ASK THE EXPERT
Heat pumps: the basics
Like a lot of self-builders, you may be looking to stay clear of fossil fuel heating systems and install a heat pump in your home. However, you may be asking how exactly does a heat
pump work – and will it work for me? Phil Hurley of the Heat Pump Association has the answers
HOW DOES A HEAT PUMP WORK? A heat pump harnesses the natural warmth from the ground, air or water to provide hot water and heating to homes. Each type of heat pump (air source, ground source, water source, exhaust air, and hybrid) works in a slightly different way, but all provide an efficient, low carbon solution. Two of the most commonly used heat pumps in new builds are explained below.
• AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS An air source heat pump absorbs low
temperature heat from the outside air into a fluid that is then passed through a compressor to increase the temperature and transfer heat and hot water to the home. The system has various components similar to other types of heat pumps, but it also has a thin evaporator coil to draw ambient latent energy from the air and use it to warm up the refrigerant that sits inside the coil so that it begins to evaporate. This gas then moves through the compressor to increase the temperature, which is released inside the building through air
ducts or radiators. Air source heat pumps are particularly well suited to smaller plots where space is at a premium.
• GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS A ground source heat pump takes low temperature heat from the ground to provide heat and hot water. There are various ways this thermal energy can be collected, with the more common methods including ground collectors – where the pipe is buried horizontally into the ground – and boreholes, where pipes are vertically inserted. In both cases, a water mix (with glycol) is then inserted into the pipe and circulated to and from the heat pump, pressurising the system to produce heat and hot water. Once the pipes are in the ground, they have a long lifespan of between 50-100 years and are largely unaffected by air temperature, providing a stable efficiency all year round. Building a home is an ideal time to install the infrastructure for a ground source heat pump as it requires some groundwork, however they are very efficient and worth the extra effort, plus the ground collectors are barely noticeable once complete. If you are lucky enough to be building a home near a lake, reservoir, river or even the sea, you may want to consider a water source heat pump. They work in a similar way to ground source heat pumps but extract heat from a body of water rather than the ground.
WHY INSTALL A HEAT PUMP? Over the last few years, the Government has indicated that heat pumps will be the
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
may/june 2022
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