Frequently asked questions

1. Turn down the indoor temperature – reducing the indoor temperature by one degree decreases your energy consumption by five per cent. Change the temperature using the heat pump controller, not the room thermostat (see below). If you want to maintain a lower temperature in a certain room, such as a bedroom, use the room thermostat to adjust it.
2. Put your room thermostats on the maximum setting – set your room thermostats to the maximum temperature: the ground source heat pump will control the heating, and the room thermostats will only need to limit occasional overheating. When the ground source heat pump controls the heating, you can avoid the situation where the ground source heat pump supplies the heating network with water at a certain temperature and the room thermostats request a different temperature (in other words, they limit the heating). This ensures that the ground source heat pump provides energy at the lowest possible temperature and with good efficiency.
3. Domestic water temperature – choose a domestic water temperature that is sufficient for residents but not too hot – this minimises heat losses in the accumulator and reduces energy consumption. If the heat pump operates with the legionella function on, it should be scheduled for a time when there is no domestic water consumption and the electricity price is not high. For example, we do not recommend using this function on Friday or Saturday evenings. The heat pump has time control and two temperature control levels: comfort and lower – consider whether you could use this, for example, during the day when your home is empty or heated by another energy source.

The heat pump can be operated with a reserve power source (generator/aggregate unit). However, we do not recommend operating a compressor controlled by a frequency converter on reserve power. The quality of electricity provided by reserve power sources differs depending on the manufacturer and model, so we recommend operating the device with reserve heat (the supply water electric heater). Read the instructions for Using an Aries heat pump with a reserve power source.

The spot-price electricity control aims to optimise the operation of a heat pump based on the hourly spot price of electricity on the power exchange. In the Nordic countries, the power exchange is run by Nord Pool. Basically, the control aims to store heat energy into the building during the hours when the price is the lowest, and then use this stored energy during the most expensive hours. The spot-price electricity control works best in buildings with a high heat storage capacity, such as homes with underfloor heating.

A heat pump produces heating water for the property’s heating network based on the supply water setpoint. When the supply water setpoint is higher than the supply water temperature, the logic control of the device increases the compressor speed until the supply water temperature is the same as the supply water setpoint. On the other hand, when the setpoint is set lower, the logic control of the heat pump decreases the compressor speed and can even turn off the compressor. The spot-price electricity control adjusts the heat pump supply water setpoint; in practice, the setpoint is set lower when the price of electricity is high, and set higher when the price is low. However, our spot-price electricity control aims to minimise the number of times the compressor is started and shut down.

The spot-price electricity control works best when the heat distribution network is in balance and the thermostats do not restrict the flow, that is, all thermostats are as fully open as possible. Use a thermostat to adjust only the spaces in which you want the temperature be notably lower, such as bedrooms. The spot-price electricity control does not affect the secondary circuit controls, such as the heat distribution network thermostats.

The Legionella bacteria may grow in a domestic hot water system in which the hot water temperature is set too low. This is why we do not recommend decreasing the hot water temperature in the domestic hot water system based on the spot price of electricity.

Gebwell heat pumps (Aries 6, Aries 12 and Aries 12C heat pump) that are connected to the Gebwell Smart application. In the future, the spot-price electricity control will also be available for real estate heat pumps.

• You must have a Gebwell Aries heat pump installed in your home.
• An internet connection for the heat pump – the spot-price electricity control cannot be realised without a working internet connection. Our Aries heat pumps are delivered with an internet connection. The modem of the heat pump must be located in a place with 3G, 4G or 5G coverage.
• A valid spot-price electricity contract.

Yes, you certainly can. The more people shift their electricity use to off-peak hours, the greater is the impact on the nation’s maximum consumption and this way on the price of electricity at peak hours.

It is likely that the spot-price electricity control causes room temperature variation in the property and this way affects the comfort of living. The control software can dampen this indoor temperature variation with the help of room temperature sensors. In addition, if the connection between the heat pump and the Gebwell Smart cloud is lost, the last set value remains as the heat pump setting that may result in too low supply water setpoint. However, there is no risk of freezing because the supply water setpoint cannot decrease below the minimum setpoint value, which by default is set to 20 °C at the factory.

The customer can select the control intensity setting via the Gebwell Smart spot-price electricity control user interface. 1 = control has a low impact; 10 = control has a very high impact. The default setting is 5.

Yes. The time control settings set from the Gebwell Smart mobile application have an impact on the room setpoint and this way the supply water setpoint. It is recommended that when the spot-price electricity control is taken into use, the time control settings of heating circuits are disabled.

The spot-price electricity control also works in homes with a radiator heating system. However, it is likely that the savings achieved with the control will be lower than in homes with underfloor heating because the heat energy storage capacity of indoor air is not good. It is also likely that the indoor temperature variation will be higher than in homes with underfloor heating.

Usually, the temperatures set for garages and storage buildings are usually lower in any case, so controlling their heating based on the spot price is not worthwhile.

In low-temperature spaces, it is often not possible to decrease the indoor temperature occasionally without the risk of freezing. If the indoor temperature to be kept in the spaces in question is at the normal level, the spot-price electricity control will work well.

At the moment, it is not possible to check directly from the Gebwell Smart mobile application whether the spot-price electricity control is on. By viewing the measurement trends afterwards, it is possible to see how the control has adjusted the supply water setpoint.

The spot-price electricity control can be enabled for specific heating circuits only. This is done on the settings page of the user interface, and setting the circuit-specific settings in more detail is done on this page as well. For more information on this, see the user manual.

Not at the moment. You can check the hourly rates from Fingrid’s Tuntihinta application, among others.