Air Source Heat Pump gains TV attention in Yorkshire

Introduction

As rising gas prices squeeze UK households ever tighter, it’s no surprise renewable heating technologies are gaining more and more TV airtime. When Andrew Folan, managing director of Heat Pump Installers UK was approached by ITV Yorkshire in the lead up to The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) to talk about air source heat pump (ASHP) technology, he had just the project in mind.

A solution for heating and cooling

Andrew’s customers were Don Campbell and his partner from Liversedge, Wakefield, who when their old gas boiler broke down, wanted to explore a replacement that would lower their carbon emissions and save money on heating bills. They also wanted a system that could offer cooling during the increasingly hot and unpredictable summer heatwaves. Their research led them to air source heat pumps from Viessmann.

Viessmann put Campbell in touch with renewable installation partner, Heat Pump Installers UK, and within a week, a meeting was set up to discuss potential options. Just another week on, Folan was back at the property, along with a team from ITV Yorkshire covering the installation.

Completed in October 2021, the heat pump now provides 100% of the heating and hot water needed by the three-bedroom property. There was space in the semi-detached property’s garage to house the system's cylinder and buffer tank, while the outdoor unit of the Vitocal 200-A 10 kW heat pump sits above the garage. A Vitoconnect 100 system with WiFi interface allows Campbell to remotely monitor and operate the heating system via an app. Since the heat pump was installed, the homeowners have also had solar PV fitted. As well as powering the heat pump, this offers the potential to export excess electricity to the grid.

The new system has increased the value of Campbell’s property by £30,000 and is already making a significant difference to his bills; “I’ve been entering my meter readings religiously every fortnight. My electricity bill has gone down to just £50 a month*, and in one quarter, I used only one cubic metre of gas, which was from my hob. I take photos of the readings as my energy company didn’t believe me at first!”  

Additional funding

The new renewable system stands to cut Campbell’s carbon emissions by one tonne per year. On top of this, Campbell is also benefitting from financial incentives offered by the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme. He stands to receive up to £11,500 over seven years, equating to around £1,200-£1,500 per year.  

As the scheme does not currently provide funding for cooling technology, Campbell is yet to undertake steps to introduce this into the existing system. Once the RHI tariff has expired, he plans either to install a separate air-conditioning system, or add cooling to the existing heat pump system to help combat the hot days seen in recent summers. Expected to take between one and two days’ installation time, this would involve adding convector blowers inside the rooms where cooling is wanted; in this case the master bedroom and living room. These would then be connected by pipework to the heat pump.  

“We’ve been fitting heat pumps since 2009 and welcome the media interest in the technology that we’re seeing now,” says Folan. “While previously, the majority of our customers were transitioning to heat pumps from oil or LPG-fuelled boilers, we’re seeing more and more seeking heat pumps as a solution when replacing gas boilers. The rise in gas prices is definitely a factor in this move; in fact, as of April 2022 prices, it is cheaper to heat a property with a heat pump, than a gas boiler.

“Since our piece with ITV Yorkshire, we’ve worked with other news crews and we’re proud to do so not just for our company, but also for the heat pump industry in general. Our volumes may not be massive, but they’re representative of average UK households and the real difference heat pumps can make. Our customers are over the moon and running costs now speak for themselves.”  

ITV Yorkshire’s full interview with Folan can be viewed online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK-9tbSNcko

* pricing quoted before the April 2022 energy price cap rise.