Research
Air Source Heat Pumps
If you have turned on the radio recently or glanced at the Sunday Times, you would have seen the UK’s proposed solution to our home heating problem. The Heat Pump works along the same lines as a refrigerator or air conditioner. It is basically an air con running backwards. Air-Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) utilise the outside air as a heat source, and, as such, are easier and much less expensive to install than a ground-source model. An air-source heat pump consists of two units, one inside and one outside. Heat pumps are known for being more than 100% efficient – that is, they move more heat energy, often by a factor of several times, than they use electrical energy.
Heat pumps are a completely new way to heat our homes. This requires changes to behaviour and time spent learning to understand this new technology. They are also considerably more expensive than a traditional boiler. Whilst the government has and will offer incentives to replace old boilers, the schemes are complex to apply for and only scratch the surface in terms of actual funds available to UK households.
“For the customer, it is important to understand that a whole house system affects the performance of a heat pump. Heat pumps might form the basis of a great solution for your home, but you are not simply buying a machine. The solution will likely involve improvements to insulation standards.”
Source: Green Business Watch
