Is my home suitable for a ground source heat pump?
Most properties are suitable for a ground source heat pump installation. However, there are a couple of key issues to consider.
Your current heating system
If you are building a new house, or completely renovating one, then we can design the ideal ground source heat pump heating system. That’s not to say that you can’t retrofit a heat pump in a building with an existing heating system, but considerations will need to be made. We will need to assess your system to check that it is compatible with a heat pump. A heat pump working with radiators will provide a heating temperature of 50oC. This is a lower temperature than when using gas oroil so changes may need to be made to your heating system to accommodate the lower flow temperature. For example, larger radiators may be required. It is important to remember that with a ground source heat pump installation, we will be looking to achieve the most efficient system possible and a lower flow temperature is one of the ways in which we can achieve this.
Space for the collectors
Horizontal collector loops (or slinkies) are commonly associated with ground source heat pump installations. However, depending on the heating demand of the property, a considerable area of land can be required. Fortunately, it is possible to use a borehole collector on properties with less space or land constraints.
Insulation of your property
Your ground source heat pump will be sized based upon the building fabric that it needs to heat. As such it pays dividends to insulate first wherever possible. You would then require a smaller ground source heat pump, a smaller collector area and as such greatly save on installation costs.