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Accelerating the transition to heat pumps

 
Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs)
Last Post by Mike Patrick 3 years ago
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 Mike Patrick
(@mike-patrick)
Honorable Member Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 181
Topic starter 07/10/2022 4:01 pm  

Imperial College have just published  this lengthy report on what needs to be done to improve take-up of ASHP technology in the UK.

I've only read the Exec Summary so far. The full report runs to 104 pages

https://t.co/uesCqkyew5

Mike


Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP


   
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 Alec Morrow
(@alec-morrow)
Honorable Member Contributor
Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 216
07/10/2022 6:39 pm  

i’m never quite sure why we in the U.K. need to reinvent the wheel…we just need to install equipment as the manufacturers of the heat pumps and boilers intend.

 

i guess it’s better to pay someone to do the research..though…really it’s a form of corruption!


Professional installer


   
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 mjr
(@mjr)
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Joined: 4 years ago
Posts: 301
07/10/2022 7:42 pm  

Non-twitter-tracker link to the report is

SPIRAL.IMPERIAL.AC.UK "https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/99828/2/Accelerating+the+transition+to+heat+pumps.pdf"

Executive summary recommendations to government are:

  1. Support the development of standardised procedures for measuring the in-situ performance of buildings and heat pumps;
  2. Introduce a requirement that all new heat pump installations carry out measurement-based assessment of the actual in-situ performance of the building and heat pump system (according to standardised procedures suggested in Recommendation 1).
  3. Fund the development, operation and oversight of a publicly-accessible database for case studies of heat pump installation

I doubt that's going to accelerate the transition enough to meet government commitments, personally. There may be more when I get time to read further, but there's no gold in the summary.



   
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 Mike Patrick
(@mike-patrick)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 181
Topic starter 10/10/2022 11:15 am  

@mjr Point 3 on the Imperial list got me thinking that maybe a limited database could be compiled from members of this forum contributing information to a shared spreadsheet. After 5 years I think I have my ASHP system running about as optimally as possible . But I really don't know. It would be helpful to compare my annual energy usage with others on something approaching a comparable basis. My installation is relatively simple, an an all electric house with an ASHP, no PV or batteries. The more technically knowledgeable here have all of these. Many also seem to be achieving low usage levels that I can only dream of. There could be many reasons for this - it would be interesting to have a better understanding as to why.

A simple metric might be: kWh per per year consumption per m2 (gross external) of floor area, together with some details about the property and the setup of the installation.

So my rolling 12 month consumption is 10,500kWh for a 150 m2 property = 70kWh per m2 per year. Is that good, bad or typical?

 

Mike


Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP


   
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 Derek M
(@derek-m)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4427
10/10/2022 11:22 am  

@mike-patrick

Is the 10,500kWh usage just for the heat pump, or for your whole house? To give a meaningful comparison it would need to be just the power used by the heat pump.



   
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 Mike Patrick
(@mike-patrick)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 181
Topic starter 10/10/2022 11:35 am  

@derek-m Unfortunately it is for the whole house as the heat pump isn t separately metered. Although even if it was comparisons would have to make note of variables such as number of people in the house, how warm they kept it, baths or showers etc, etc.

 

Mike

 


Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP


   
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 Derek M
(@derek-m)
Illustrious Member Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4427
10/10/2022 11:40 am  
Posted by: @mike-patrick

@derek-m Unfortunately it is for the whole house as the heat pump isn t separately metered. Although even if it was comparisons would have to make note of variables such as number of people in the house, how warm they kept it, baths or showers etc, etc.

 

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

This is why making straightforward comparisons is so difficult to make. There are so many factors that can affect the result.



   
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 Mike Patrick
(@mike-patrick)
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Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 181
Topic starter 10/10/2022 12:11 pm  

I forgot to add that what also prompted me about this was seeing my mother-in-law's fuel bills. I occasionally help her with making online payments and noticed that she was using 28,000 kWh per year (gas plus electricity). This is a staggering amount. But like many older people she keeps the house very warm and has a coal effect gas fire in one room, in addition to the condensing gas boiler for the heating and hot water. The house is a 1980's one and properly insulated. Her bills are still less than mine because they are mostly gas, with electricity only for the power and lighting.

Mike


Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP


   
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 Derek M
(@derek-m)
Illustrious Member Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 4427
10/10/2022 12:22 pm  

@mike-patrick

Does she use the gas fire much? I don't think that they are that efficient.

Also check the water outlet temperature from the gas boiler, to ensure that it is actually condensing. The return water temperature needs to be below 54C for condensing to occur. From what I gather, the lower the water outlet temperature, the more efficient the gas boiler will operate.



   
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 Mike Patrick
(@mike-patrick)
Honorable Member Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 181
Topic starter 10/10/2022 12:40 pm  

@derek-m Thanks, I'll check that next time I visit. Although I know as littel about gas boilers as I do about ASHPs!

She recently had thermostatic valves fitted to all the radiators and had the system flushed out which may improve things too.

 

Mike


Grant Aerona HPID10 10kWh ASHP


   
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