Hi, thanks for the comment. Others have said the same thing, and I don't disagree. I found that the heat exchanger froze up around those temperatures, and the defrost cycle didn't appear to work. The work around that I found was to preheat the shed to a reasonable temperature with a fan heater, then engage the heat pump. It then didn't seem to have any trouble, I think because it was just maintaining the temperature so not having to put too much ∆t across the heat exchanger.
@@ollysworkshop Hope you don’t mind me saying but perhaps in the interest of fairness you might update your Vlog to state as much. We bought ours thinking it would both heat and cool. In our case it didn’t matter because we don’t rely on it for heating but others might and be very disappointed. There is another company that makes one that incorporates a resistive heater made by “Olimpia Splendid”an Italian company that will work at very low temperatures.
I had planned to do a follow up video, but I just didn't get enough cold weather to get meaningful results to say for certain how the thing behaved and what the possible work around would be. My comment above was based on a single evening, so not enough data. I don't disagree that it's an important point that this unit doesn't work well at low temperatures, so I'll pin your comment for others to see. There's no way to 'update' a video once published, I could put your comment in the description, but no one reads it, so comments are probably safest.
@@ollysworkshop Unfortunately most of these company omit to tell people of the possible down sides of their equipment. Especially those in the cheaper price range. However the company I’ve mention in my previous post has a model with the R prefix and that incorporates a resistive heater that operates automatically when temp become to low for the heat pump. It made by an Italian company. That’s the one I will purchase for our conservatory. It’s a work around and in a way no different to what your doing with a separate resistive heater, just an all in one unit.
If it was left on permantly during the cold times to keep the room warm would it still continue to work? Or does it just stop working completely when the outside temp is below 5 ?
Gday Olly, brilliant idea installing the pump heater and taking the risk of a fire away, Tom was a very lucky man that’s for sure, great job mate, cheers
Hi Olly, Thats a neat little unit and you found space for it as well!! There is a cold snap due end of this week down here so I expect you will get it up there as well so be interesting so see how it works. You get the added bonus of cold air in summer if you need it. We put our first ever A/C unit in last summer. Although it can be used for heating we use our central heating (as sparingly as possible as its oil fired) plus we have an inbuilt chimney for burning logs, although this is quite safe behind a latched glass door we would never leave it unwatched just in case, so I think you made a wise decision to remove your burner from your shed. Seeing these fires does make you think. You made a great job of the installation, I liked the mini shed for the air inlet. Well done and good luck from Spain!!
Hi Joseph. It generally has performed well so far, however this week while it's been around freezing in the evening, I have found that the efficacy is reduced. The cold side heat exchanger ices up and the airflow is reduced significantly. I did need to supplement the heating with an oil filled radiator for a couple of hours. That said, the unit was always delivering ~30°C air, just less of it when the cold side was getting clogged. I don't think the (automated) defrost cycle on this machine is particularly effective, as it didn't last long, and seemed to have little effect on the ice on the cold side. At no time has it refused to function however. I think this demonstrates the main flaw with these devices, 98% of the time they work really well, but when you need them the most, that's when they perform the worst.
Umm. This is very interesting. Thank you for showing how you fitted this unit. Will be very interested to see a follow up in a few months time to see how you get on. 👍😀
Cool! (or hot, as the case may be). I didn't realise they came self contained like that. I thought they were all huge, very expensive and somewhat complex to fit. I'll follow its progress with interest. P.S. That trepanning tool looks like a real wrist breaker 👍 🇬🇧
I'll do a follow up at some point. Yes that trepanning tool is horrible, but it's the only thing I have for making round holes bigger than 150mm. The vents are 180mm.
@@ollysworkshop I had to drill two holes though brick and thermolite blocks. Bought a core drill on line and hire a special machine that had a clutch that avoided a Brocken wrist! 5” holes are very large! I then sold the core drill through eBay for half what I paid, so not a bad deal.
These units are very interesting. For my shed I went with a diesel heater mounted on a window. It has a remote but no real fancy features besides its own safety nannies. Having those features makes sense in a shop. Also having the benefit of AC I'm the summer is a double bonus.
