The government has announced a world first in a feed in tariff for low carbon heating technologies. This will come into effect in April 2011 and guarantee payments for those who install ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps.
Under the proposed tariffs the installation of a heat pump will provide an income of 7.5p per kwh of heat produced for air source heat pumps and 7p/kWh for ground source heat pumps.
The installation of an air source heat pump in an average semi-detached house with adequate insulation levels could be rewarded with £1,000 a year and lead to savings of £200 per year if used instead of a conventional fossil fuel system. This means that the payback for a heat pump is under six years, and if you are replacing a boiler anyway, then the payback is only 3.5 years.
So these systems are now enormously attractive from a financial and environmental point of view.
Ed Miliband, secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change said “The guarantee of getting an income on top of saving on energy bills will be an incentive to householders and communities wanting to make a move to low carbon living. The feed-in tariff will change the way householders and communities think about their future energy needs, making the payback for investment far shorter than in the past.”
The consulation documentation can be found here:-
http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/rhi/rhi.aspx
The best part about the geothermal technology that is known to be more efficient as compared to the other technology is energy saving without compromising on efficiency. The logic behind the greater efficiency is that during winter, the soil temperature is warm. Such Heat Pumps take help of the earth as a heat source when operating in heating mode, with a fluid as the medium that transfers the heat from the earth to the evaporator of the heat pump, thus utilizing geothermal energy. In cooling mode, they use the earth as a heat sink. So the heat pump powered by geothermal technology is the best option.
Heat Pumps
The reward for having this is not only financial, but ecological – it helps reduce the amount of carbon emissions your home makes and make the world a better place – good post.