Renewable Energy: Heat Pumps
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Heat Pumps: Lets Start at The Beginning
A heat pump is a relatively new technology in the UK although they are widely used in Scandinavia and many parts of Europe where there is an abundance of renewably sourced electricity it has remained largely anonymous to the UK market.
Yet despite the new promotion of heat pumps a little-known fact is that they have been used as a way of heating homes for some years now. In fact, the very first ground source heat pump was developed in the late 1940s.
This new UK promotion is primarily driven towards the growing trend amongst most western governments to embrace and promote the new zero-carbon endeavour.
Within The last few years RBHM Ltd have received an increasing number of enquiries concerning heat-pumps instead of traditional gas boilers, as more and more people have become conscious about higher energy costs and running their home heating and hot water production, so we thought to add our insights into this technology.
Natural Gas Heating
What Is The Best Heating System For Your Home?
Our research shows that the number of heat pumps installed in 2019 was around 20% higher than 2018. But, according to BRG Building Solutions, 95% of the UK’s heating systems are gas boilers either wall hung or floor standing, meaning these appliances still dominate the market. Heat pumps take up just under 2% of the market in 2020.
However, despite the government announcing 2019 that any new build homes must not be connected to the gas grid from 2025. (This date has now been adjusted to 2035) Instead, these homes should utilise low-carbon options (Not Necessarily Heat-Pumps) and be ultra-energy efficient. We ask – But what of the 29 million existing homes?
At RBHM Ltd we have always prided ourselves in advising all our customers what would be the most efficient way to heat their homes and we have always promoted what we feel would be the best solution for your home and to suit your budget.
Can Heat Pumps Be Retrofitted In Your Home?
So, with this in mind, can a heat pump be retrofitted into an existing home and how difficult would it be to do this?
Despite the claims that a heat-pumps can be installed in almost any home, there are however some very important considerations that may need to be addressed, particularly regarding insulation and airtightness of any building.
In order that a heat pump to work at its most efficient, your home needs to be extremely well insulated and have high levels of airtightness to prevent as much heat from escaping as possible. A house that is poorly insulated will require a larger heat pump to make up for the heat loss, and this could cost more money to install and to run. This is why the government originally introduced the ‘Green Homes Grant Scheme’ in 2020 to improve efficiency of properties with poor insulation.
But since its launch very few households can meet its criteria and as such the governments grant incentive will remain unattainable to most UK residences, as a number primary and secondary upgrade works, like new complete new roofs, double or triple glazing etc will have to be already actioned or are in planning and would have to be self-funded by the property owner, which again would increase your overall capital outlay.
Heat Pump: Air Source Heating
Heat Pump: Ground Source Heating
Types Of Heat Pumps
Heat pumps work more efficiently on lower temperature heating systems, such as with underfloor heating. Older poorly insulated houses may need higher temperatures than the heat pump can cope with to get the house warm, which again will incur higher costs of installation and operational costs.
The other consideration is disruption. You will need to consider the type of heat pump you will have (ground or air source) and also where it will be located. Ground source heat pumps tend to be more difficult to install. If you have a large area of land, the pipes can be laid horizontally. If you only have a small garden, the pipes will need to be installed vertically in holes that are around 100 metres deep. If you’re thinking of having a heat pump installed in your home, an air source heat pump may be the better option as it’s easier to install with less disruption, however, there is a noise consideration to both yourself and your neighbours as the appliance is located on the outside of your property.
Your Heat Pump Questions Answered
If you’re considering having a heat pump retrofitted in your home, you may be concerned about how well it will function with the heating devices already in your home, such as radiators and hot water tanks. This is understandable as radiators have a relatively small surface area and may need to output a higher temperature than, for example, underfloor heating that has a larger surface area.
Heat pumps can work more efficiently in this scenario. You should consider whether you want to have this installed at the same time as your heat pump or separately. Alternatively, to avoid lots of renovation work, you would need to have larger radiators installed as an alternative.
The claim that Heat pumps heat your hot water too, meaning your hot water tank won’t be redundant. We have found that in most scenarios the properties existing cylinder is not suitable for use with a heat pump and would need to upgraded to a suitable product at an extra cost.
Most heat pumps must be wired configured with hot water priority, meaning whenever hot water is used the heat-pump will cease providing heat to your home and concentrate on heating your hot water to the desired set temperature. A family of four whom have a medium demand of hot water well might have to change their bathing habits particularly in the winter periods as the home heating would need to be at its highest.
It should be noted here that in the last 2-3 years RBHM Ltd have been approached by several homeowners whom have inherited heat-pumps (Mainly air source heat pumps installed on new builds) and have in frustration asked for us to provide quotations for their replacement with a tradition gas boiler, such was their experience!
The air source heat pump absorbs heat from the outside air into a liquid refrigerant at a low temperature. Using electricity, the pump compresses the liquid to increase its temperature. It then condenses back into a liquid to release its stored heat. Heat is sent to your radiators or underfloor heating.
