Heat Pumps- Fact or Fiction

Heat Pumps- Fact or Fiction

In January Paul Rychnovsky gave us a fascinating talk on heat pumps- how they work, how efficient they are and things to be aware of when thinking of installing one.

Heat pumps move thermal energy from one place to another using vapour compression: just like a refrigerator but in reverse. The energy is collected by the outdoor unit and transferred to the refrigerant circulating in the heat pump loop. When this fluid is compressed into a gas, it generates heat that is then released inside the building.

Whereas gas boilers are only 95% efficient heat pumps are 200-500% efficient producing 3-4 kW of heat for every 1kW electricity used. I was surprised to learn that approx. 75% of shops and business premises already use them and it’s estimated that we will be installing 25 million over the next few decades.

 Heat pumps run at a lower temperature than conventional systems. They heat the whole house and work well with solar panels and underfloor heating. They work well in very cold weather and can also reverse the process to act as air conditioning in the summer. Heat pumps will work in any type of property but are more efficient where the insulation is of a high standard.

When thinking of installing one you first need a heat loss survey which will take an engineer half a day to complete.  Getting the heat loss as accurate as possible will enable you to match it to the output of the heat pump. Under the current gas boiler replacement scheme government will give you up to £7,500.

For more information I recommend “The Happy Heat Pump” podcast with Evan Davis and Bean Beanland.

Deborah Childs