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Thermal heat pumps
Can't find what your looking for? Our 'Ask the Expert' Q&A archive has hundreds of questions, all answered by our in-house experts, so click here to see if your question has already been answered.
How good is ground source heat pumps in the winter,what other types
of energy works along side the heat pump.
Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are not effected by colder weather as say Air source heat pumps (ASHP) as the ground temp is generally consistant all year round.
If you were to install a central storage tank (thermal Store from Unico, as an example) You could integrate solar panels. additionally underfloor heating and all your DHW can be supplied from the thermal store. If budget allowed forget radiators and go for their mini duct heating and air conditioning system.
Oh yes, why not also use heat recover units.
regards
Ian East
Ian,
Thanks for the reply appoligies for taking so long to reply. Are you involved in this line of work or have you had this heating source fitted in your house.
My Architect is unsure if solar panels are cost effictive enough to install along side ground source heat pumps. He thinks it will take to long before you get your money back,
I am building a large five bedroom house and would like to find out the cheapest way of heating and running costs for this type of house,
Thanks
Robert Walkingshaw
The big question is where are you?
Here in West of Scotland Solar Panels are a complete waste of money.
They waste energy & do not contribute.
We only get 6 hours daylight in winter and it's usually blowing and raining then too.
I am currently trying to decide on pile or buried mat of absorber tubes for GSHP, in the foundations or under the garden.
My concern is whether cooling the earth under the house or garden will have any detrimental effects on foundations or flowerbeds ?
Provided you stick to the recommendations for either boreholes or ground loops there is no detrimental affect on the ground. a reputable company in your area is Invisible Heating Services Ltd in Ullapool.
They use an Austrian manufactured heat pump from a company called IDM.
The system design is free.
Refrigerant boils at minus 53 degrees celcius therefore temperatures above this energy can be aquired. Air source heat pumps are more efficient in the UK because we have a mild climate.
We are in a mild country where the temperature rarely drops below minus 2 degrees celcius.(check that with the met office site) With air source heat pumps being effective down to minus 20 degrees celsius so we have the perfect climate for air source heat pumps in the UK. I know of 3 systems on the market at the moment with the new inverter technology for heating water; they are Hitachi, Mitsubishi Ecodan and Daiken Altherma the latter being my favorite because it has a split sytem option where the condenser is inside the house next to the tank making it more flexible AND EFFICIENT. It looks similar to a normal gas boiler.The Altherma system has a cop of greater than 4 and seasonal performance of 3.2 in the uk. Its high temperature range will give temperatures up to 80 degrees celsius for hot water but I have a green mindset and do not believe we require water temps for the home above 55 degrees which the normal altherma split system can supply easily and more importantly efficiently. Costs of these systems are considerably cheaper than ground source heat pumps, quicker to install, less mess and easier to put right in the event of any unlikely problems.
cliff@howecool.com
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