Heat Pump Installation in Dumfriesshire

WHAT ARE THE CHOICES FOR HEATING OUR HOMES?

When you look at what is on the market as far as energy production systems are concerned, you will find quite a large range, which can be summarised as two radically different ways of obtaining heat.

Either, you draw on our planet's limited non-renewable fossil fuel reserves; this is the case with gas, fuel oil or electricity (whether it is produced by combustion or in nuclear power stations)
Or you collect some of the energy that arrives on earth every day, in the garden, i.e. inexhaustible energy because it is constantly being renewed, - in the air, - in the ground.

This renewable energy can be extracted by the use of heat pumps. Heat pumps use electricity, which is a natural energy, it's true, but is not another form of electric heating. Heat pumps are not electric boilers. And anyway, why hesitate to use electricity, especially if it is a small amount, if you can draw on a source of energy that is available free of charge and is renewable? In fact this electricity then becomes a tool in the same way you are using it to operate household appliances around the home.

We must keep in mind that in the long term, we have greater control of electric energy and it's costs whereas we all know that we have no control over the supply of fossil fuels and that their costs could go up from one day to the next. We can hope to make the UK more and more independent from the point of view of its electricity supplies: electricity produced from water, wind, photovoltaic etc.

Heat pumps fall into two categories; air source and ground source.
In our opinion, a heat pump is the only solution that brings with it:

No inconvenience or risk to your home
No constraints involved with supply or maintenance
A completely controlled heating budget which is significantly lower! (up to 75% saving)
Total respect for the environment and your neighbours

What is a Heat Pump?

The principle is simple: it entails using an extremely well-known thermodynamic system which has proven itself for more than a century and which is used all over the place today, in every kitchen, it's the refrigerator.

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP)

Ground Source Heat Pumps extract heat from the environment and transfer it into a water based heating system.

There are several ways of collecting the heat from the ground: these include a deep probe, the water table, lakes and rivers or a probe buried 80 to 120 cm down. The shallow probe is perfect for taking advantage of the daily amounts of sunshine, wind and rain and is not affected by the thermal stress of the air. This is the solution most often used because it does not involve any extra construction costs and is installed in almost any garden as long as it has an area that is almost the same as the heated floor in your house.

The main advantage of a ground source heat pump is that it's efficiency varies very little throughout the year and is commonly 300 to 400%. We always size the heat pump for the total losses of the house down to -5°C,and make no allowance for additional heating appliances.

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)

Although slightly less efficient than ground source, overall, if sized correctly there are a number of benefits in using an Air Source Heat Pump. Also, new technology has enabled ASHP's to achieve similar seasonal efficiencies to those traditionally associated with Ground Source Heat Pumps.

Capital cost is lower as ASHP's are self-contained units without additional heat transfer requirements such as ground collectors. This also means that installation costs are lower as the ASHP simply needs sighting in an appropriate position and connecting to the mains supply electricity and building wet system; whereas a GSHP will require significant ground works.

Issues associated with installing Heat Pumps in existing properties

If heat pumps are fitted as part of a completely new wet system there are no problems, as everything will be designed to suit the heat pump.

If it is replacing another heat source on an existing wet system then there may be issues that need attention.

Radiator systems

Existing radiator sizes should be checked to ensure that they are suitable to work with a supply temperature of 50ºC or 60ºC. The system should be a pressurised sealed system with an appropriately sized expansion vessel. The old system should be thoroughly flushed and cleaned prior to connecting the heat pump and a cleanable filter should be added to the return pipe of the heat pump.

Heat pumps should not be connected to an old micro-bore system, as there may be flow restrictions due to high water side pressure drops.