What is a heat pump?

A heat pump is a heating appliance that captures low-grade heat either from the outside air, ground or water and then turns that low-grade heat into usable heat to either heat your home via underfloor heating or radiators and also providing you with hot water to bathe.

How does it do this?

Heat pumps are powered most commonly by electricity they use a refrigerant just like a fridge and air conditioning units. The refrigerant absorbs the low-grade heat a compressor then pressurises the refrigerant causing the temperature to increase and then releases this heat via water or air. Air source heat pumps can take air in from as low as -20 and still able to heat your home and hot water.

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)

Air source heat pumps absorb heat from the outside air. This heat can then be used to heat underfloor heating, radiators, convector heaters and hot water. It does this in the same way your fridge extracts heat from its inside. Air source heat pumps can deliver this heat with outside temperature as low as -20 degrees C.

Although heat pumps are a green technology, they do still have an impact on the environment as they need electricity to run but the heat they extract from the air is continuously being renewed naturally by the sun. Unlike a traditional gas boiler which can heat your radiators to 70-80 degrees C, a heat pump you would typically heat your radiators to a maximum of 45 degrees C and run your heating/heat pump for a more extended period.

Maintenance

Heat pumps typically come with a warranty of two to three years, however most manufactures do offer warranty extensions for a fee or by using there preferred installers. Workmanship warranties for heat pumps can last for up to 10 years.

You can expect a heat pump to operate efficiently for 20 years or more, taking into consideration scheduled maintenance programmes.

Installations require an annual check

Advantages

---

---

Things To Consider

• Do you have sufficient space externally for the air source heat pump and internally for your hot water cylinder? You will need a place outside your home where a unit can be fitted on to a wall or fixed to the ground. It will need plenty of space around it to get a good flow of air. A sunny wall is ideal.
• Is your home well insulated?Air source heat pumps work best when producing heat at lower temperatures than traditional boilers, it's essential that your home is well insulated and draught-proofed for the heating system to be efficient.
• What type of emitter will you be using? Air source heat pumps can perform better with warm air heating or underfloor heating than with radiator based systems because of the lower water temperatures its more then likely your existing radiators will have to be up-sized.
• What fuel will you be replacing? The system will pay for itself much more quickly if it's replacing an electricity, coal, LPG or oil heating system. Heat pumps may not be the best option for homes using mains gas from a money prospective but still from an environment prospective.

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs)

Ground source heat pumps absorb heat from the ground or water via buried pipes that run either horizontal or vertical(bore hole) in your garden that are filled with a liquid mixture of water and antifreeze. Heat from the ground is absorbed into the fluid and then passes through a heat exchanger into the heat pump. The length of the ground array depends on the size of your home and the amount of heat you require. This heat can then be used to heat underfloor heating, radiators, convector heaters and hot water. It does this in the same way your fridge extracts heat from its inside. Ground source heat pumps can deliver this heat with ground temperature as low as -10 degrees C a properly sized and installed ground source heat pump, the ground temperature should not get below 0 degrees C.

Although heat pumps are a green technology, they do still have an impact on the environment as they need electricity to run but the heat they extract from the ground is continuously being re-energised naturally by the sun. Unlike a traditional gas boiler which can heat your radiators to 70-80 degrees C, a heat pump you would typically heat your radiators to a maximum of 45 degrees C and run your heating/heat pump for a more extended period.

Maintenance

Heat pumps typically come with a warranty of two to three years, however most manufactures do offer warranty extensions for a fee or by using there preferred installers. Workmanship warranties for heat pumps can last for up to 10 years.

You can expect a heat pump to operate efficiently for 20 years and more, taking into consideration scheduled maintenance programmes.

Installations require an annual check

Advantages

---

---

Things To Consider

• Do you have sufficient space externally for the ground array and internally for your hot water cylinder and Heat pump? You will need sufficient space for your ground array, an horizontal array lays roughly 1 meter below ground level with a large span if space is an issue, a vertical bore hole can be considered as an alternative option as it has a smaller foot print with a greater depth ranging from 60 meters to 200 meters to extract the heat. bore holes ten to be more costly.
• Is your home well insulated?Ground source heat pumps work best when producing heat at lower temperatures than traditional boilers, it's essential that your home is well insulated and draught-proofed for the heating system to be efficient.
• What type of emitter will you be using?Ground source heat pumps can perform better with warm air heating or underfloor heating than with radiator based systems because of the lower water temperatures its more then likely your existing radiators will have to be up-sized.
• What fuel will you be replacing? The system will pay for itself much more quickly if it's replacing an electricity, coal, LPG or oil heating system. Heat pumps may not be the best option for homes using mains gas from a money prospective but still from an environment prospective.