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Heat Pumps Category

Heat Generation Grants Closed – Good or Bad?

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

The Government announced that heat generation grants from the Low Carbon Buildings Program (LCBP) are now closed to new entrants.

On the face of it this is bad news for heat generating renewables, however most of us were already aware that these grants would be brought to a close within the next 8 months due to the impending Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).  In addition many felt that the LCBP grants were too small to properly influence a buyers decision, meaning that anyone claiming the grant would have made the purchase anyway.  From this respect it should and will not deter people from making the decision to fit a heat pump or solar thermal panels.

What does this mean for the RHI?

The new government have not given any specific guidance in respect to the RHI at this stage.  Closing the LCBP grants does mean that there are extra funds to inject into the RHI.  There is also wide acknowledgement that to make a significant impact on the CO2 output from domestic homes we must focus on the methods used for home heating and hot water.  The majority of CO2 emitted from a domestic home can be contributed directly to space and water heating and this is an area which now has no direct government stimulus to modify homeowners behaviour.  Having said this for many people fuel prices alone provide a massive incentive to heat our homes more efficiently.

The government also made clear this week that they intend to stick to targets to make all new home built from 2016 to be zero carbon.

Economy 7 – Is it worth it?

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Many of our customers have historically been signed up to an economy 7 package.

Given the name I can understand how people would assume that it must be good value. Consumers often forget that to receive a very attractive night rate you must pay more for electricity during the day.

This means that the savings are not always there. To prove the point I have done few basic calculations.

Is 40% of your total electricity usage at night?
Typically economy 7 rates are presently in the region of 15p/kWh during the day and 5p/kWh at night. A typical standard rate is 11p/kWh for any time usage.

This means that for Economy 7 tariff to save the home owner money they must use around 40% of their electricity at night. For homes that are heated with storage heaters this is easily achieved but for home that use gas or even a heat pump this is often not the case.

For most people even putting the washing machine and an hot water cylinder immersion heater on at night will not increase night usage to 40% of their total.

I am not saying that Economy 7 is a waste of time but it is important to realise that it is not always the cheapest option.

Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for Heat Pumps

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

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

Boiler Scrappage Scheme

Monday, January 18th, 2010

£400 against the replacement of your old boiler with a heat pump

You can now claim a £400 cash incentive when replacing your old boiler with the supply-and-fit of one of our heat pump heating systems as part of the new government boiler scrappage scheme.

If your existing boiler is "G rated or below" (click here to check yours) then you will be eligible for the money. This will make the value for money of one of our heat pumps even more worthwhile.

The process is simple; all you need is a quote from ourselves and provide the Energy Saving Trust with the details. They will then send you a voucher before the work starts, once your installation is complete send the voucher along with our installation receipt and they will refund you the £400.

Ecodan Heat Pump Intelligent Controls

Friday, December 12th, 2008

Intelligent Energy Solutions have launched their brand new ‘Intelligent Control Package’.

The control is designed specifically for the Mitsubishi Ecodan Heat Pump and separates Intelligent Energy Solutions from their competitors.  Other installers may simply install an Ecodan system with a conventional boiler control system.  This Intelligent system introduces both cost saving and comfort.

Features include:-

- Heating Optimisation – the control system decides when the system should switch on so that the property is to temperature for the target time.  This means your home is perfectly heated all of the time.

The heating optimisation feature enables money to be saved in the milder months because the system will automatically switch on later at times when the property will heat up faster.
- Three home temperature settings -  On target temperature, Off minimum temperature and frost protection (holiday mode).  This allows for perfect flexibility just when you need it.

The Off minimum temperature setting enables the heat pump to control the temperature at night as well as during the day. This means that the system will not allow the home to drop below a certain temperature, perhaps 15 degrees.  The system can then heat up the home rapidly when morning comes.

This control system integrates seamlessly with the Ecodan flow temperature controller which has cost saving features such as the Ecoheating mode. This mode uses weather compensation programs to determine the radiator/underfloor heating flow temperatures.  In milder weather the system will run the heating system at a lower temperature.  Lower temperatures will dramatically improve the system’s efficiency and will help the ‘Intelligent Control Package’ to control the room temperatures more accurately.

The Intelligent Controls for the Ecodan are packaged with a high performance unvented copper water cylinder that will out perform stainless steel cylinders.  Copper conducts heat better than stainless steel. This means that water can be heated more quickly and efficiently with the copper cylinder used by Intelligent Energy Solutions.

As you would expect this smart little  control system is simple to operate and requires minimal (if any) intervention from the owner.

