8 May 2015
» Heats Pumps

Heats Pumps

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Gasworks are Irelands leading renewable energy solutions provider. Our Team of renewable energy specialist are on hand to offer expert advice including complete system design for both the commercial and domestic sectors. If you are thinking of installing an energy saving green heating system a Heat Pump is an excellent choice. Heat Pumps are a renewable source of heat energy that transforms the free available heat energy present in the air or ground into usable heat. This form of heat energy delivers a low cost energy saving heating system for the end user.

How do Heat Pumps Work?

Heat Pumps work by pulling the available heat from the surrounding air or ground and transferring it into a usable heat source that can be used to satisfy a buildings space heating and hot water requirements. This process follows the same principle that allows a fridge to operate but in reverse.

  • The energy from the chosen heat source is pumped(Ground Source) or pulled(Air Source) over the heat exchanger where it is extracted.
  • The Heat Energy gathered through the Heat Exchanger is sufficient enough to cause the refrigerant liquid inside the Heat Pump to change its state from a liquid to a Gas
  • The temperature of the refrigerant gas is then further increased by use of a compressor inside the Heat Pump. The compressor increases the pressure of the refrigerant gas which in turn increases the gas temperature.
  • The heated refrigerant gas is then passed over a heat exchanger where the transfer of heat energy to the property’s heat source occurs.
  • The refrigerant gas then returns to a liquid state and returns to the outside heat exchanger where the process is repeated.

 

Find out how the Panasonic Aquarea Heat Pump Works

How Efficient Are Heat Pumps And How Is The Efficiency Measured

Every Heat Pumps heat output is measured by its COP rating. The COP/Coefficient of Performance is the efficiency ratio for the amount of energy a heat pump provides when compared to the amount of energy consumed. The COP is usually between 4.5 and 5, the higher the COP the more efficient the Heat Pump.

Example

A Building utilizing a Heat Pump for its space heating and hot water requirements, It has a heat requirement of 10KW

cop_heat_pump_operation

Heat Pump COP = 4.74

Building Heat Requirement = 10KW

Heat Pump Contribution = 7.88KW

Electricity Required = 2.22KW

Efficiency 474%

The amount of Free Energy obtained from the surrounding environment be it an air source or ground source Heat Pump is 7.88KW while the amount of paid electrical energy required is 2.22KW

Popular Heat Pump Questions Answered

What heat pump best suits my property?

Quite a few factors are to be considered when deciding which type of Heat Pump best suits your property. These include property type and location, property insulation value. Is the property a new build, renovation or retrofit, type of heating system (Wet/Dry) proposed? And also the budget allocated. Such is the wide range of factors to be considered a full system design by our renewable energy experts will be needed.

What size Heat Pump do I need?

The size of the Heat Pump required will be dependent on a number of pieces of information. Type of construction and property size, hot water requirements, location etc. Once we have received the correct information we can correctly size your Heat Pump along with estimated running costs, cost comparisons versus oil, gas etc.

What type of heating system best suits a Heat Pump?

The best heating system to use is one that operates on low water temperatures. Because of this Underfloor Heating is an ideal heating solution for use with Heat Pumps. If Underfloor Heating is not to be used a particularly suitable alternative would be the use of aluminium radiators. Aluminium radiators operate quite efficiently with a floe temperature not exceeding 45°C. Standard radiators may also be used but because of the low water temperature at which the heating system will be operating at, the size of radiators required will increase greatly.

Do I need a backup heat source with my Heat Pump?

No. Once correctly sized and installed the Heat Pump will efficiently cater for all your heating and hot water requirements annually.