BSEE


Electric heang is gaining in


popularity across the UK with a range of stakeholders – paving the way for wider deployment of heat pumps in the commercial building market, says Steve Addis, product manager at Lochinvar


N Demand


In the case of hot water, for example, many commercial buildings experience short peak demand periods when high volumes of hot water are required – leisure centres and hotels being particular examples.


A good way to approach this challenge is to use heat pumps in tandem with other high efficiency technologies such as high efficiency gas-fired boilers and direct gas-fired water heaters. This ‘hybrid’ or integrated concept has also strengthened the case for wider use of heat pumps in retrofit projects because they avoid the potentially disruptive and costly process of replacing other system components. Heat pumps can also be installed as part of multi-valent systems where energy is gathered from a number of separate sources which can include other renewable technologies such as solar thermal along with high efficiency condensing gas-fired boilers and/or water heaters. In such a system, the use of a properly sized thermal store becomes the critical element. The


HEAT PUMPS


Heat pumps will play pivotal role this year


early half of the energy we consume in the UK is used to produce heat, but currently we meet less than 5% of this demand from renewables. The government has already ruled


out the use of gas-fired heating in new homes from 2025 as part of a wider strategy to reduce carbon emissions, and the case for using heat pumps in new build projects has been strong for some time.


However, the bigger challenge is how to tackle growing carbon emissions from existing buildings – particularly now that the UK is legally bound to a net zero carbon target by 2050. The UK has made impressive progress in decarbonising our electricity grid in the last five years. The carbon factor of grid electricity was 495 grams of CO2 for each kWh of electricity generated in 2014, but it had dropped to below 200g by 2018. The department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) now predicts it will be just 66 grams by 2035 as more and more renewable sources come on stream. This opens up huge possibilities for the electrification of heat – and the most efficient way to use electricity for heating is by having heat pumps as the main source of heat transfer to buildings. However, most of the political rhetoric around this subject has focussed on the possibilities in residential heating. The technical challenge in commercial buildings is often very different, but the rewards are potentially even greater.


accepting multiple energy sources, in tandem with the latest heat pump technology, allows the design engineer to provide an extremely flexible, but high output solution.


The thermal store, effectively, acts as a large, low resistance header that can accept heat from multiple sources. This smooths out the system capacity to maximize efficiency. It also minimises legionella risk because it does not store domestic hot water.


Integrating technologies in this way requires good control strategies and a thorough commissioning process to ensure the various parts of the system work in correct sequence. The system should be set up to ensure the renewable/low carbon technologies are the first to respond to any call for heating and hot water; with gas-fired boilers only there to provide back-up.


Integrated/hybrid solutions are clearly proving popular with specifiers and end users because they are an excellent way to meet performance targets at a lower capital cost than going for a totally renewable option. They deliver a faster return on investment for commercial building owners, which means they are more likely to be taken up on a greater scale and, therefore, will deliver more energy and carbon reductions in the long-term.


Hybrids also reduce running costs and extend the operating life of the equipment by only using the gas-fired products in back-up mode. This is another key to reducing carbon. If you have to replace products on a regular basis, you will increase your overall carbon footprint significantly.


Flexible use of a thermal store/buffer vessel capable of 24 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MARCH 2020


At Lochinvar, although we had been supplying heat pumps to the commercial sector for more than 12 years, but until recently sales did not reflect the high levels of interest we were seeing in the technology. So in late 2018, we decided to develop a wider range of flexible solutions to galvanise demand and drive sales of our equipment into a market we felt was ripe for development. Our ‘Operation Heat Pump’ initiative included a review of our offering and an extension to our high temperature (HT) range to provide up to 110kW from a single unit. These products can be installed as ‘stand-alone’ heat pumps, or as part of a hybrid installation.


We also introduced our Amicus low temperature (LT) range with heating capacities up to 464kW. They can be installed as the stand-alone heat source for low temperature heating systems. They are also ideal for use as part of a hybrid system, or with HT or water to water heat pumps – so have plugged a gap in demand for many commercial projects. Our range of Amicus Boost water to water heat pumps provide further hybrid options and work well with heat recovery systems.


The range of products we now provide offers more options to system designers and greater installation flexibility to suit a wider range of projects. We supported all of this with targeted staff training and technical support and, as a result, we saw a significant increase in heat pump sales during 2019, which substantially surpassed our expectations.


A major part of our Operation Heat Pump initiative was to expand our technical support staff so they were available to make pre-installation visits. It is important that the installation, commissioning and ongoing operation runs smoothly, and therefore these site visits are carried out without additional cost to the customer.


www.lochinvar.ltd.uk Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


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