The Daily pond temp thread

[RS2OOO]

Also my first winter with an ASHP.

Pond had been covered the last few weeks and holding 18c with minimal heat input. I’ve started dropping it down now though to 17c.

What temps do people with ASHP on here keep their ponds at? I’m thinking of getting it to 10c and seeing what the costs are like. Aware ASHP are less efficient in winter so bit unsure about what to expect. It’s a thermotec inverter 12kw.


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Think everyone has different temperature needs for winter depending on what they're trying to achieve.

We know heat pumps work best in summer and I suspect most people use them to heat and stabilise temps to extend the growing seasons between mid spring and late autumn.

Yet we also know seeing koi huddled on the bottom at 3C isn't a pretty site either, so ideally we want to take the edge off that white still putting the koi through a winter.

I'd be quite happy to hold at 8C but I'm not sure if that's good for the heat pump, especially considering they come from factory with a lowest heating temp of 10C so you have to manually override to go below that and you can't go lower than 8C.

I'm going to run mine at 10C and see how much it costs, then lower to 8C if its costing too much.

I would guess there's zero benefit to the koi at 10C instead of 8C. Mine stay pretty active down to 8C and still ask for food. Below 8 they are less interested in food and below 6 they look rather pi**ed off!

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[BrucePondsteen]

Think everyone has different temperature needs for winter depending on what they're trying to achieve.

We know heat pumps work best in summer and I suspect most people use them to heat and stabilise temps to extend the growing seasons between mid spring and late autumn.

Yet we also know seeing koi huddled on the bottom at 3C isn't a pretty site either, so ideally we want to take the edge off that white still putting the koi through a winter.

I'd be quite happy to hold at 8C but I'm not sure if that's good for the heat pump, especially considering they come from factory with a lowest heating temp of 10C so you have to manually override to go below that and you can't go lower than 8C.

I'm going to run mine at 10C and see how much it costs, then lower to 8C if its costing too much.

I would guess there's zero benefit to the koi at 10C instead of 8C. Mine stay pretty active down to 8C and still ask for food. Below 8 they are less interested in food and below 6 they look rather pi**ed off!

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Yes mate, mine has done a great job extending the growing season. Looking at my records, the best I achieved unheated was keeping the pond above 20c for 6 weeks a couple years ago. With the heat pump i kept 22c from May until October and the difference in the fish is amazing.

Going to keep lowering temps until I get to 10c and see what costs are like. On the look out for some thicker covers as well.


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[davethefish1]

Would be interested to know what your leccy unit costs are Dave?

I was a bit late to the fixed deal party, and recently signed for 18 months at 57.59p standing charge and 22.38p per KWh.

i could have got a cheaper deal but that was only fixed for 1 year, i'm fixed until summer 2026 now.
my standing charge is 53.060p and unit costs are 25.52p peak tariff, 12.09p economy tariff per kWh.
gas is 5.2p kWh
its half what i was paying a year ago,
so i've managed to half my monthly DD from £500 a month down to £250 a month.
but hoping to see it drop a little further with the extra savings from the bio pump instead of the shower and heat pump tumble dryer.

[davethefish1]

Think everyone has different temperature needs for winter depending on what they're trying to achieve.

We know heat pumps work best in summer and I suspect most people use them to heat and stabilise temps to extend the growing seasons between mid spring and late autumn.

Yet we also know seeing koi huddled on the bottom at 3C isn't a pretty site either, so ideally we want to take the edge off that white still putting the koi through a winter.

I'd be quite happy to hold at 8C but I'm not sure if that's good for the heat pump, especially considering they come from factory with a lowest heating temp of 10C so you have to manually override to go below that and you can't go lower than 8C.

I'm going to run mine at 10C and see how much it costs, then lower to 8C if its costing too much.

I would guess there's zero benefit to the koi at 10C instead of 8C. Mine stay pretty active down to 8C and still ask for food. Below 8 they are less interested in food and below 6 they look rather pi**ed off!

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most ASHP's have minimum start temperature, think mine is about 10C? and won't run unless above it, unless it can be altered in the engineers settings?
with too low a pond temp you would need to increase the defrost cycle significantly, as it uses the ponds warm water to defrost the evaporator.
so in very cold weather it would be spending a higher percentage of the time defrosting instead of heating.

i ran mine at 16C last winter costs were very low as i am well insualted.
the filter bacteria were maintained, and didn't have spikes in spring, and the koi's immune system was kept ticking over, so had no problems in spring...
plus the fish fed well, though i did cut it back a lot.

[BrucePondsteen]

i could have got a cheaper deal but that was only fixed for 1 year, i'm fixed until summer 2026 now.
my standing charge is 53.060p and unit costs are 25.52p peak tariff, 12.09p economy tariff per kWh.
gas is 5.2p kWh
its half what i was paying a year ago,
so i've managed to half my monthly DD from £500 a month down to £250 a month.
but hoping to see it drop a little further with the extra savings from the bio pump instead of the shower and heat pump tumble dryer.

How are you monitoring your energy use on the ASHP Dave? I’ve been looking at some of the plug in versions, but they only seem to work off one kwph price cost. Like you I have a day and night rate. Not sure how to track energy use across the both rates!

