“Aerotermia,” that buzzword that’s become so trendy and refers to the wonderful and supposedly efficient machine that heats or cools water and that every large, modern home should have.
Let me tell you, the graph you see in the image is caused by a home’s aerothermal system. Boom!
Interesting pikes in electricity consumption, aren’t they?
Well, the joke costs the owner more than €3,000 a year…
The fact is, I’ve encountered these types of “killer machines” many times. Silent killers, because until you install a photovoltaic system that allows you to view consumption graphs on its wonderful app, you don’t realize what was emptying your pockets every month.
“Stop, Chema, stop… Let’s be realistic and not kill the monster; let’s blame Doctor Frankenstein instead.”
– “Please don’t be against this technology.”
Because the problem isn’t the machine, almost certainly. The problem is in its configuration. Or also (and this is a bit of a bad idea), in how it was installed ️
Here’s where I have to confess that, due to my training, I have more knowledge of electricity, telecommunications, and home automation than of heating and air conditioning.
Which doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about aerothermal systems… The luxury homes I build certainly have them.
So I’ve decided to share with you several real-life problems I’ve encountered and that we’ve obviously had to resolve.
And I’m doing it here in case this helps you, or, much better, in case you can help me in the future to avoid them from the start.
• The machine was incorrectly configured.
• The backup heater was starting up at an inadequate temperature to heat the water in the tank.
• The insulation wasn’t adequate, and the water cooled quickly.
• They had a water leak in the circuit. I’ve never encountered a gas leak in the unit, but it could have been one.
• The outdoor unit was poorly positioned and didn’t have good air circulation, and it was fed back with the cold air it expelled.
• The underfloor heating manifolds were connected backwards, and the flow wasn’t as necessary.
• The thermostats were malfunctioning and/or incorrectly positioned.
• Some of the drive pumps (primary, secondary, and others) weren’t working properly.
And yes, installing a photovoltaic system helps address part of the problem, but it’s not what it should be.
For all these reasons, today I think anyone who advertises themselves as a “solvers of peak power consumption for aerothermal systems” has a job to make money.
Have I given you any ideas with this?
