We're about to install a completely new central heating system - new pipework, radiators and one (big!) heat pump. It's a sprawling bungalow, so the rooms are fairly well isolated. Obviously there's no lagging between rooms, but they are all solid brick so have a reasonable amount of insulation.
We both work from home, in dedicated rooms. I'd like to have 3 zones, all zones would be independent, i.e. no zone would always be on. Weekdays would normally be Off>>Work>>Play>>Rest>>Off, with perhaps a two hour overlap for the transition between zones.
I understand that this would be fairly normal for a gas boiler, or even mandatory for a larger home. Is there any reason this can't or shouldn't be done with a heat pump?
I've seen "Heat Geek" on youtube saying they're often a bad idea with heat pumps (OR gas). I do get the arguments about flow temperature affecting efficiency, but I think our rooms are adequately isolated that this will be much less of a factor than stated in his video. The system is being designed for 42 degC flow, I'd be happy to set that as a maximum and see how it copes.
I do realise that electronic TRVs are available that can effectively zone room-by-room. I do get the point that they can modulate instead of being just on/off. But I still don't see a major fundamental difference between zoning and a load of TRVs being off. Also I'd rather avoid having a system that's dependent on a load of gadgets that may stop working (especially if cooking on a radiator pipe) and AA batteries that need regular changing and/or may leak (again due to suffering with heat).
I know that controllers for boilers are essentially on/off switches based on a timer and/or thermostat. I don't have experience of heat pump controls. If they are more complex, e.g. using modulated controls then can multiple units be used (one per zone) to avoid losing this functionality?
All opinions and disagreements very welcome!
We both work from home, in dedicated rooms. I'd like to have 3 zones, all zones would be independent, i.e. no zone would always be on. Weekdays would normally be Off>>Work>>Play>>Rest>>Off, with perhaps a two hour overlap for the transition between zones.
I understand that this would be fairly normal for a gas boiler, or even mandatory for a larger home. Is there any reason this can't or shouldn't be done with a heat pump?
I've seen "Heat Geek" on youtube saying they're often a bad idea with heat pumps (OR gas). I do get the arguments about flow temperature affecting efficiency, but I think our rooms are adequately isolated that this will be much less of a factor than stated in his video. The system is being designed for 42 degC flow, I'd be happy to set that as a maximum and see how it copes.
I do realise that electronic TRVs are available that can effectively zone room-by-room. I do get the point that they can modulate instead of being just on/off. But I still don't see a major fundamental difference between zoning and a load of TRVs being off. Also I'd rather avoid having a system that's dependent on a load of gadgets that may stop working (especially if cooking on a radiator pipe) and AA batteries that need regular changing and/or may leak (again due to suffering with heat).
I know that controllers for boilers are essentially on/off switches based on a timer and/or thermostat. I don't have experience of heat pump controls. If they are more complex, e.g. using modulated controls then can multiple units be used (one per zone) to avoid losing this functionality?
All opinions and disagreements very welcome!