Cheers


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[Feline]

My pond is at 19C currently, uncovered. It’s been pretty mild so I carried on feeding for the whole of October.
i am about to start gradually lowering it and will probably put the covers on this weekend.
My heat pump is now a few years old and has developed a fault where the fan is on all of the time. We suspect it’s a relay gone as that’s quite common apparently, but have not yet bothered to investigate the circuit board to see if I can identify where that relay is

I am currently using our cheap electric car tariff overnight to do most of the heating. So the heat pump timer turns off at 6am. It then comes back on in the afternoon as can use a bit of solar generation on the sunnier days. It’s not costing all that much to run considering the temperature I’m at for the timer of year.

Last year I went down to 12C and held it there over a couple of months, might do that again as all the fish came through winter fine.

[samp09]

Mine unheated but covered was at 13.9 yesterday. Dropped down to feed once a day now and will do so until it drops more then I'll slow down to every other day etc. Will gradually slow the pump down too to save on running costs.

[RS2OOO]

most ASHP's have minimum start temperature, think mine is about 10C? and won't run unless above it, unless it can be altered in the engineers settings?
.

I think there's a way around this but I don't recall the exact details. Possibly as simple as changing it in the settings, but my Thermotec won't accept any value below 8C, so that's the best you can hope for.

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[michellefisher1748]

Today’s pond temperature is sitting at 68°F (20°C). It’s been a warm few days, and the fish seem to be more active. I noticed some surface feeding earlier, which is always a good sign! How's everyone else's pond faring? Any changes in fish behavior or plant growth?

[davethefish1]

How are you monitoring your energy use on the ASHP Dave? I’ve been looking at some of the plug in versions, but they only seem to work off one kwph price cost. Like you I have a day and night rate. Not sure how to track energy use across the both rates!

Cheers
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I use this sonoff hardwired wifi energy monitor i use. i installed it in a single wylex enclosure as it has no earth connection so you have to loop it in yourself.

the ASHP is run on a timer to come on during the eco tariff.
it does drop between 0.5C and 1.0C when the timer is off. but thats not an issue for me.
i doubt you'd be able to get one that can do two tariffs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[BrucePondsteen]

I use this sonoff hardwired wifi energy monitor i use. i installed it in a single wylex enclosure as it has no earth connection so you have to loop it in yourself.

the ASHP is run on a timer to come on during the eco tariff.
it does drop between 0.5C and 1.0C when the timer is off. but thats not an issue for me.
i doubt you'd be able to get one that can do two tariffs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thanks Dave, I’ve been looking at these smart Wi-Fi plugs that can monitor power use/cost. Like the idea of setting it to run off peak, which typically it has been doing.


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[118]

No ASHP, no covers ..

[james9489]

No ASHP, no covers ..

That’s pretty insane for November! Insulated??


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[118]

That’s pretty insane for November! Insulated??

Just 10mm sides, to take away any damage from the 'rough' edges of my sleepers, which may in time damage the liner.. So far it's been pretty mild over in the East..

[Martin59]

I’m still holding at 14.5 during the day down to 13.7 bye the morning. According to the forecast this mild weather is set to last all of next week, at least in the south east

[RS2OOO]

With the various temps being posted, you have to account for inaccuracy in thermometers.

I have 4 thermometers and they all give different readings, usually reading too high.

The most accurate one I have currently reads 15.1C and this is the one I go off, yet my ASHP is currently showing 15.5C, and my floating thermometer is reading between 16 and 16.5C.

Can't find the photos right now, but at a Koi show one of the stands had a box full of thermometers and while sifting through I noticed none of them were showing the same temp. The difference between the highest and lowest was around 6C (full range was 18C to 24C).

For anyone interested, this is my most accurate one (but as per the Koi show thermometers I suspect accuracy can vary from one unit to the next):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255145962...Bk9SR-7Gl8DfZA


Having read some reviews about water ingress in swimming pools and UV damage to the display, I keep mine floating in the covered static filter bay where the surface water is still. The receiver is in the kitchen, around 16 metres away and I have no problems with the signal.

[davethefish1]

With the various temps being posted, you have to account for inaccuracy in thermometers.

I have 4 thermometers and they all give different readings, usually reading too high.

The most accurate one I have currently reads 15.1C and this is the one I go off, yet my ASHP is currently showing 15.5C, and my floating thermometer is reading between 16 and 16.5C.

Can't find the photos right now, but at a Koi show one of the stands had a box full of thermometers and while sifting through I noticed none of them were showing the same temp. The difference between the highest and lowest was around 6C (full range was 18C to 24C).

For anyone interested, this is my most accurate one (but as per the Koi show thermometers I suspect accuracy can vary from one unit to the next):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255145962...Bk9SR-7Gl8DfZA


Having read some reviews about water ingress in swimming pools and UV damage to the display, I keep mine floating in the covered static filter bay where the surface water is still. The receiver is in the kitchen, around 16 metres away and I have no problems with the signal.

there are some dodgy ones around, worst are the manual liquid type...

i have 3 permenantly on the pond,
a swimming pool one like that in the lin, the ASHP, and a digistat on the electro heater. but all are +/- 0.5C of each other.

[davethefish1]

just put the polycarb covers on today it's probably the latest i've ever covered the pond, as it's been really mild but cloudy this autumn.

the ASHP has been using more power to keep the temps at 18C
and temps are set to drop to -2C over the next week.
going to look at the energy monitor, to see how much difference it makes having the covers on.

[rolo]

car frozen over according to weather forecast snow starts 19:00 tonight till 7am Tuesday morning. we wait and see.
and pond builder starts tomorrow.

keith

[rolo]

3 inch of snow and no pond builder fish all huddled together bottom of temp pond.

keith