For more information or a discussion about how our systems can benefit you please call 01509 768565 or email sales@iesolutions.co.uk.

Ground Source Heat Pump – Lake Installation

Friday, November 14th, 2008

Lake Loop!

Ever wondered what 3000m of pipe and a lake could be used for?  50KW of heat – that’s what!

Intelligent Energy Solutions are currently installing such a system for a customer who has a large man made lake at the rear of his property.

So, how does it work?

Ground source heat pumps operate by upgrading low grade heat to higher temperatures suitable for heating homes and hot water.

This normally means installing a number of pipework loops in the ground next to a property. This was not the case for the latest project for Intelligent Energy Solutions in Leicestershire.  “This is ideal to use as a heat source as water conducts heat so well.” said Intelligent Energy Solutions Managing Director, Peter Searancke. “The lake will be relatively warm all year round”.

Large amounts of heat are extracted from the lake to heat over 700m2 of property and an indoor swimming pool.

With expected efficiencies in excess of 450% the running costs are extremely low for such a large property.


This photo shows the finished result. As you can see there is no sign of the 3000m of pipe that will provide over 50kW of heat for the property.

So if you have a lake, or even just a bit of land. Or maybe neither but are keen on looking at a renewable way of heating your home call us. We design intelligent systems that can work in most commerical and domestic properties. If we can get heat from a lake think what else we can do!

Please contact them for further details.

Surge of interest in heat pumps for winter

Monday, October 20th, 2008

The nights are drawing in, the heating is  being switched back on and we are all  suddenly reminded of those niggling doubts that we had last winter about our  existing old boiler. 

How relieved we all felt in the Springtime!  Even with our disappointing summers an old boiler is probably somewhat relieved to see those daffodils appearing!  Now in use again though we’re back to the same old concerns.  Combined with the current economic climate we are all trying to look at ways of reducing our bills.

This fact has led to a surge of interest in ground and air source heat pumps at Intelligent Energy Solutions.  Remember that your boiler only has a life span of about 10 -15 years, so if you are approaching this milestone don’t wait for your boiler to fail.  Call Intelligent Energy Solutions now so that you can have the work planned and carried out at your own convenience.  Changing your style of  heating by using an intelligent heat pump can reduce your heating and hot water bill by upto 75%!  Act now! Take a look at the website or give us a call.

Mitsubishi Ecodan Flow Temperature Controller Launch

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Mitsubishi has recently launched their new flow temperature controller. This useful box of tricks enables the Ecodan air source heat pump to be used with other water storage cylinders other than the Boilermate from Gledhill.

Previously Ecodan installations were restricted for use with a Gledhill package. While being an excellent package this reduced the flexability as to what Intelligent Energy Solutions could specify for their customers.

With the new flow temperature controller, the options for the Mitsuibishi Ecodan system have increased significantly. The system can be installed with any size storage cylinder and with any programmable controller and thermostat.

For more information on the Mitsubishi Ecodan air source heat pump have a look through the heat pump product category in this product journal or contact Intelligent Energy Solutions on the details above.

Leicester Mercury – Big Green Switch

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

The Leceister Mercury have just published a feature about Intelligent Energy Solutions’ heat pump installations.

The article, written by Adam Wakelin, likened the heat pumps to the energy equivilent of alchemy.  The air source heat pumps extract heat from thin air!

The article talked about how the air source heat pumps were effective down to sub zero temperatures of -20 degrees.  The systems are able to heat domestic homes and hot water and make a saving of around 30% when compared to mains gas.  The savings are even greater when compared to oil.

Intelligent Energy Solutions use the Mitsubishi Ecodan heat pumps. For further information about this particular product call Intelligent Energy Solutions now on 01509 768565 or download the brochure by clicking on the Ecodan link.

Ice Energy Heat Pumps Installer Partnership

Wednesday, September 17th, 2008

Intelligent Energy Solutions has agreed to a partnership with ground source heat pump market leaders, Ice Energy.

Ice Energy offers an excellent product that can be used flexibly yet effectively for many different types of property.  When coming up with energy solutions for clients every day this kind of flexibility is a must for any new products Intelligent Energy Solutions supplies.

Intelligent Energy Solutions have had experience of using Ice Energy heat pumps for some time. Managing Director, Peter Searancke said, “We shopped around before deciding to use the services of Ice Energy for our ground source heat pumps. They offer a great package including quality equipment, accessible grants, excellent technical back-up and a 5 year parts and labour warranty”.