) pending to be fitted. We've been back and forth with the installer for almost a year now.
The installers have tried the solic200 and the solar iboost+ so far without success. They designed the system with this (without specifying the model) and i didn't even know this existed before they mentioned it to me.
They've sent me a few electricians. Every new guy tells me a different thing about compatibility with the heat pump and even some times they manage to break things that were already working when trying to make it work. i've lost trust on them.
We have a bad relationship at the moment and I'd rather get this installed and working if possible rather than having to battle for a refund that may take a long long time.
the original design said that the diverter would be wired into the lg box and use energy that would go into the grid to heat the water.
however, now that i've looked into it, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
despite all the conversations with engineers and my own research, I'm not really an expert by any stretch of the imagination, so I would then like to ask you for your experience with similar setups. I've got 2 main questions:
- is this set up even possible? if so, do you have any details setting it up that you can share? what i understand is that when paired with the heat pump, the immersion heater would only work if lg sends the signal and there's excess energy being produced. this doesn't seem very practical to me, but maybe i'm not understanding how it really works. the electricians tell me that i can also press the boost button on the iboost, but it wouldn't really work unless lg decides it has to be on anyway. actually, the way they've tried to set it up (iboost between the contactor and the tank) means that the iboost will not even be on until lg tries to start the heater. it has not direct feed most of the time.
- if this is possible, do you reckon it's worth doing? my dhw is usually set between 48 and 50 depending on the time of the year. it's enough even when 2 people have a shower at the same time. i have a night tariff that i use to charge batteries overnight already in winter and i can schedule the pump to heat the water so that it's ready when we get up. i have no idea about the financials about both options, but again, i'm looking for a practical solution unless using iboost is much cheaper than the current set up.
I called iboost and solic manufacturers, and also LG. they all have told me that they have clients using the 2 things together, but wouldn't give me any hints/help/recommendation on how to set them up. they just don't want to offer any help with something they don't make themselves.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks!
