Heat Pumps Today

24 Elliott Sharpe, Vital Energi’s Design Director explains why air, ground, and water source heat pumps are one of the most effective technologies for reducing carbon, and with a potential 500% efficiency, they are a great solution for projects of all sizes. Why are heat pumps so hot right now? An insight into heat pump technology, covering the benefits, for businesses and the environment alike, are the factors that have to be considered when thinking about heat pumps, Elliot tells us about some of the large-scale heat pump projects he’s worked on, including the UK’s largest water source heat pump. What types of heat pump are there and how do they work? Heat pumps can appear quite complicated at first glance, but the technology has been around for quite some time. Think about August | September 2021 T R A I N I N G your fridge at home or an air conditioning system for an o ce - these are using heat pump technology. A heat pump takes energy from a source such as water, the ground, or surrounding air, and then using a refrigerant and power from an electrical supply, this heat is transferred into your home, at a higher temperature than the source. I know what you’re thinking, how does water from a lake or cold air outside turn into hot heating water coming out of the heat pump. This is the clever part inside, the heat pump is compressing and expanding a refrigerant in a cycle, and it’s this process that is able to take water from that cold lake and turn it into heat for your radiators. What are the key benefits of heat pumps? E ciency! In the right conditions, a heat pump can operate at 300, 400, dare I say 500% e ciency. What this means is for 1 unit of consumed electrical energy, the heat pump is producing 5 units of energy. Elliott Sharpe