Renewable Energy News

Air source heat pumps work in a similar way to ground source heat pumps but extract heat from the air outside rather than the ground.
They upgrade this heat using a compressor circuit (similar to that found in a fridge).

Suitable for domestic home heating

The system does not generate it's own heat it simply moves the heat from one place to another. This means that it can have an efficiency that is greater than 100%.
Typically over a year an air source heat pump could have an efficiency of around 330% when heating a domestic home (including domestic hot water). This means that for every unit of electricity that it uses it generates 3.3 units of heat.

A modern high efficiency gas boiler has an efficiency of around 90%. This massive efficiency advantage means that the system will save you money off your fuel bills.

Comparing the system to a gas boiler you should save around 30%. Given the cost of oil, when replacing an oil boiler the savings can be up to 60%.

There are some design considerations when retrofitting a heat pump, these have been discussed in previous posts.

This type of heat pump can also be used for heating swimming pools.

Labels: Heat-Pumps