Hi. As a general solution to both heating and cooling, it works well for me, even if I do need to supplement it during the coldest weather. I also like that I no longer have to feed a fire, and I expect that my neighbours appreciate not having lots of smoke as well!
Hi Olly great installation. I am a bit like Jon with the 1kw to 3 kw conversion. As you know i did the diesel heater install in my shop. I know the kwh of electricity to diesel usage is a total no brainer, just not sure about the figures. I fitted air con in my last house & that gave 1.2kw of heat for 1kw of electricity. using the heat pump . Anything's got to be better than a log burner in the wood workshop. Regards. Steve.
Hi Steve, the extra kW are pulled from the outside air (making it even colder). The challenge with these things is to prevent them icing up at low temperatures, hence the duct on the outside of the shed.
I hope it was useful. Have a look through the comments if you haven't already, there's a fair bit of comment that may be of interest. Thanks for watching
Interesting Olly, be nice to know how it performs in bleak conditions if we ever get any more of those!!, are they expensive!!! Ingenius vent that splits!! cheers Kev
Hi Kev. I'll do a follow up when I've got some more information to share. They aren't cheap, this was £750ish, but as I doubt my insurance would pay out if my shed burnt down because of a fire I was intentionally having, it's probably a price worth paying, plus the convenience and AC in the summer!
Hi Olly, great video. These DIY units appear to be an alternative to mini split units that require F-Gas engineers to install. What are the noise levels inside like when this unit is heating on full power? Would you consider installing one of these in a lounge or office space? Thanks
Hi Lucas, the noise is similar to a car fan heater on full blast. You've basically got a metre long radial blower in the top of this thing, plus a bit of background from the second fan that does the external side. It's not loud as such, you can still hold a conversation at pretty much a normal level, but I would think it's too loud for a living room, and if you were, for instance, on a video call in your office space, you would definitely want to turn it off. If I were to put one in my home, it would be a hallway, kitchen or utility room thing. It does have a 'silent' mode where it is very quiet, but is proportionally less effective. I tried this mode in the shed and it was unable to maintain the temperature when it was ~5°C outside. I will perhaps do a follow up and see if I can meaningfully capture the sound level. Thanks for watching!
Been using split aircon to heat my conservatory for several years now and am very pleased with it. Now that these single units are available I’m considering installing them in the bedrooms. Are they as good as they seem? Running costs? Noise levels? Any info you can give me would be most welcome. Thanks Al
Hi, thanks for your questions. Since I installed it, we haven't had any significantly cold weather, I was planning to do an update once I have given it a good try out. Others have warned that this and similar models refuse to work below 7°C. I have yet to verify this myself. There are apparently other models that include resistive heaters to keep them running in the cold. As a cooling air conditioner, it works very well. Noise wise, it has a 'silent' function which is ok, sort of microwave fan level of noise. It does make a few odd noises sometimes, but generally is inoffensive. The one I have is a 1kw unit with a COP of about 3, so you'll get 3kwh of cooling or heating for every 1kw of electricity. Running costs will obviously be dependent on how much you use it. Mine is in my shed, so hasn't really been used that frequently this summer. I was using it for heating in the winter and would only need it on for an hour or so to bring the shed up to a nice temperature. After that it just sits there managing itself to maintain the temperature. I hope that was of some use!
This unit would be great if it had a electric heating element as a auxillary back up heat source for when the temp is 5 or below, this way you could switch over to the electric bavk up heat for when the heat pump cant no longer maintain the set temp. Some have built in heat elements that will automatically turn on to assist the heat pump during times it cant keep up. Great unit though. However iam not to crazy about having to drill 2 big holes through my wall to vent it.
Yep. All good points. I wouldn't want to put those holes through a cavity wall, it was bad enough through the wooden shed wall. I think the heating aspect is lacking, but I have a 2kw fan heater and a 2kw oil filled radiator as backup.
