Save energy and the environment by installing a heat pump in your home

If you want to save money on your energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint, then replacing your boiler with a ground source heat pump is the answer. Heat pumps produce clean, natural, free energy to keep your home warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Heat pumps extract warmth from the earth to heat your home

What are heat pumps?

Geothermal (or ground source) heat pumps are a more eco-friendly alternative to your conventional boiler. Even in the winter, a constant supply of heat can be found underneath the ground's surface. Heat pumps tap into this natural, free heat source and transfer it directly into your home. Pumps are clean, efficient and will provide hot water and heating for your home. In the summer heat pumps can also work in reverse, extracting heat from your home and expelling it into the ground, keeping your house cool.

Helen Durose, from Evergreen Renewables in Derbyshire, emphasises the advantages of heat pumps: “Heat pumps are energy efficient and environmentally friendly and they will increase the retail value of your home. Heat pumps and solar panels are the two most popular requests we get now, especially in new builds.”

How do heat pumps work?

A length of pipe, called a ground loop, is placed under the ground and a mixture of water and antifreeze circulates through the loop, extracting heat from the earth. The heat pump, powered by electricity, itself then extracts this heat from the loops and transfers it to your home via radiators, underfloor heating or your water supply. A household fridge is a good example of a heat pump; it extracts heat from the inside of the fridge to keep food cold and expels the warmth outside.

How are heat pumps installed?

Frank Harris, from H.D services Ltd in Bucks, installs an open loop version of the heat pump which extracts energy from an underground water source, uses it for heat and then displaces water into the garden for irrigation. He says that: “Installing heat pumps is a fairly unobtrusive process, we drill boreholes or trenches in the garden to put in the pipes and the pump itself is about the size of a fridge. A plumber then comes in to connect it to your homes heating system. It can take up to a month to install correctly.”

Are heat pumps suitable for my home?

To have a ground source heat pump installed you need a good amount of space in your garden and your soil must be suitable for digging. Helen advises: “Ideally you need about a quarter of an acre.” Heat pumps can last around 15-20 years if installed correctly and are particularly good for new build properties. Pumps work well with underfloor heating systems which have a larger surface area and don’t need to reach as high a temperature as radiators do to be effective. Heat pump expert Frank explains: “If you don’t have underfloor heating you can still install a pump, it will just be slightly less efficient. You must also make sure that your home is well insulated for the pump to be at its most efficient.”

How much will heat pumps save me?

The efficiency of a heat pump is measured by a coefficient of performance (CoP), which tells you how much heat the pump produces compared to how much energy is used to run it. According to the Heat Pump Association, for every 1kw of energy a heat pump uses, it can produce 4-5KW of heat energy for your home. To put it another way, pumps can produce four or five times the amount of energy then it takes to power them, making them extremely efficient and reducing your carbon footprint.

Heat Pumps eliminate gas, oil or solid fuel bills. “Heat pumps are popular now because people are more aware of the environment and want to save energy. People also want to save money, which a pump will help you do over time by reducing fuel bills,” says Helen. The Energy Saving Trust calculates that if you replace your gas heating with a pump you could save £190 per year in bills. If you heat with electricity, you could save £840 and six tonnes of CO2 per year. If you currently use oil for heating you would save £160 and 540kg of CO2 and finally, replacing solid fuel heating with a pump would save £600 and 5.6 tonnes of CO2 a year.

How much do heat pumps cost?

The cost of installing a heat pump will vary depending on the size of your home and the amount of heat you use. Helen, who works in renewable energy products, suggests: “For a four or five-bedroom property a heat pump could cost between £12,000 and £15,000. In the last two to five years prices have really come down because it’s not such a new technology anymore.”

Heat pump installers will normally provide a free site survey, consultation and quote. It is best to get two or three different quotes, check the installer’s qualifications and follow any word of mouth recommendations when hiring a heat pump installer.

AB