Whole House Solution
The ultimate in eco-friendly heating is to power an air source heat pump by any form of renewable energy (electricity) the most suitable for the majority of domestic properties being a photovoltaic (PV) array. This is the whole house solution.
Using highly efficient and reliable PV systems allows a home to produce its own energy, helping to reduce its energy use and take advantage of the Government's feed-in tariffs. When combined with an air source heat pump system, to provide domestic heating and hot water, annual household fuel bills and CO2 emissions are dramatically reduced even further.
Many homes in the UK still rely on storage heaters and other forms of inefficient heating. There are often good reasons why such heating systems are chosen. Replacing with fuel efficient gas boilers especially when off-gas is impractical.
Installing air source heat pumps to replace storage and convector heaters and solid fuel fires is the modern approach to space and water heating. An added bonus would be to power such heat pumps from an sustainable power supply such as photovoltaics.
A 3-bedroomed terraced home costing £1,137 per annum to heat using solid fuel and power when fitted with an Ecodan air source heat pump has dramatically lowered the costs of heat the home. Not on the gas network the storage heaters and coal fire gave the property a significantly large carbon footprint of nine tonnes of CO2 a year. With the new system, costs have been slashed to £384 for the heating and the carbon footprint of the home has been reduced by 65 per cent to just 3.2 tonnes.
With the addition of a PV array, a further saving of £986 per annum is being made by reducing the amount of electricity bought from the grid and by selling any excess electricity back when it is not needed in the home.
Up to 15kWh on the longer summer days can be generated, with an expected average of 9kWh per day over the whole year. It is estimated that the PV array will generate half of the household's daily consumption during the day.
The Feed in Tariff significantly reduces the payback period and will ensure an income for the next 25 years.