Hi Olly, very neat installation. I am very confused by these things, I still can't get my head round the magic that turns 1kW into 3kW, it must be witchcraft! Interested to see how you go with it. Cheers, Jon
Hi Jon, it works like an air conditioner in reverse, one side makes the air hotter, the other side makes it colder. It can pull "heat" from cold air (making it colder) and transfer that heat to the hot side (making it warmer), so the 1kW drives the refrigerator pump, and the heat is pulled from the outside air.
This is Wikipedia's explanation of COP. ... "The coefficient of performance or COP (sometimes CP or CoP) of a heat pump, refrigerator or air conditioning system is a ratio of useful heating or cooling provided to work (energy) required. Higher COPs equate to higher efficiency, lower energy (power) consumption and thus lower operating costs. The COP usually exceeds 1, especially in heat pumps, because, instead of just converting work to heat (which, if 100% efficient, would be a COP of 1), it pumps additional heat from a heat source to where the heat is required. Most air conditioners have a COP of 2.3 to 3.5. Less work is required to move heat than for conversion into heat, and because of this, heat pumps, air conditioners and refrigeration systems can have a coefficient of performance greater than one.
I see you answered your own question here! Yes I certainly wasn't convinced when I first saw a claim of 400% efficiency! I think it's misleading as it's clearly not. What they should quote is the COP, which does seem to be more common now than say 5 years ago.
Hello Olly, An interesting product... I know what you mean about a woodburner in a wooden shed. I will be great for a review in the future so see how it is performing. Take care. Paul,,
Hi Paul. We've had very little properly cold weather since I fitted it, so I haven't been able to really put it to the test. What I have found though is that having the heat pump running for a few hours every night makes the shed a very comfortable place to be whenever I go out there. It'll be interesting to see if it works as well in the summer!
It doesn't turn off as such. Once it has reached the set temperature it backs off to maintain that temperature, then periodically kicks in to heat or cool as appropriate. You can set timers on the app so that it will only run for a set period of time. Hope this helps.
It's great that you can DIY these wall units but I think for the cost of that unit, you'd be better off getting an f-gas engineer to install a proper mini-split that uses R32 and works to -15°C - and with a better COP.
If I knew then what I know now.... That being said, despite the drawbacks, it's the perfect size for the only dead space I have. Not sure where I would put the outside unit of a mini split. I've finally had cold enough weather this week to see that it does indeed struggle at cooler temperatures. You just have to nurse it a bit by stopping it every now and then to defrost. I've no idea why they couldn't have done that in the software.
@@willjones3908 yes, it does. The unit seems to have no concept of defrost. I have found that once the shed is up to temperature, then it has no trouble maintaining the temperature with temperatures down to a few degrees below zero °C (we've not had anything colder this winter)
@@ollysworkshop So if the room hasn't had any heating and is around 0-5c, you turn the unit on / off several times over say 30mins and that helps it get up to heat?
@@willjones3908 I generally haven't allowed it to go below 10C inside, but essentially yes. When it has been particularly cold I have used an electric heater to give it a helping hand for half an hour or so. After that it manages to keep a sensible temperature (17-20C) with the on off cycle being necessary below about 5C
I am thinking of doing an update, but there's not a huge amount to report, other than it generally works, but it did really struggle when the temperature was close to 0°C. I think what is happening is that the moisture in the air freezes on the cold side and clogs it up. The unit will then spend some time doing a defrost cycle where it actually pulls heat from the hot side. So it needed a little help. Putting a fan heater on seemed to give it the help it needed to not go into defrost quite as frequently, and once some heat had built up in the shed it was running fine (it had less work to do). We haven't had anything more than -1 or -2C overnight, so I haven't been able to test the theory that if it's really cold it should actually work better than around 0C as below zero there should be basically no humidity and hence less icing of the cold side.
@@ollysworkshop thanks for letting me know. Have you had any issues with bugs or critters getting inside the unit? Only asking because the vents look huge. Many thanks
That's a good point that got edited out of the original, just because it was too long. I put some fine mesh over the vent holes as I thought that would be an issue too. There are grilles on the fans, with maybe 8mm spacing, just small enough that you can't poke your fingers in, but it wouldn't stop fairly large insects getting in.
