Heat Pumps
A heat pump works in exactly the same way as a refrigerator: it takes heat from a warm place and moves it to a cold place. As such heat pumps can be used for either heating or cooling. Our heat pumps capture "low grade free heat" from the air outside or from the ground.
Heat pumps are ideal for reducing running costs and carbon emissions in off-gas areas. We can help you decide which of the two following types might best suit your needs.
Heat pumps: Ground source
Ground source heat pumps are ideal if your home or office is a modern one or already well insulated. They can be integrated into either underfloor or traditional radiator heating systems.
Large amounts of low grade heat are extracted from the ground at approximately 11°C through coils, which are either buried in trenches or vertical boreholes. This low grade heat is then concentrated by the heat pump and delivered into the wet central heating system at 35-50°C. For every 1kW of electricity consumed, up to 4kW of heat is delivered.
Heat pumps: Air to Water
An air source heat pump is an ideal alternative to a ground source heat pump where ground works are not possible for either practical or economic reasons. Because there are no ground works required they are cheaper to install.
Low grade heat is extracted from the air outside (our heat pumps will work when the outside temperature is low as -15°C). This low grade heat is then concentrated by the heat pump and delivered into the wet central heating system at 35-50°C. For every 1kW of electricity consumed, up to 4kW of heat is delivered.
Because the air temperature varies (whereas ground temperature remains similar all year round), at times air source heat pumps are slightly less efficient than ground source heat pumps. This is because when it is very cold outside, more low grade heat needs to be collected and concentrated by the heat pump to deliver the same amount of high grade heat to your central heating system. When delivering heat to an underfloor heating system at 35°C an air source heat pump will achieve an average efficiency of about 300% over a heating season.