Documentation

Heat pumps

The cFos Charging Manager also supports heat pumps with SG Ready inputs. The heat pump provides two switching inputs for SG Ready:

Operating status 1: Terminals 1:0 - Hard blocking of the utility
Operating status 2: Terminals 0:0 - Normal operation with possible utility blocking for max. 2 hours
Operating status 3: Terminals 0:1 - Increased operation, utility recommendation: Use energy
Operating status 4: Terminals 1:1 - Utility instruction: Definitely start, use energy if possible

If you connect a switching output to the second terminal, e.g. a "Shelly relay", you can switch between operating states 2 and 3 using the Charging Manager. In the control of the heat pump, you must then set that the heat pump should run when contact 2 is active, if the corresponding energy is required.

Illustration of the configuration of a heat pump in the cFos Charging Manager Then you can add a wallbox "Heatpump SG Ready" in the cFos Charging Manager, as well as a meter to control the switching output, e.g. "Shelly Relay". In the wallbox settings, set the minimum and maximum charging current to the power of the active heat pump. In addition, use the "Output Device ID" parameter to tell the Charging Manager which device ID the switching output has, e.g. M1. The cFos Charging Manager then sets the variable "output1" for this device ID to 1 if the heat pump is to run, otherwise to 0.

From the cFos Charging Manager's point of view, the heat pump is a special wallbox with a plugged-in car. This allows you to assign priorities and charging rules for the heat pump and to operate it e.g. with PV surplus. A heat pump set up as a wallbox is not considered a normal household consumer, i.e. its consumption is not deducted from the PV surplus (as is also the case when charging the electric car). The cFos Charging Manager assumes by default that the heat pump always needs the maximum current. If you integrate a meter into the Charging Manager that measures the current of the heat pump, you can pin it to the wallbox "Heatpump SG Ready". Then the Charging Manager knows the actual consumption.

Thus, you can realise a simple heat pump control with the cFos Charging Manager, provided your heat pump has a switch input (possibly also older models that are not SG Ready).

Some wallboxes can also be controlled via Modbus. We are following what is happening on the market and will incorporate support for this if necessary.

We look forward to your feedback when using the cFos Charging Manager with heat pumps.