Heat Or Cool Your House with Renewable Energy From Outside Air

If you live in a place where its mostly cold throughout the year and thinking of fitting an air-conditioner to cover the occasional summer hot days, then first read about Air Source Heat Pump. An Air Source Heat Pump or ASHP can efficiently provide both cooling and heating for a room, house or building.

Like solar energy is free to be captured, same goes for heat energy that is outside the house. And it’s hard to believe that such renewable heat can be captured even when outside temperature is below -15C. An ASHP’s are energy efficient way to convert 80% of heat energy using 20% of electrical energy._^[1]

By using renewable heat from a heat pump, you will significantly reduce environmental impact. In fact you could reduce your home’s carbon footprint by 3.1 tonnes every year, compared with using an gas boiler. That is equivalent to living without a fuel powered car.

How do ASHP work?

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ASHP works pretty much like a fridge in reverse. In a fridge, heat is extracted from inside the fridge so that it feels cold inside and is released outside. ASHP works the other way around by extracting heat from the outside air and releasing it into your house or central heating system to warm a home.

On hot day it will take heat from house and throw it outside thus cooling the house just like AC. And in reverse on cool days it can take heat from outside and helps heat the house. An ASHP can also operate to provide heat even when outside temperature is as cold as -15C.

Types of ASHP

1. Air to Water Heat ASHP:
   This type of air source heat pump distributes heat connected to central heating system. This type of system is able to heat space while also providing hot water.
   
2. Air to Air Heat ASHP:
   This type of air source heat pump system produces heat by using fans to circulate outside air into your home. With type of system enables to heat or cool your home.
   
3. Air and Water Hybrid ASHP:
   This type makes use of above both system. Hence can more effective in both cold and hot weather conditions. As above both may struggle at excessive temperatures.

Ground Source Heat Pump is a Non-ASHP which is more effective source of renewable energy and works on same exchange of heat principal but is not covered in this article, because it requires digging garden area to absorb heat from heated surfaces. Under flooring heating is also not covered as its more expensive but is an effective way to heat home. These topics may be covered in future blogs.

Cost and Saving

Cost, savings, running costs and RHI payments, as calculated in Daikin Heating Solutions Navigator report, based on the capacity requirements of a two storey, four-bedroom detached house, 150 sq.m, built between 1991-2005, in the England Midlands, with a heat loss of 8.86 kW at MCS condition and a kWh rating for space heating of 21,600 kWh.

Using ASHP as Air Conditioner

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As the temperature of earth is rising due to global warming, suddenly houses in cooler countries which use to do without Air-Conditioner are finding need for cooling solutions. Here an ASHP can work in similar ways to air-conditioner during hot days and can also provides heating during cold days.

Air Source Heat Pump looks just like an air-conditioning unit that is placed outside the property. But thanks to a reversing valve in the outdoor unit, an ASHP can absorb heat energy from outside air, even in extremely cold temperatures and transfer the heat inside the home.

Advantages

• Lower carbon emissions
• Helps lower energy bills
• Low maintenance
• Run on electricity not fuel
• Heat your home and/or your hot water

Disadvantages

• Lower heat supply than boilers/ furnace
• Home or room must be well insulated
• Lower efficiency below 0°C
• Lower savings compared to low price natural gas
• Can be noisy if near to open window or door

Efficiency

The efficiency of an air source heat pump is measured by the Coefficient of Performance (COP). This refers to the maximum efficiency with which the heat pump can run. Most Air Source Heat Pumps have a COP between 2 to 4, but in some cases, it can be as high as 5.

The COP refers to how many kilowatts of heat 1 kilowatt of electricity can produce. An air source heat pump with a COP of 4, will produce 4 kilowatts of heat. Meaning the heat pump can provide you with 400% more heat than if you would heat your home using electricity.

What to look for choosing ASHP?

In cooling mode, both heat pumps and air conditioners come in models with high SEER ratings, providing energy efficient cooling during the warm summer months. SEER ratings are like miles-per-gallon for a car. The higher the SEER, the more efficient the unit.

In heating mode, heat pump efficiency is expressed in HSPF. The higher the HSPF, the higher the efficiency. In many ways, the energy efficiency and cost to operate factor comes down to location. If you want a higher efficiency model, be sure to select one that has been ENERGY STAR certified.

Revolution Electrified’s Thoughts

Dire state of old building and most offices where there are radiator to heat and air conditioner to cool. In Spring and Autumn seasons both can be working at same time cancelling each other. These can be updated with single ASHP systems to save tons of CO2 inefficiently consumed due to old infrastructure.

Air source heat pumps have some impact on the environment, as they require electricity in order to run. However, they extract heat from the air, which is constantly being renewed naturally. This makes them an environmentally friendly and green solution than traditional boiler or electric radiators.

If you would like to have an even lower impact on the environment and lower running costs, you can think about installing solar panel system to generate the electricity for the pump to run. ASHP can also work perfectly in house with extensions and conservatories where temperature varies widely.

By using renewable heat to warm your home, you’ll enjoy all the comfort and save energy, while minimising your impact on the planet. ASHP can also saves you money on investing in additional cooling solutions like fans or portable heaters.