Is there a little or a lot to do? Firstly it is recommended by many heat pump manufacturers that a service is done yearly for warranty purposes, the main reason for this will be to stay on top of the Glycol (antifreeze) levels.
This is carried out by bleeding a very small amount of water (a few drops) from the heating circuit and examining it with a Refractometer, if it shows the circuit protection in freezing temperatures (-10) then the circuit is protected in the lowest temperatures, although we don’t get temperatures this low in Cornwall, it is worth remembering that around the heat pump is always a few degrees lower while it extracts warm air from the atmosphere. If the heat pump freezes the compressor seizes and it becomes an expensive repair. For the reasons above many of our clients opt for a heat pump service before the winter season.
Secondly we need to look at the heat pump strainer, fitted to the heating circuit is a strainer which prevents dirt and debris from entering the heat pump. The water is locked off at either side of the strainer via lever valve and the strainer is taken out for cleaning. This process will prevent flow issues, because as the strainer collects debris it can slow down the flow and eventually lock out, not an expensive repair but not something you want to happen on a winters evening and end up calling out an emergency engineer.
Field settings and pressure are the last few points to check, it is important to check that the Heat pump is running at 1.5 bar if not top it up and the field settings are as per factory settings so the heat pump is running efficiently. For heat pump servicing in Cornwall call Harvest Cornwall.
