Heat Pumps
There are basically 3 types of Heat Pump; Ground source, Air source and Water source. Their name denotes where the energy to provide the heat comes from. The two most common are the air and ground source units, with air being the most common.
A heat pump uses the same tried and tested technology as your household fridge, only the principle is reversed. Where a fridge takes relative heat from inside the fridge, thus cooling it and dispels the heat via fins at the rear of the fridge. If you reversed the cycle, ice would form on the fins as the air is cooled as its relative heat is extracted. It would then warm the space inside of the fridge. This is exactly how an Air Source heat pump works to heat a house, where the heat produced is circulated via conventional pipework to heat the hot water and heating - either radiators or underfloor heating.
With a ground source heat pump the energy is extracted from the ground by a pipework loop or “slinky” buried within it. They are usually buried about 1.2 meters deep or can be sank into bore holes tens of meters deep depending upon soil and rock conditions and heat requirements. This relative warmth is then raised via the heat pump compressor to heat the property in a conventional manner. Ground source units require a large land area to bury the loops or deep bore holes to sink them within. This makes them considerably more expensive to install then air source units and for most domestic situations, simply impractical.
All heat pumps are incredibly efficient heat producers, for every kilowatt of electrical energy used to power the compressor, they can provide 3 to 4 kilowatts of heat. This makes them 300 - 400% efficient. This is described as their co-efficient of performance or COP. The COP or efficiency varies with heat energy input to the Heat pump and the energy output required to be produced by the heat pump - input versus output - which will vary with the seasons. It is for this reason that its critical that heat pumps are correctly sized to match the heat load requirement. If they are not designed and installed correctly there will be expensive problems, such as - large running costs, insufficient heating of hot water or property. Excessive icing of heat pump evaporator if using Air source. Ground heave, caused by excessive cooling of earth surrounding the collector pipework on ground source units to name a few.
The average domestic air source retrofit installation when replacing a traditional oil boiler installation costs approximately £6,000-£12,000 installed. Costs are affected by type and size of heat pump chosen, location of equipment and the condition of the existing plumbing, heating and electrical system - which is the biggest variable. They will provide all of the households heat and hot water requirement reducing CO2 emissions by about 50% compared to oil. This reduces household fuel costs and cuts carbon emissions, saving money and the environment. It can give a property a higher score on its energy performance rating and help achieve a higher level on the code for sustainable homes usually scoring level 3 on new build properties.
Grant funding is available in the form of the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive). Currently the RHIPP (Premium Payment) is giving £850 for domestic Air source and £1250 for domestic ground source installations for this year, with eligibility for the full RHI payment scheme when it begins next year.
We provide a full estimate of performance in line with the government approved SAP(Standard Assessment Procedure) with all our quotes.
We can provide a complete installation service from start to finish, as experienced installers as well as Registered Heating Professionals (RHP) and Registered Plumbers (RP) with the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers (CIPHE). We have full Public Liability Insurance and guarantee all our work, parts and labour for 24 months.
We are experienced installers and we Specify, Design, Install and maintain our domestic heat pump systems to best suit your individual situation and requirements.
We strongly recommend an independent SAP survey for your property before we undertake installation. This will indicate current energy usage and carbon production. It will provide an energy rating and highlight the most cost effective energy saving improvements. It can also demonstrate the likely energy and carbon savings made by those improvements.
For further independent consumer advice and information please see:
www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/greenerbuildings/sustainablehomes
