The earth’s surface absorbs solar heat every day with underground temperatures in most places in the UK being around 12 degrees Celsius. Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP) work by extracting heat from the ground. This heat is then transferred to the buildings heating and plumbing system to provide space heating and domestic hot water.

With Transen heat pumps, for each unit of electricity (Kilowatt / Hours or Kwh) consumed by the heat pump, a minimum of 3-4 units are delivered to the plumbing system in the form of heat.

The most efficient gas condensing boilers are around 95% efficient. Because heat pumps get 3-4 units of heat out for every unit consumed they are 300-400% efficient and hence are a fantastic renewable energy source.

The heat from the earth is collected in a ground loop which consists of a stretch of pipe buried underground. The pipes for the system can be laid either horizontally, where there is plenty of land area to accommodate the pipes or vertically (into a borehole) where space is limited.

Ground loop pipes can also be sunk into a suitable water source, a large pond, river or loch to extract heat from the water.

Heat pumps can also be used to cool a building which can provide relief during hot summer conditions.

Some competitors persist on designing and selling systems which are undersized. While this may minimise the capital cost of installation it will also reduce the efficiency of the system. It is essential that the system be designed to reduce power usage.

Transen are a UK based heat pump manufacturer who produce systems which put reliability and efficiency as top priority. They manufacture and test their products to very high UK manufacturing standards.

Sustainable Earth can evaluate your project to advise the best method of heat extraction and design a heat pump system for your individual build.

AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS

These work similarly to ground source heat pumps but use the outside air as their primary heat source. They are especially good where the ambient temperature is high. The warmer the outside temperature the more efficient the air source heat pump will be.

They can be used to heat buildings and hot water and may not require a lot of disruptive work to install.

Sustainable Earth can advise you on the type of system that is best suited to your property and possible connections to central heating systems to provide heating and hot water.