I was intrigued by this until I read the reviews on Amazon , The reviewers there complain that as a heating function itdoes not work when the outside temperatures are below 5C which in my use case would seriously limit its usefulness. I'd be interested to know how you get on when tempertures drop below theses levels?
Hi, yes I agree, these things don't like working around freezing point as the moisture in the air freezes and clogs the heat exchanger. This is why i say that I'm not entirely convinced by these yet. The little duct on the outside is designed to draw *slightly* warmer air from under the shed. I could also supplement the cold side intake air with warmer air from within the shed. I also have an electric fan heater and oil filled radiator if required.
Looks like a similar size unit for only slightly more money. If that means it works unconditionally, then definitely worth the extra. Thanks for the tip.
Hi, the lowest temperature you can set it to in cooling mode is 16°C. If you mean what's the lowest outside temperature it works to, then there's a lot of discussion in other communication, but essentially below 5°C it needs a little help from a fan heater inside to get up to temperature, but I've had it maintain 18°C in my shed when it's -2°ish outside
Hi, the link is in the description. Make sure you have read all the comments, this unit does have drawbacks, however it works well for me. Thanks for your question.
Unfortunately it won’t heat when the outside temperature is around 5 C works well at anything above 8c
Hi, thanks for the comment. Others have said the same thing, and I don't disagree. I found that the heat exchanger froze up around those temperatures, and the defrost cycle didn't appear to work. The work around that I found was to preheat the shed to a reasonable temperature with a fan heater, then engage the heat pump. It then didn't seem to have any trouble, I think because it was just maintaining the temperature so not having to put too much ∆t across the heat exchanger.
@@ollysworkshop Hope you don’t mind me saying but perhaps in the interest of fairness you might update your Vlog to state as much. We bought ours thinking it would both heat and cool. In our case it didn’t matter because we don’t rely on it for heating but others might and be very disappointed. There is another company that makes one that incorporates a resistive heater made by “Olimpia Splendid”an Italian company that will work at very low temperatures.
I had planned to do a follow up video, but I just didn't get enough cold weather to get meaningful results to say for certain how the thing behaved and what the possible work around would be. My comment above was based on a single evening, so not enough data. I don't disagree that it's an important point that this unit doesn't work well at low temperatures, so I'll pin your comment for others to see. There's no way to 'update' a video once published, I could put your comment in the description, but no one reads it, so comments are probably safest.
@@ollysworkshop
Unfortunately most of these company omit to tell people of the possible down sides of their equipment. Especially those in the cheaper price range. However the company I’ve mention in my previous post has a model with the R prefix and that incorporates a resistive heater that operates automatically when temp become to low for the heat pump. It made by an Italian company. That’s the one I will purchase for our conservatory. It’s a work around and in a way no different to what your doing with a separate resistive heater, just an all in one unit.
If it was left on permantly during the cold times to keep the room warm would it still continue to work? Or does it just stop working completely when the outside temp is below 5 ?
Gday Olly, brilliant idea installing the pump heater and taking the risk of a fire away, Tom was a very lucky man that’s for sure, great job mate, cheers
Hi Olly, Thats a neat little unit and you found space for it as well!! There is a cold snap due end of this week down here so I expect you will get it up there as well so be interesting so see how it works. You get the added bonus of cold air in summer if you need it.
We put our first ever A/C unit in last summer. Although it can be used for heating we use our central heating (as sparingly as possible as its oil fired) plus we have an inbuilt chimney for burning logs, although this is quite safe behind a latched glass door we would never leave it unwatched just in case, so I think you made a wise decision to remove your burner from your shed. Seeing these fires does make you think.
You made a great job of the installation, I liked the mini shed for the air inlet. Well done and good luck from Spain!!
Hi David, I'll update you all on the performance as and when I've got more experience with it. The summer cooling is definitely a benefit.
This is interesting and it will be great to see how you get on when it gets cold. It seems like we have had a mild winter so far.
