Lampoassa Energy Consumption

[leeffrost]

HI

I was wondering if you could help me. I installed a Lampoassa ground source heat pump approximately a year ago in my new build house. The house is quite big and has a swimming pool in an external pool house.

The heat pump runs well and provides underfloor heating and hot water for my approx 8000 square feet home. The problem I have is that that unit consumes massive amounts of energy (I have the T40 unit) especially in the early hours of the morning when my family is asleep, the underfloor heating is in set back mode and we are not using any hot water. It would seem the lower the demand for heating and hot water the more energy the unit consumes.

Please see attached an hourly energy usage graph for my property.

//www.diynot.com/network/leeffrost/albums/11415/42757

Any help you could give me would be much appreciated as im having very little success obtaining any support from the installer.

My electricity bill is currently £12000 a year and this seems massive as the only high kWatts appliance I have is the Lampoassa unit.

Nobody can offer an explanation to why the unit uses massive amount of energy during dormant periods and I do not know who to ask....

 

[D_Hailsham]

Finn-Geotherm are the UK distributors, though they may be your installers - you don't say.

Failing that go directly to the manufacturers, email: info"at"lampoassa.fi

 

[leeffrost]

I have contacted lampoassa however im awaiting a response they dont seem the fastest.

Fin-Geotherm actually fitted the system and dont seem over keen to help, also our installer from the company is currently needed at home for personal business and as such I dont feel I should pester him.

 

[arrell]

I am having terrible problems with Lampoassa myself, the machine keeps breaking down and no one will come out to fix it, it broke down 2 christmas ago and it took them 8 weeks to fix it,, They are the worst company to deal with and i would recommend staying well clear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and I mean WELL CLEAR!!!

 

[mikeje]

I had a V10.5 Lampoassa unit installed in October 2011. It has since been a running series of failures. It was not properly wired up when it arrived. Within 24 hours of commissioning it switched to electric heat and did so twice more in the course of 48 hours. We had a significant leak from the actual heat pump at the end of May which turned out to be two faulty rubber washers and since that date the pump has switched to electric heat 11 times. Finn Geotherm have been out twice to replace various electronic parts and I am currently awaiting a call from them again to sort out the latest failure. The electricity consumption is also twice what it was when we had storage rads and two immersion heaters.

Like Leeffrost and arrell if I was able to wind the clock back I wouldn't touch this product with a barge pole.

 

[mysteryman]

Heat pumps can have a reasonably high coefficient of performance, in that you can sometimes get out four or perhaps even five times as much energy as you put in. What you need to remember is that if the input energy is daytime tariff electricity, this is typically six times the price of gas per kilowatt hour or unit of energy.

Look at electricity generation - it is mostly gas-fired.

You can generate electricity from gas, you can't generate gas from electricity. Certainly not economically.

 

[polesapart]

£12000 a year is a lot of dosh. Did the installer/specifier give you any any heat/cost calculations before starting work, and what sort of guarantee did he offer on the installation?

 

[mikeje]

An update on my previous message. Finn Geotherm spent a morning carrying out a full diagnostic check. They discovered a fault with the valve associated with the compressor and have now fixed that problem. 11 days later and so far no further problems.

They have also advised that the compressor needs to be replaced. Lampoassa fitted two different makes - Mitsubishi or Copeland. The Mitsubishi have proved to be faulty and apparently on my machine have been using 24 amps instead or 12 - 14 amps when running hence the high electricity consumption. Suggest you ask Finn Geoterm to check which type of compressor your machine has been fitted with!

 

[D_Hailsham]

The Mitsubishi have proved to be faulty and apparently on my machine have been using 24 amps instead or 12 - 14 amps when running hence the high electricity consumption.

I would insist on compensation for the cost of the additional electricity consumed. If they won't play ball, contact your Trading Standards dept, who will guide you through the steps you need to take to make them pay up.

I've done it and it works. (Faulty LCD monitor)

 

[nigles]

Hi, don't know if anyone still following this thread but we have had a Lampoassa heat pump for a year and the previous posts all sound very familiar, breaking down etc. Finn Geotherm keep repairing, replacing compressors etc. Initial electricity consumption wasn't too bad but has been huge over last 6 months. Our thoughts are that if machine is not faulty then we have been missold this product. This article
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/energy/groundsourceheatpumps.aspx
suggests that someone has successfully got a refund.
We also have a whole other problem-our hot water was brown/yellow for 3 months. They finally admitted it was the heat pump system and not 'our pipes' when they actually looked (rather than just assuming we were making it up???) and saw the water was clear before entering system and brown immediately afterwards, but we still have no explanation. Water clear now but has small bits of grit...
Has anyone managed to get financial reimbursment in any way and any ideas about the water!!!

 

[mikeje]

This is all rather depressing when one is try to adopt a Green energy approach. Having had the compressor changed following the full diagnostic check in August (see posting dated 20 August) I did manage to get Lampoassa via Finn Geotherm to recompense me a modest amount for the extra electricty used by the faulty Mitsubishi unit. This was calculated by using Finn Geotherm's original estimate of the amount of electricity I should use once the Heat Pump was installed compared to that actually used allowing for electricity usuage on other appliances. Better than a kick in the teeth.

However, after the compressor was changed the wretched Pump failed again because the soft start unit blew up and Finn G did acknowledge that it should have been replaced at the same time as the compressor. I have advised FG that if it goes wrong again they will be replacing the whole pump, which is what one of their staff stated he would be recommending.

I cannot offer any help with the grit problem but suggest you just keep the pressure up on FG.

 

[nigles]

Don't worry, pressure is being applied. They are coming tomorrow to replace the coil "in case it has corroded"
We have also just had a new soft start as it stopped working (for the compressor that wasn't faulty) as well as a whole new compressor shortly after installation (it just didn't work properly). It doesn't auger well for the machines lasting many years!
Re electricity consumption; both our compressors are Copeland. I've sent Guy our annual electricity consumption over 4 years as it's much more than they estimated. Sincerely hope your system will be OK now and that your consumption is better.

 

[leeffrost]

HI

Following a year of massive electricity bills (12k a year) Finn Geotherm replaced the compressors and the soft start assembly. The electric consumption has gone down however its not even close to the figures quoted.

I really temped to try and get compensation for the excessive bills electricity consumption and I really just need some advice and was wondering.

• Has anyone received any?
• Did it require legal action / costs?
• Was the amount received worth the effort to acquire it?

In addition to this the Lampo unit trips out on the 5th or 6th of every month and I was wondering if anyone has experienced this?

I really wish I'd never purchased this unit as it was expensive to instal and has not offered me the cheap energy promised.

Thanks

 

[mikeje]

Please see my message of 2 January. I have received a modest amount of compensation (£283.30) which was calculated as follows: -

Amount of electricity actually used between installation and change of compressor. (Kwh)

Less

Allowance for other electricity usage in the house for the same time period (kwh)

Less

Finn Geotherm's estimate of use by the Heat Pump for that period. (kwh)

It helped that I have to report our electricity consumption to our supplier on a monthly basis.

I did not need to engage a Solicitor etc and while the amount is small compared to your usage I was reasonably content with the amount offered.

As to the problem on 5/6 of each month we have not experienced that one. However, I have become something of a nerd, recording every morning the number of compressor hours used in the previous 24 hours. This also heps to reassure us that it is still working properly!!

Hope this helps.

 

[leeffrost]

Thanks mikeje

I'll look into this with the Finn Geo, we've also become quite the GEO geeks with an energy monitor for total energy and a separate one for the GSHP and we take daily compressor hours and temperature readings.

Its a shame really that a product that promised so much has not met anyone's expectations.

Thanks