Heating · Glossary
Weather Compensation
A control strategy that adjusts heating flow temperature based on outdoor temperature, raising efficiency by running emitters as cool as possible.
Weather compensation uses an outdoor temperature sensor to vary the heat pump's flow temperature according to demand. On a mild Cornwall morning at 12°C outside, the heat pump might output 32°C flow; on a cold January night at 0°C it climbs to 50°C. The relationship is set by a "compensation curve" steepness chosen for your house's heat loss and emitter sizing.
Why this matters: SCOP drops sharply with rising flow temperature. Running 35°C all winter rather than 50°C can lift SCOP from 3.0 to 4.0+, cutting electricity bills by 25-30%. Weather compensation is essentially "free efficiency" — the only cost is the outdoor sensor and proper commissioning.
Every modern heat pump supports it (Vaillant, Daikin, Mitsubishi, Viessmann, NIBE, Panasonic) and CCS enables and tunes the compensation curve on every install. If you have an older heat pump and your installer set a fixed flow temperature, ask for a re-commissioning visit. See our heat pump installation page.