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The benefits of GSHPs in the drive to Net Zero
UK manufacturer, Kensa is convinced that ground source heat pumps have the superior efficiency and unique capabilities necessary to meet to the challenges of mass deployment, that when connected to integrated energy systems, offer the optimal solution for the householder, the community, and the environment on the journey to Net Zero
A
s electrically driven appliances with no combustion, heat pumps do not emit any point-of-use emissions of harmful air pollution, hence why they are considered so vital for decarbonising heating.
Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) have the lowest carbon emissions of all heating technologies, delivering 77% saving on emissions versus gas, per unit of heat delivered. Every GSHP installed is the equivalent of taking a combustion engine car off the road. This is why the technology improves SAP rating scores for building regulations, offering an easy, cheap way to carbon compliance. The main reason for their superior efficiency and low carbon impact is their stable energy source. GSHPs harness freely available and naturally replenished heat energy from ground (or water) sources, which have the advantage of maintaining a constant source temperature of between 8 to 12°C all year round. The average ground temperature in winter will always be warmer than the air temperature, and so the GSHP has to do less ‘work’ to produce temperatures useful for heating; this means less electricity used, resulting in higher efficiency. GSHPs can deliver 3 to 4kW of renewable energy for every 1kW of electrical
power consumed, making them among the most energy-efficient heating technologies available. A system that delivers much more electrical energy than it consumes will deliver lower running costs. And a smaller proportion of the power needed to run the heat pump is going to be affected by fluctuating energy costs.
The ability to be flexible
These unique benefits stand ground source in good stead when evaluated against the backdrop of the levels of deployment necessary to meet the Government’s targets. Widespread adoption of GSHPs will help reduce the additional generating capacity required to support any electrification of heat strategy, putting less strain on the grid, and fewer new power stations to be built. In addition, GSHPs can run at times when electricity demand is lowest and
therefore cheapest, and also when there is more power available from green sources, such as wind and solar, meaning the electricity supplied is lowest in carbon.
GSHPs can also integrate with smart controls that learn a household’s unique heating schedule, and synchronise this with flexible time-of-use tariffs that vary the cost of electricity throughout the day depending on demand. Other emerging smart technology, such as thermal storage batteries and phase change materials, allow households to store the heat energy generated during those low-cost and low-carbon hours for later use.
Best suited for mass deployment
For the reasons outlined, GSHPs offer the lowest cost, lowest carbon and lowest grid impact heat decarbonisation solution. To facilitate the widespread roll-out of the technology, Kensa is urging Government to focus efforts on street-by-street installations of networked heat pumps, rather than replacing gas boilers on a house-by-house basis. Kensa estimates the benefit of installing in a street-by-street manner brings as much as a 28% saving through volume economies of scale. This would enable whole communities to simply switch their gas boilers to
highly efficient GSHPs when they are ready to transition, supported by a subsidy from the Government. If entities such as utility companies and local authorities took ownership of this underground infrastructure, then consumers would simply pay a standing charge as they do in their gas bills for the supply to their boiler. Kensa has pioneered the use of a cost effective and efficient way to install GSHPs in multiple properties. Shared ground loop arrays are unobtrusive, scalable and suited to large domestic developments, encompassing streets of houses to tower blocks. Multiple properties benefit from the same borehole infrastructure and ground array installation costs can be reduced significantly the more properties that are added to the network. This design reduces ground array costs and time, utilises waste heat, provides
cooling and prevents overheating. Using ambient temperature loops with networked heat pumps, it is possible to recycle waste heating and provide cooling. In the drive to net-zero, we are advocating replacing one heating network (the gas grid and boilers) with another (ambient loops and networked heat pumps) to deliver community-wide sustainable heating and cooling, tackling the decarbonisation of heat at a rate needed to achieve the UK’s goals.
The Kensa Group
The Kensa Group is involved in the manufacture and installation of GSHPs and the ownership of associated underground infrastructure. Now employing over 150 people the Kensa Group wholly owns Kensa Heat Pumps and Kensa Contracting. Since 1999 Kensa has saved
over one million tonnes of carbon through GSHP installations across social housing, new build and
retrofit homes and businesses. Kensa Heat Pumps is the UK’s
only manufacturer of GSHPs and is the market leader according to BSRIA annual reports. It provides products and technical support to an extensive network of plumbing contractors. Kensa Contracting is a specialist
installation business that focuses on large-scale new build and social housing retrofit programmes.
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