Heat pumps Low-H2

eating currently accounts for around a third of UK greenhouse gas emissions, and is widely regarded as one of the harder areas

of the economy to decarbonise. Heat pumps are seen by some as a potential solution; using heat from the ground, air or bodies of water, they work in the opposite way to a fridge, expelling cold air and pumping warm air through pipes into buildings for heating. However, unlike in Germany where 43% of residential buildings have heat pumps installed, the technology is rarely used in the UK. But that is predicted to change. According to

BSRIA, heat pumps will feature in over 59 million dwellings by 2020. In August this year, a heat pump

Pictured here and opposite is Manchester-based Brindley Lodge owned by Churchill Retirement Living which has a working example of a system incorporating heat pumps and Low-H2O radiators O + DBE =

an efficient match H

installer announced they were planning on raising £5.5 million to deploy more than 100 heat pumps in retirement homes across the UK. The project is expected to cut around 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Balanced with the drive towards efficiency is the need to provide consistent comfort. In a 2016 pulse survey by the Energy Saving Trust, nearly a fifth of participants noted it was hard to keep consistently warm, with 19% reporting that there were cold areas and drafts in their home. Meanwhile, a separate study found that one in five UK employees are too cold in the workplace, meaning that thermal comfort is a serious consideration for residential and

commercial specifiers alike. Historically, low temperature systems such as

ground or air source heat pumps have been partnered almost exclusively with underfloor heating, as standard steel panel radiators struggle to provide the wide surface area necessary for effective heat distribution. However, despite its popularity, underfloor heating

may have some limitations. Underfloor heating needs a wide surface area to get up to temperature, and therefore requires a large amount of water. For a standard low temperature10kW wet underfloor system, with a 45/35/20°C temperature profile, an average of 29 litres of water needs to be heated,

The efficiency and sustainability benefits of heat pumps are becoming widely known and as such installation rates, both domestic and commercial, continue to rise year on year. However, for maximum efficiency gains, heat pumps must be coupled with the right HVAC products. Phil Mangnall, managing director at Jaga UK, explains how to achieve the best match

22 October 2018
