does anyone know of a koi keeper that uses this type of heater for there pond. been looking into it but unsure about winter period.any info appreciated
ron
air source heat pumps
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Re: air source heat pumps
hi, I use one but it's untested over the winter so I dont have experience that gives you a direct answer. I bought mine in early march. having sad that - march was like most years' winter's!
my experience so far is mixed; running it appears to be cost effective versus a straight electric heater, but the heating capacity takes a hit on cold nights - ie the heat pump efficiency ratio becomes less efficient at temps 5 degrees and below, on my unit. So for me the downside has been a less powerful heating capacity at the very point in the day when I need it the most - ie when the air is coldest, particularly below 5 degrees.
my pond is an old design and has a very high surface area to volume ratio compared to most modern designed ponds, and I'm only partially covered; and with that set up any heater would have a tough job on my pond maintaining temperature. i use the heatpump to level out the temperature fluctuations, and dont use it to heat the pond to temps several degrees higher than the ambiant temperature. So the upside for me is that, despite an odd pond design, I can add some stability to the pond temperature using an amount of electricity that I can reasonably afford. I could cover the whole pond if I wanted to reduce the heat loss further and I expect that would inprove the outcomes I'm seeing from the unit, perhaps by a few degrees - although this is complete speculation. I like to see my fish, so its a personal choice.
I would take advice with respect to your own pond shape/design/insulation etc. Also, and this is really important, I suggest you work out in advance what you want to achieve with the heater, whether you would need the pond to be covered to achieve your objective, and if so - whether you are comfortable with that. I also suggest you ask the dealer to visit your pond site before buying the unit so they have the best knowledge about your set up and your heating requirements before suggesting which unit may be right for you. Seeing the pond in person will give them a better understanding of you set up - they're such expensive units that I would hope the dealer would make the trip if they're near you.
My unit has an auto defrost functionality which I;m really happy with, so if the air intake area gets frozen (which does happen regularly on damp cold days), the unit senses it and goes through an automatic defrost cycle. I think some heat pumps dont have this and I imagine it might be a pain to have to manually defrost it.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Adam
my experience so far is mixed; running it appears to be cost effective versus a straight electric heater, but the heating capacity takes a hit on cold nights - ie the heat pump efficiency ratio becomes less efficient at temps 5 degrees and below, on my unit. So for me the downside has been a less powerful heating capacity at the very point in the day when I need it the most - ie when the air is coldest, particularly below 5 degrees.
my pond is an old design and has a very high surface area to volume ratio compared to most modern designed ponds, and I'm only partially covered; and with that set up any heater would have a tough job on my pond maintaining temperature. i use the heatpump to level out the temperature fluctuations, and dont use it to heat the pond to temps several degrees higher than the ambiant temperature. So the upside for me is that, despite an odd pond design, I can add some stability to the pond temperature using an amount of electricity that I can reasonably afford. I could cover the whole pond if I wanted to reduce the heat loss further and I expect that would inprove the outcomes I'm seeing from the unit, perhaps by a few degrees - although this is complete speculation. I like to see my fish, so its a personal choice.
I would take advice with respect to your own pond shape/design/insulation etc. Also, and this is really important, I suggest you work out in advance what you want to achieve with the heater, whether you would need the pond to be covered to achieve your objective, and if so - whether you are comfortable with that. I also suggest you ask the dealer to visit your pond site before buying the unit so they have the best knowledge about your set up and your heating requirements before suggesting which unit may be right for you. Seeing the pond in person will give them a better understanding of you set up - they're such expensive units that I would hope the dealer would make the trip if they're near you.
My unit has an auto defrost functionality which I;m really happy with, so if the air intake area gets frozen (which does happen regularly on damp cold days), the unit senses it and goes through an automatic defrost cycle. I think some heat pumps dont have this and I imagine it might be a pain to have to manually defrost it.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Adam