Hi Joseph. It generally has performed well so far, however this week while it's been around freezing in the evening, I have found that the efficacy is reduced. The cold side heat exchanger ices up and the airflow is reduced significantly. I did need to supplement the heating with an oil filled radiator for a couple of hours. That said, the unit was always delivering ~30°C air, just less of it when the cold side was getting clogged. I don't think the (automated) defrost cycle on this machine is particularly effective, as it didn't last long, and seemed to have little effect on the ice on the cold side. At no time has it refused to function however. I think this demonstrates the main flaw with these devices, 98% of the time they work really well, but when you need them the most, that's when they perform the worst.
Umm. This is very interesting. Thank you for showing how you fitted this unit. Will be very interested to see a follow up in a few months time to see how you get on. 👍😀
Cool! (or hot, as the case may be). I didn't realise they came self contained like that. I thought they were all huge, very expensive and somewhat complex to fit. I'll follow its progress with interest. P.S. That trepanning tool looks like a real wrist breaker 👍 🇬🇧
I'll do a follow up at some point. Yes that trepanning tool is horrible, but it's the only thing I have for making round holes bigger than 150mm. The vents are 180mm.
@@ollysworkshop I had to drill two holes though brick and thermolite blocks. Bought a core drill on line and hire a special machine that had a clutch that avoided a Brocken wrist! 5” holes are very large! I then sold the core drill through eBay for half what I paid, so not a bad deal.
These units are very interesting. For my shed I went with a diesel heater mounted on a window. It has a remote but no real fancy features besides its own safety nannies. Having those features makes sense in a shop. Also having the benefit of AC I'm the summer is a double bonus.
Hi. As a general solution to both heating and cooling, it works well for me, even if I do need to supplement it during the coldest weather. I also like that I no longer have to feed a fire, and I expect that my neighbours appreciate not having lots of smoke as well!
They don’t work when the outside temp is 5c or less ok above 8c I had one for a couple of year but use it mainly for cooling which it’s great at.
Hi Olly great installation. I am a bit like Jon with the 1kw to 3 kw conversion. As you know i did the diesel heater install in my shop. I know the kwh of electricity to diesel usage is a total no brainer, just not sure about the figures. I fitted air con in my last house & that gave 1.2kw of heat for 1kw of electricity. using the heat pump . Anything's got to be better than a log burner in the wood workshop.
Regards.
Steve.
Hi Steve, the extra kW are pulled from the outside air (making it even colder). The challenge with these things is to prevent them icing up at low temperatures, hence the duct on the outside of the shed.
Thanks for the video!! I know these have been out for a while and iv been searching for information.
I hope it was useful. Have a look through the comments if you haven't already, there's a fair bit of comment that may be of interest. Thanks for watching
I like that very much. That's on my shopping list for when I get back to work 😁😁😁
Why not ask Santa for one? Will probably happen sooner than you going to work! 😜
@@ollysworkshop mmm, Think you are right there!
What's Santa's budget like for Christmas 23?
🤣🤣🤣
I don't know, but your wife might be able to tell you!
@@ollysworkshop I asked. She said best get a job. 🙄🙄
Interesting Olly, be nice to know how it performs in bleak conditions if we ever get any more of those!!, are they expensive!!!
Ingenius vent that splits!!
cheers
Kev
Hi Kev. I'll do a follow up when I've got some more information to share. They aren't cheap, this was £750ish, but as I doubt my insurance would pay out if my shed burnt down because of a fire I was intentionally having, it's probably a price worth paying, plus the convenience and AC in the summer!
Hi Olly, great video. These DIY units appear to be an alternative to mini split units that require F-Gas engineers to install.
What are the noise levels inside like when this unit is heating on full power? Would you consider installing one of these in a lounge or office space?
Thanks
Hi Lucas, the noise is similar to a car fan heater on full blast. You've basically got a metre long radial blower in the top of this thing, plus a bit of background from the second fan that does the external side. It's not loud as such, you can still hold a conversation at pretty much a normal level, but I would think it's too loud for a living room, and if you were, for instance, on a video call in your office space, you would definitely want to turn it off. If I were to put one in my home, it would be a hallway, kitchen or utility room thing. It does have a 'silent' mode where it is very quiet, but is proportionally less effective. I tried this mode in the shed and it was unable to maintain the temperature when it was ~5°C outside. I will perhaps do a follow up and see if I can meaningfully capture the sound level. Thanks for watching!
