Leaving heat pumps on during the day versus turning them off... An analysis... The decision to leave your heat pump on all day, we believe, comes down to a number of house and lifestyle factors. Thermal mass: houses with higher internal thermal mass, such as internal brick walls, would lean towards leaving the heat pump on more during the day. Once the internal walls get cold, it takes a prolonged exposure to heat to bring them up to a good temperature again. Heat distribution mechanism: if you have a heat transfer or air circulation system that is spreading the heat around your home, then you are getting house-wide benefit, and so would lean towards leaving your heat pump on low during the day. No one home during the day: if there is no-one home during the day and the heat pump is only warming up part of the house, you would lean towards turning off the heat pump, especially if you receive lots of solar gain during through windows anyway. Insulation levels / thermal efficiency: What is the point of leaving on heat pumps if you have poor ceiling insulation levels in your home? Most of the heat is simply escaping through the ceiling. Poor or no ceiling insulation = Leave the heat pump off. This may also apply to draughty, cold floorboards that have no sub-floor insulation. Apart from the above factors, the decision also comes down to your preferred comfort levels and budget. It is still probably cheaper to turn off the heat pump during prolonged absences (in houses without Ducted Air Circulation), but you need to factor in the time it takes to bring the house up to an acceptable temperature when you arrive home, as well as whether secondary heaters have had to be used.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 02:16:00 +0000