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Most efficient and lowest-cost way to run a heat pump is: it stays on, the entire time, forever, all year round, 24/7/365. An outdoor sensor (weather compensation) constantly modulates and adjusts the flow temperature so that your house only receives the exact amount of heat energy required to maintain it all at your chosen internal temperature.
There is no longer any concept of a "thermostat" or "bringing the house up to temperature when it's cold". It always just stays at your chosen temperature, all the time, because the heat pump is on and running the entire time. You can, of course, program lower 'setback' temperature periods overnight etc, it's up to you.
Avoid any kind of zoning, 'smart' controls/TRVs etc. Turning off the heating in certain rooms costs more to run than just keeping the entire house bubbling.
You can visualise an external unit with your phone here: https://www.pumpchic.com/#test-drive
Radiators don't cost much but redecorating where you've had to move pipework, etc costs a lot.
The theory on the temperature flow thing is interesting, maybe I'll give that a try by turning the boiler down and see what happens over the course of a day. Bringing the house up to temperature when cold takes a lot of boiler on time but I'm not sure what cooler flow would be enough to offset the temperature in the cold months.
Although I'm still not sure where I'd actually put a heatpump, they look massive in all the pictures.