UK Plumber Forum 

A place of resource for Plumbers and Gas Engineers in the UK.

Put your Central Heating System question in here.
#8499
Air source heat pumps are a renewable alternative to heat your home in the UK which could save you money on your energy bills. They run off electricity to power your central heating. They are more eco-friendly and cheaper to run than a traditional boiler. Air source heat pumps are similar in size to a boiler and are fitted outside the property so they don’t take up any space inside your home.

Air source heat pumps work on a heat exchange system by taking the heat energy from the air outside of your house, compressing that air to make it warmer, and transferring it in to the house through your radiators or underfloor heating. They are so efficient, that they can extract the heat from the air down to -22 degrees celsius. As they run on electricity, you can use solar power heat your house thereby cutting down on your overall energy bill even further at the most expensive time of year (Winter).

A massive bonus to installing an air source heat pump is the RHI . This is a government subsidy that will pay you back for installing an air source heat pump over a 7-year period. This is a reward for installing a more eco-friendly central heating system in your home. In fact, by 2025 air source heat pumps and other renewable technologies will become compulsory to be installed in new builds. Overall, this means not only can you run your heating cheaply and in a renewable manner, you also get paid by the government to do so.

As the pump is run on electricity, this also contributes to the governments overall target of carbon net neutrality by 2040. It also makes your home more green to run as you won't be burning any more fossil fuels to directly heat the property, as in most gas boiler houses.

As briefly mentioned earlier, you can power your air source heat pump with solar panels . In fact, one of the best ways of utilising solar power is by heating your home on that electricity production via the air source heat pump. Since the removal of the feed-in tariff on solar panels, it has become much more advantageous to use your solar power on your own electricity needs, rather than send the power back to the grid for the extra money.
#8591
Can you recommend a heat pump that can run at a COP at higher flow temperatures than 55C which is still competitive with the running cost of a gas boiler so an existing LPHW designed to operate at 80C flow temperature and already has thermal insulation upgraded to a maximum practica level to avoid having to upgrade the radiators etc., to provide the same heating standard. Have only been able to find one so far and they are very cagey to publish any clear COP information?. Any technical info welcome.

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