Been using split aircon to heat my conservatory for several years now and am very pleased with it. Now that these single units are available I’m considering installing them in the bedrooms. Are they as good as they seem? Running costs? Noise levels?
Any info you can give me would be most welcome.
Thanks
Al
Hi, thanks for your questions. Since I installed it, we haven't had any significantly cold weather, I was planning to do an update once I have given it a good try out. Others have warned that this and similar models refuse to work below 7°C. I have yet to verify this myself. There are apparently other models that include resistive heaters to keep them running in the cold. As a cooling air conditioner, it works very well. Noise wise, it has a 'silent' function which is ok, sort of microwave fan level of noise. It does make a few odd noises sometimes, but generally is inoffensive. The one I have is a 1kw unit with a COP of about 3, so you'll get 3kwh of cooling or heating for every 1kw of electricity. Running costs will obviously be dependent on how much you use it. Mine is in my shed, so hasn't really been used that frequently this summer. I was using it for heating in the winter and would only need it on for an hour or so to bring the shed up to a nice temperature. After that it just sits there managing itself to maintain the temperature. I hope that was of some use!
This unit would be great if it had a electric heating element as a auxillary back up heat source for when the temp is 5 or below, this way you could switch over to the electric bavk up heat for when the heat pump cant no longer maintain the set temp. Some have built in heat elements that will automatically turn on to assist the heat pump during times it cant keep up. Great unit though. However iam not to crazy about having to drill 2 big holes through my wall to vent it.
Yep. All good points. I wouldn't want to put those holes through a cavity wall, it was bad enough through the wooden shed wall. I think the heating aspect is lacking, but I have a 2kw fan heater and a 2kw oil filled radiator as backup.
Hi Olly, very neat installation. I am very confused by these things, I still can't get my head round the magic that turns 1kW into 3kW, it must be witchcraft! Interested to see how you go with it. Cheers, Jon
Hi Jon, it works like an air conditioner in reverse, one side makes the air hotter, the other side makes it colder. It can pull "heat" from cold air (making it colder) and transfer that heat to the hot side (making it warmer), so the 1kW drives the refrigerator pump, and the heat is pulled from the outside air.
Technology Connections has a great video that talks about how they can get "over 100% efficiency
This is Wikipedia's explanation of COP. ...
"The coefficient of performance or COP (sometimes CP or CoP) of a heat pump, refrigerator or air conditioning system is a ratio of useful heating or cooling provided to work (energy) required. Higher COPs equate to higher efficiency, lower energy (power) consumption and thus lower operating costs.
The COP usually exceeds 1, especially in heat pumps, because, instead of just converting work to heat (which, if 100% efficient, would be a COP of 1), it pumps additional heat from a heat source to where the heat is required. Most air conditioners have a COP of 2.3 to 3.5. Less work is required to move heat than for conversion into heat, and because of this, heat pumps, air conditioners and refrigeration systems can have a coefficient of performance greater than one.
I see you answered your own question here! Yes I certainly wasn't convinced when I first saw a claim of 400% efficiency! I think it's misleading as it's clearly not. What they should quote is the COP, which does seem to be more common now than say 5 years ago.
Great video how are you getting on with the unit cooling wise
Hi, cooling is fine, I think that's its primary purpose. Kept me cool in 30°C + last summer.
Hello Olly,
An interesting product... I know what you mean about a woodburner in a wooden shed. I will be great for a review in the future so see how it is performing.
Take care.
Paul,,
Hi Paul. We've had very little properly cold weather since I fitted it, so I haven't been able to really put it to the test. What I have found though is that having the heat pump running for a few hours every night makes the shed a very comfortable place to be whenever I go out there. It'll be interesting to see if it works as well in the summer!
How is it wired in ?
Presumably a simple 13amp plug.
Hi Steve, yes just a 13 amp plug.
