Air Source Heat Pump

When I moved into my house off mains gas, there was a reasonably new oil boiler but some of the radiators were many decades old and too small to keep the house warm in winter.

I decided to fit an air source heat pump – I know the technology has really improved in recent years and it is ideal to install one where all the radiators and pipework can be replaced.

I used DH Solar (https://www.dh-solarengineering.co.uk) and we chose a 12 kW Midea heat pump – an American brand known for their extra quiet heat pumps.

The system includes the following in the cupboard :

• 200 litre pressurised hot water cylinder

• Low loss header (small black tank)

• Pressure vessels (two – one for heating one for the hot water cylinder)

• Control panel for the heat pump

• Switches for solar PV

The heat pump has been running for two winters now and I am so pleased with it. The only glitch has been a wireless control system which didn’t work so was replaced with a hard wired unit.

The house is constantly warm (not hot/cold) I keep it at about 17 degrees all day and put it back to about 12 degrees at night.

The only problem is that the radiators are not so good at drying clothes so for the first time I had to buy a tumble drier (I bought one with a heat pump as they are more efficient.) I do have a drying rack in the utility though.

I chose to install a woodburner. The woodburner provides back up heat to make the living room cozy and is a Parkray Aspect 4 ECO which I chose because it was able to take a direct air intake duct. This didn’t quite work out as we couldn’t get the angle right under the floorboards but is better than putting a hole through the wall. The direct air duct keeps down the draughts as the stove is asking for air via the duct and not via the general draughts in the house. It is 4.9 kW to the room and is 85.9% efficient. It is also Ecodesign compliant – European efficiency to ensure maximum emission limits for seasonal efficiency, particulate matter, organic gaseous compounds, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, to support government incentives in improving the UK’s overall air quality. I hope that in a power cut, I could boil a kettle on top.