Green Deal and Air Source Heat Pumps

Green Deal and Air Source Heat Pumps

Air source heat pumps are going to be included in the Green Deal.  An air source heat pump uses the ambient air temperature and converts it into either warmer air or hot water. The easiest way to explain the process is that it’s similar to a fridge in reverse. A heat pump extracts the heat from the air and uses a compressor to raise the temperature and then it transfers the heat to either air or water. In the UK most domestic systems are likely to be Air to water systems and some commercial systems will be air to air.

Heat pumps should be considered when converting a system from coal or electricity as the savings will be greatest and the Return On Investment (ROI) will be highest.  If you are on mains gas the savings will be much lower and might not achieve the Green Deals Golden Rule.   If however you have Photo Voltaic Solar Panels installed it might be worth considering as you’ll need electricity to run the heat pump.  Common domestic systems need 1kw of power to run but then produce 3kw of energy output.  Air source heat pumps produce up to 48% less C02 than a natural gas system and this is one of the reasons why they will be included in the Green Deal as they address the C02 commitments that the Government has signed up to.

One factor that is becoming more evident as details about the Green Deal start to emerge is that generating electricity and heat will probably be secondary after all insulation measures have been installed. The one thing that came out of the Feed In Tariff fiasco was that there needed to be stronger emphasis on properties meeting minimum insulation targets.  So keep this in mind if you are considering an Air Source Heat pump.

If you have any views on Air Source Heat Pumps or any other opinions on the Green Deal lets hear from you.

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