Energy management
Reducing energy costs while increasing comfort
Martin Wadsworth, managing director of Discrete Heat - a UK manufacturer of the ThermaSkirt skirting heating system – runs the rule over various heating technologies for the care home environment
The care home sector is especially vulnerable to rising energy costs. Recent changes to building regulations and the introduction of the government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) for assessing the energy performance of dwellings have contributed to the headache’s operators face when seeking to comply while undertaking new build or refurbishment projects. With more than 60 per cent of a care
home’s energy bills being made up of heating costs, it is important that operators and developers consider advances in heating technology to help reduce running and maintenance costs without jeopardising the comfort of residents in their care. The first law of thermodynamics is
that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just changed from one form to another. In the case of heating, this is achieved by transferring chemical energy into heat – that means burning gas, in simple terms - or converting electrical energy to heat, whether that is through a panel heater or via a heat pump. So, if we cannot create energy or
destroy it, how do heat pumps work? Can they really save you up to 75 per cent on your energy bills by creating heat out of thin air? The magic number when it comes to
heat pumps is a co-efficient of performance (COP) of four. This means for every kilowatt of electrical energy consumed by a heat pump, you create up to four kilowatts of thermal energy to heat the property.
Why four? Well, it is not often
discussed, but four is a useful target as electricity is three to four times more expensive per kilowatt per hour than gas. If you check the back of your latest
utility bill, the cost averages 4.2 pence per kilowatt-hour for gas and about 16 pence per kilowatt-hour for electricity. Therefore, for a heat pump to be competitive in terms of cost compared to a gas boiler system, it really needs to have a COP of four to make financial sense.
Direct electrical heating The recent introduction of the SAP 10 regulations for new builds has thrown direct electrical heating back into the mix. For the past ten years, the perceived wisdom has been that direct electrical heating was a non-starter due to its heavy carbon footprint compared to gas
Alongside simpler installation, reduced maintenance costs and no risk of leaks or bursts, it is no surprise that many new care homes are opting for direct electric heating
February 2021 •
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
- and the four-to-one advantage of a heat pump. However, this view is now being
challenged and many new build care homes and assisted living apartments are being passed by building control with direct electric heating, but why? The UK government and the Building
Research Establishment (BRE) now recognise that with more than 40 per cent of our electrical energy coming from renewables such as wind and solar, allowing the use of direct electric heating in new developments means that as more of the grid is decarbonised by renewables, whole swathes of properties can be decarbonised at a stroke. This is potentially much easier than replacing gas boiler plant piecemeal. In addition, ever increasing levels of
insulation and air-tightness mean that less energy is required to heat a typical bedroom unit or apartment, so while electricity may be three to four times the price of gas, it is three to four times ‘a lot less’. Alongside simpler installation,
reduced maintenance costs and no risk of leaks or bursts, it is no surprise that many new care homes are opting for direct electric heating.
43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50
