First Heatpump project

[stef110]

hello, My name is Stef I am 21 years old and i live in the Netherlands.
I still live in the house of my parents. My English is not the best in the world so please don't shoot me on that!

3 Years ago i started to build my own solar panels. These panels worked properly buy about a month ago I replaced them for "real" panels for better power production and because they had a little bit moisture inside.
More info about this project can you see on my site (dutch language)

Last year we install a solar water heater with a 300L boiler, about a half year ago we placed a wood stove with water heating feature. This stove heats not only the house but also the domestic hot water supply.

Since these installations we reduced a big amount of gas. The next thing on the list will be of course a air source heat pump. Because I love to build things my self like the solar panels I really wanted to try build the heat pump my self to.
After reading the hole manifesto topic i decided to give it a shot and start searching for parts.
On the internet i found a new very cheap airco unit with heating feature.
After receiving the unit i eminently tear it apart to investigate how the inside was looking. After that i ordered a heat exchanger i am still gathering parts.
Next week i will get a bottle of nitrogen for the insert gas and to test the system on pressure. I would like to say let the build begin.

sorry i have a bung of pictures but i can't insert them because this is my fist post

I will keep you guys posted!

[Daox]

Hello Stef, and welcome to the site!

It sounds like a very interesting build you have going on. We would love to hear more about it.

I have increased your post count so you can post links, pictures, and whatever else.

[stef110]

Thanks!

here are a few pictures of the projects i have done and of the Heatpump parts so far:


A solar panel made out of 24 cells packed in 2 layers of eva with a tedlar back, just like how they make real solar panels.


Solar array of 9 panels produced about 450kWh in just under a year.
But now are replaced by real panels for better production.


2 solar heaters on the other side of the roof laying next to 10 solar panels.


The water tank with domostic hot water inside heated by the sun and also by the wood stove and with a bit of luck also soon with the heatpump.


The wood stove in the livingroom.


The electronics for the stove to control all the pumps en valves in the system. it is powered by arduino mega and a raspberry pi, It also makes a log every 60 seconds with the temperatures of points in the system.


I also write a small program for so i can easily monitor the system by looking at this schematic. I can see in witch direction valves are placed and witch pumps are on, and also see the temperatures.


SO now the pictures of the heat pump project:











more pictures of other projects are on my webpage Svitterzon.nl look at "foto album"

will keep you posted!

[jeff5may]

Looking good Stef! Those homemade panels look as good as the manufactured panels.

The heat pump in your pic looks very familiar. A few ecorenovators have had their way with these types of units. You can do it!

[WyrTwister]

Is the condenser from a mini split ?

Are you going to heat water ?

God bless
Wyr

[stef110]

Yes this is a mini split unit, not a normal one this unit is made to use with a solar collector. So the gas will be pre-heated for better performance. The two connections how are going to the collector will be just linked to gather.

The idee is to heat up the boiler with the heat pump, i have no idea what kind of temperatures i will reach. Maby if it works good I will install an extra buffer so i can heat that up and than use it later for heating the house. Because I think the unit doesn't have that amount of power to heat the house on its own.

stef

[stef110]

yesterday I received two flare nuts so i could make the little bridge. Were normally a solar collector would be placed.
I also made my first flare connection i did a small test i pult a vacuum and after one day the analog meter on the manifold haven't changed. To morrow i can pick up the bottle of nitrogen so i can do a small pressure test on this small circuit. And i can also starting to braze the rest of the components. I only have one service valve do you guys suggest to ad a second on the other line?







stef

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by stef110

yesterday I received two flare nuts so i could make the little bridge. Were normally a solar collector would be placed.

I'm confused with this statement. In heat pump mode, the section of copper pipe with flares you have installed is where you would normally put the refrigerant circuit side of your plate heat exchanger. The water side of the exchanger then supplies your home with heated water by way of a pumped loop of some sort. Where do the solar collectors fit into this rig?

I only have one service valve do you guys suggest to ad a second on the other line?


stef

You can add another valve if you feel the urge to. If this is your first setup, I definitely would. It will help you better understand the relationships between the different parameters (pressure, flow, temperature, superheat, subcooling, etc.) that interact with each other during changing conditions. It may also prevent you from destroying your system due to overpressure or overcharge!

[jeff5may]

OK, now I understand why I'm confused. You have a "Tailor made, mass produced" chinese mutt unit. Looks strikingly similar to a Midea or Shinco manufactured unit. 99.9% sure it was made in either the Shenzhen or Guangzhou industrial bloc. These products blanket the world, and 222 brands of stuff comes from a very few factories in China. God help us all....

From the pics, I can see it has a fixed capacity Toshiba compressor that runs off R-410a. Heat transfer says 2000 Watts nominal, which translates to around 7500 btu per hour. The thing should do a real good job at heating water. Please tell me it still has its factory refrigerant charge.

If you could be so kind, please take a pic of the name plate of the unit and post it so we can see what you have. Or, type in the brand, model number, etc that is printed on the name tag. It will help us help you get your unit rigged up right.

[stef110]

Thanks for the help, the name on the unit is
Tkfr-26w but on google you probably only find the tkfr-26gw there is almost no information about this unit. Yes it has its default charche inside.

stef