I have one off these units can you advise me if it is surpose to turn itself off once it reaches the temp you set it at as mine does not many thanks
It doesn't turn off as such. Once it has reached the set temperature it backs off to maintain that temperature, then periodically kicks in to heat or cool as appropriate. You can set timers on the app so that it will only run for a set period of time. Hope this helps.
Sure does thankyou so much
It's great that you can DIY these wall units but I think for the cost of that unit, you'd be better off getting an f-gas engineer to install a proper mini-split that uses R32 and works to -15°C - and with a better COP.
If I knew then what I know now.... That being said, despite the drawbacks, it's the perfect size for the only dead space I have. Not sure where I would put the outside unit of a mini split. I've finally had cold enough weather this week to see that it does indeed struggle at cooler temperatures. You just have to nurse it a bit by stopping it every now and then to defrost. I've no idea why they couldn't have done that in the software.
@@ollysworkshop are you saying that turning it off/back on periodically helps during cold conditions?
@@willjones3908 yes, it does. The unit seems to have no concept of defrost. I have found that once the shed is up to temperature, then it has no trouble maintaining the temperature with temperatures down to a few degrees below zero °C (we've not had anything colder this winter)
@@ollysworkshop So if the room hasn't had any heating and is around 0-5c, you turn the unit on / off several times over say 30mins and that helps it get up to heat?
@@willjones3908 I generally haven't allowed it to go below 10C inside, but essentially yes. When it has been particularly cold I have used an electric heater to give it a helping hand for half an hour or so. After that it manages to keep a sensible temperature (17-20C) with the on off cycle being necessary below about 5C
Nice video, thinking of getting one also. Any updates coming on the device?
I am thinking of doing an update, but there's not a huge amount to report, other than it generally works, but it did really struggle when the temperature was close to 0°C. I think what is happening is that the moisture in the air freezes on the cold side and clogs it up. The unit will then spend some time doing a defrost cycle where it actually pulls heat from the hot side. So it needed a little help. Putting a fan heater on seemed to give it the help it needed to not go into defrost quite as frequently, and once some heat had built up in the shed it was running fine (it had less work to do). We haven't had anything more than -1 or -2C overnight, so I haven't been able to test the theory that if it's really cold it should actually work better than around 0C as below zero there should be basically no humidity and hence less icing of the cold side.
@@ollysworkshop thanks for letting me know. Have you had any issues with bugs or critters getting inside the unit? Only asking because the vents look huge. Many thanks
That's a good point that got edited out of the original, just because it was too long. I put some fine mesh over the vent holes as I thought that would be an issue too. There are grilles on the fans, with maybe 8mm spacing, just small enough that you can't poke your fingers in, but it wouldn't stop fairly large insects getting in.
I was intrigued by this until I read the reviews on Amazon , The reviewers there complain that as a heating function itdoes not work when the outside temperatures are below 5C which in my use case would seriously limit its usefulness. I'd be interested to know how you get on when tempertures drop below theses levels?
Hi, yes I agree, these things don't like working around freezing point as the moisture in the air freezes and clogs the heat exchanger. This is why i say that I'm not entirely convinced by these yet. The little duct on the outside is designed to draw *slightly* warmer air from under the shed. I could also supplement the cold side intake air with warmer air from within the shed. I also have an electric fan heater and oil filled radiator if required.
Looks like a similar size unit for only slightly more money. If that means it works unconditionally, then definitely worth the extra. Thanks for the tip.
How cold does it go?
Hi, the lowest temperature you can set it to in cooling mode is 16°C. If you mean what's the lowest outside temperature it works to, then there's a lot of discussion in other communication, but essentially below 5°C it needs a little help from a fan heater inside to get up to temperature, but I've had it maintain 18°C in my shed when it's -2°ish outside
How much is it and where did you buy it from.
Hi, the link is in the description. Make sure you have read all the comments, this unit does have drawbacks, however it works well for me. Thanks for your question.
@@ollysworkshop thanks for reply, take care.
hi that looks like a good diy friendly heat pump they don't sell those here and i would buy one if they did
Yes, it's ideal. All in one, so it can all be done by a novice. Thanks for watching.