Air Source Heat Pumps – A Renewable Source of Heat.
March 13 2015
Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) are becoming more and more popular in the UK and Ireland. There are a number of appealing characteristics of ASHP’s which make them accessible to a wide audience and we will discuss these in this post.
ASHP’s have lower installation costs than Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), mainly because there is no ground work required. This combined with the sleek design of the actual heat pump make them an ideal solution for many types of dwellings, whether your home is an apartment, town house, semi-detached or detached home. They are also a perfect renewable energy retrofit option.
How do Air Source Heat Pumps work?
ASHP’s work by extracting heat from the air outside your home in the same way that your refrigerator extracts the heat from its inside. A common misconception is that when the air outside is cold, the ability of the heat pump to heat your home is affected.
Let me explain: A special refrigerant that runs in the heat pump boils at a very low temperature of roughly -30°C. The difference in the outside air temperature and the refrigerant temperature (ie hot to cold) creates the energy that flows into the heat pump heated by the air around it. In the UK and Ireland the temperature rarely falls below -3°C. If you are still worried about the effectiveness of Air Source Heat Pumps, take comfort in the knowledge that they have been used in much colder climates than ours, such as Scandinavia along with Northern and Eastern Europe, for the last 40 years.
Other common questions are where does the heat pump sit and do they make much noise.
- Air Source Heat Pumps sit either to the side of the house or building or at the back. They are fairly tidy and non-obtrusive – certainly less obtrusive than an oil or gas tank, as the picture below illustrates.
- Air Source Heat Pumps not only make minimal noise but they run on less electricity than a standard household kettle or washing machine.
What heat pump brands does Daly Renewable Energy Systems work with?
Daly has thoroughly researched all the heat pump suppliers and heat pump products available on the European market. We have deliberately chosen not to tie ourselves to any one supplier which means that we can be objective in specifying the most suitable product for each project we install.
Heat pump suppliers that we work with include Hitachi and Ecoforest.
Ring us for more information on (028) 92667745 or email us at info@dalyrenewables.com
Keep an eye out for our next blog post when we will discuss the merits of Ground Source Heat Pumps.
Head Office: +44 (0)28 9266 7745
Republic of Ireland: 076 6026466
