Heat pump – the current trap – remember this!

If you have a heat pump, maintenance is very important in order to take full advantage of its functionality.

Because if you don’t take good care of your heat pump, it can just overshoot your electric bill in a negative direction. This is what Varmepumpe.no’s director of communications, Nora Geard Nygaard, told DinSide.

Clean regularly

She says the filter on the heat pump must be cleaned regularly, for it to work efficiently. However, this is something that you can do completely yourself and it is enough to vacuum it or wipe it with a rag.

If you forget to do this over a longer period, you risk the heat pump’s efficiency becoming so poor that it uses more energy to produce heat, which will naturally affect your electric bill, says Nygaard.

But if you take good care of your heat pump, you can save money.

The vast majority have air-to-air heat pumps, and these can easily reduce energy consumption by at least 30 percent compared to conventional panel furnaces. In cooler interiors, you can get more than 50 percent off, she says.

The math varies greatly if you live in a detached house, a listed house, or a block of apartments. But if you take as a starting point Norway’s average electricity consumption of 16,000 kWh, and the average annual electricity price in Southern Norway 2 NOK per kWh including grid rent and electricity deductible subsidy, you’d give that Saving 9600 NOK per year.

In cabins, without electricity support, the savings can be even greater.

Nygaard says it is very important to stress that electricity consumption can be twice as high if you live in a large and older detached house with poor insulation, and on the other hand, electricity prices from central Norway and further north are much lower than the electricity price shown in the example.

Also, the 30 percent savings estimate is quite conservative, but at least it’s a saving that almost everyone who gets a heat pump will get, and in addition, others can save up to 50 percent of their energy consumption by switching to a heat pump. , she says and remember that you can measure your electricity consumption by yourself.

For examples of energy consumption for calculations that you may want to do yourself, you can Take a look here.

You are not sure that you will get the harshest model

your side

Cut the bushes around

Information Officer Einar Gulbrandsen at the NOVAP Heat Pump Association explains that there is a small checklist you should go through now in the fall.

If there are shrubs or trees around the outside of the heat pump, you should find garden shears immediately.

Cut down shrubs and other plants, and make sure the outside area is clear of leaves and other debris. Gulbrandsen explains to DinSide that the heat pump must be allowed to breathe, or it will perform worse.

He says that they are easy to forget, so he recommends taking them annually, at the same time as cleaning the gutters and preparing the house for the winter.

– However, you should not fall for the temptation to run with a garden hose over the outside, as it may ruin it, says Nygaard.

Do not use the automatic function

Gulbrandsen also asks people to remember to check that the heat pump is set to the heating function only when it gets colder, and to avoid turning it on “auto”. The heating symbol is marked with a sun on the remote control.

“While this sounds obvious, it can be easy to forget if you used the heat pump for cooling during the summer,” he points out.

If the heat pump cools the house and you think it’s a little cooler and lights the stove to help warm the house, the heat pump will deliver cooler air.

– It is usual to use it for cooling in the summer, so it is a good idea to check it before contacting the installer. He says it’s a strong recommendation that it be set to either heating or cooling, not automatically selecting the mode of operation.

It should be vacuumed every two weeks

Gulbrandsen also asks everyone to check the filters inside the heat pump. It should be vacuumed every two weeks.

– If you have the vacuum cleaner in front, clean the filters in the same hose. He says it can’t be done very often.

Service Request

According to the Heat Pump Association, the register and fan cylinder inside should also be cleaned. It’s a good idea to do this every couple of years, but they advise people to review the recommendations for your model. Thorough cleaning is usually included as part of the service, and it makes sense to leave the job to professionals with the appropriate knowledge and equipment.

The service can detect errors that could be made much worse if allowed to spread, so you can maintain the efficiency of the heat pump for longer. Nygaard at Varmepumpe.no says that typical faults discovered during service are condensate water hose faults, system leaks and faults in cables and glue joints in the heat pump.

Buying a heat pump? – Choose this

Do not turn it off

He also recommends that the heat pump run around the clock.

– Do not turn it off. He explains that there is a thermostat in the heat pump that measures how much heat is needed in the room and then heats up if it is needed or just circulates the air already in the room if it is already warm enough. .

Put the remote control away

Gulbrandsen explains that many control the heat pump with a remote control in addition to app control from the phone.

It is important to realize that confusion can arise there. If you set the heat pump to 20 degrees with the remote control, the remote will show 20 degrees, even if you turn it on up to 24 degrees via the app. When you come home and see the remote control, it will show 20 degrees, even if the Set the heat pump to 24 degrees.

So people recommend turning off the remote and letting everyone who controls the heat pump access the app.