Dimplex - Why Choose a Heat Pump?

Renewable Energy - Heat Pump - Why Choose Heat Pumps?

In the context of ever rising energy costs and climate change, every household is in need of a heating technology that is future-proof, cost-effective and independent of fossil fuels.

Using Nature’s Energy

Heat pumps make a significant contribution towards solving the problems associated with increasingly scarce and evermore expensive energy resources – supplying more energy than they consume by tapping into the freely available, inexhaustible solar energy stored in the earth, the ambient air or water and converting this for use in a heating system.

In fact up to 75% of the energy needed by the heating system is extracted from the environment, so the only energy required is electricity needed to drive the heat pump compressor.

Put another way, for every 1kWh of electricity used to run the heat pump, up to 4kW of useful heat is provided, giving th heat pump an efficiency of up to 400%.

A Low Carbon Heating Solution

Whenever fossil fuels such as gas or oil are burnt, carbon dioxide is released. CO2 is the principle contributor to the greenhouse effect which is leading to long term climate change.

However as heat pumps extract as much as 75% of their heating energy from the environment, building carbon emissions for heating can be reduced by as much as 50% compared with gas fuelled heating systems.

This is an obvious benefit when considering building regulations Part L compliance, planning obligations requiring minimum contributions from renewable energy and EcoHome / Code for Sustainable Homes ratings.

Low Running Costs - Low Ownership Costs

The considerable contribution from renewable energy sources also helps to provide running cost savings over fossil fuelled heating systems and arguably more importantly, future proofs the system against future energy price increases.

But fuel costs are only part of the story. Unlike gas and oil based systems, heat pumps require no costly regular maintenance or annual safety inspections. And because a heat pump has a reasonable life expectancy of 20 – 25 years, typically twice that of a boiler, the investment costs can be recovered over a longer period meaning the ownership costs over the working life of the system are demonstrably lower.

Figures compared over a 20 year period for space & water heating for a typical 3 bed semi detached home (new build). *Fuel costs based on 2007 gas & electricity prices.

Trusted technology

A heat pump heating system consists of 3 components: the heat source, the heat pump itself and a heat distribution and storage system.

Heat pumps are able to produce more energy than they consume by using the conventional refrigeration cycle to absorb heat from the environment and raise it to a suitable level for heating.

1 75% of the energy is taken from the environment i.e the air or ground & transferred to the heat pump.

2 25% of the energy is sourced from the national grid in the normal way of supplying your electricity. This is used to operate the heat pump but with very low consumption

3 The energy from the air or ground is transferred to the refrigerant inside the heat pumps evaporator. This causes the temperature of the refrigerant to rise & change state from liquid to gas.

4 The refrigerant gas is then compressed, using an electrically driven compressor, reducing its volume but causing its temperature to rise significantly.

5 A heat exchanger (condenser) then extracts the heat energy from the hot refrigerant to heat water for central heating, underfloor heating or domestic hot water.

6 After giving up its heat energy the refrigerant turns back into a liquid & is able to absorb energy from the environment, allowing the cycle to begin again.

Using Nature’s Energy Efficiently

Heat pumps are among the most efficient heating and hot water systems available today. Approximately 75% of the energy needed for heating comes from the environment. This means that for every 1kWh of electricity used to power the heat pump compressor, between 3 and 4 kWh of heating energy are produced, giving the heat pump an efficiency of 300-400% or higher.

The heat pump’s “efficiency” is known as it’s “Coefficient of Performance” (CoP). This is simply a ratio between the proportion of the total energy supplied that can be extracted from the environment and the amount supplied by electricity to run the heat pump compressor. The higher the CoP, the more “free” environmental energy the heat pump is using!

Built to Last

1 Powerful, quiet, safe & reliable: The “heart” of the heat pump is the Copeland scroll compressor, providing high levels of efficiency, reliability & low noise operation.

2 Always in control: The WPM heat pump manager monitors, regulates & controls the entire system to ensure optimum performance & efficiency for heating, domestic hot water & where applicable, cooling.

3 Evaporator: Large surface area plate heat exchangers allow for efficient heat transfer of energy from the environment. They are compact, efficient & reliable.

4 Insulated casing: Sound insulation around the insides of the heat pump casing reduce operating noise to a minimum.