All heat pumps use a co-efficiency algorithm to make micro adjustments to their heating/power output and claim that a heating efficiency ratio of 3:1 achievable! This ratio of 3:1 means that for every 1KWh of electrical energy used to power your heat pump, you will get 2KWh out for free! It should be noted that this claim from manufactures have to be factored when there is a constant temperature with little variances. It should be noted that the UK has a very variable climate, so the efficiency claimed and the actual delivery in any UK property will in actual fact drive down this 3:1 efficiency to a 2:1 or even just a 1:1 when there is significant temperature range differentials as experienced during the autumn and spring periods in the UK.
[Mitsubishi Ecodan R32 Air Source heat Pump COP 3.20 used only as an example]
Additionally it should be noted that when the weather gets really cold, for example around -5 ℃, a heat pump may struggle to pull enough heat from the air or the ground and therefore may not be able to bring your home up to the temperature set on the thermostat when you most need it.
While most heat pumps will heat your home even in temperatures of up to -20 ℃, this may not be very efficient or in practice possible without a constant 24 hour operation over several days.
Keeping in mind the previous ratio factors given above lets works on the medium ration of 2:1 per KWh
Energy costs associated with Gas and Electrical prices as of the new price caps 1st April 2022
Gas unit rate 7.36p per KWh – Standing Charge 37.28p per day
Electric unit rate 28.11p per KWh – standing Charge 50.27p per day
Rates and standing charges are averages, which vary by region. Assumes payment by direct debit and includes VAT (at 5%)
As you might conclude it is possible that a new heat pump could be 2-3 times as expensive to operate versus a traditional gas boiler, despite the claimed cost savings that heat pumps provide. Additionally, if you we are to factor in the prolonged space heating requirements needed when operating at lower temperatures, we could anticipate even higher running costs versus gas!
Heat pumps prices are usually high, taking into account the installation of the heat pump, however the costs will vary for different heat pumps. The typical price range for a complete installation is between £9,000 and £45,000, to which the running costs have to be factored and considered.
Air to water heat pump costs usually start from £9,000 and go up to £20,000, while ground source heat pump costs can reach up to £45,000. Along side this consideration should be given to the running costs of a heat pumps depend on your household, its insulation properties and size and any further improvements to your overall house heat loss efficiency.
Installing a new high efficiency gas boiler could cost at little £2200 inc vat, which could provide fuel efficiency savings of up to 35% of your existing boiler. Along side this most gas boiler manufactures have made innovative changes to their product in anticipating a UK blended supply of natural gas NG CH4 and Hydrogen H2, which again would provide increased overall savings to the homeowner and further benefits in reducing emissions.
However it appears likely that mixed Hydrogen & Natural-Gas boilers will be included in the accepted forms of low carbon emissions for the revised year date of 2035 as previously mentioned.
Alongside this it would also be our advice, that if you have within your budget extra money to update your existing loft and wall insulation this would be a much lower capital cost solution for most households.
If your budget would extend towards the replacement of your existing double glazing with the new high-grade K-glass option or even triple glazing, much larger energy cost savings could be made for the home owner.
Heat pumps indicate that they represent a smart investment in the long run, however in real life operation they have in our experience with this technology fallen very short of providing a whole house solution for homeowners.
Given that they are an electrical driven technology, the UK currently produces 50% of its electricity through fossil fuels and heat pumps will likely use even more electrical energy to heat most properties, we question are they the green solution they proport to be?
If the UK government is intent on making our future electric, boilers, cars, public transport etc, shouldn’t their first action should be to transform the entire energy grid to a 100% green sourced production module, before legislating the general public?
So What Are the Pros and Cons of Heat Pumps?
7 Advantages of Heat Pumps are:
- Less maintenance
- Lower running cost only if installed with 7-11kw PV Solar Battery Array
- Better Safety
- Reduces Carbon Emissions
- Provides Cooling
- Long life-span
- Eligible for RHI scheme
7 Disadvantages of Heat Pumps are:
- High upfront cost
- Difficult to install
- Questionable Sustainability
- Requires significant work
- Issues in cold weather
- Not entirely carbon neutral
- Planning permissions required
Our Thoughts On Heat Pumps
In conclusion our investigation into heat pumps has found them to be a very weak technology and as such in their current format are unable to provide any meanful solutions to the existing 29 million UK homes, they may provide some benefits to new build properties, if building developers can ensure extremely high levels of installation, airtightness and insulation, well beyond the current building control specifications. Even in this scenario we feel the heat-pump this might provide a marginal saving, but with the electrical cost factors employed, it is debatable if there would be any meaningful savings at the sacrifice of whole house performance, that a gas/hydrogen boiler would provide.
Here at RBHM Ltd we pride ourselves on providing insightful understanding towards all existing and future space and hot water heating and are committed to embracing and promoting new smart technologies that will save the homeowner money. We would always advise homeowners to make their own enquiries and draw their own conclusions surrounding this technology and ask whether it is for them.
Disclaimer It should be noted that we reserve the right to express our opinion and do not make any claim whatsoever that the opinions expressed here provide anything other than the viewpoint of RBHM Ltd.
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