Ground Source Heat Pumps: Save up to £800 off your heating bills and up to 8 tonnes of CO2 each year
A Ground Source Heat Pump makes use of the natural renewable energy that is stored in the earth, even in winter, to heat your home. Installing one allows you to heat your home using a lot less energy than traditional methods. Because it is so energy efficient, your home will be responsible for producing a lot less of the carbon dioxide that causes Global Warming.
How Does it Work?
The earth just a few feet below the surface keeps a constant temperature of between 11 and 12 degrees Centigrade, even in winter. It traps the heat of the sun, and stores it underground, all year round. A Ground Source Heat Pump transfers this heat to your home to provide heating. Using a compressor (a bit like the one in your fridge), it increases this heat to around 45 or 50 degrees, and transfers it to radiators or under-floor heating. The heat can also be used to pre-heat your hot water, meaning you need less gas or electricity for this also. NB. Image courtesy of: Stiebel Eltron
What Are the Benefits?
Because they make use of the renewable energy stored in the ground, Ground Source Heat Pumps provide one of the most energy-efficient ways of heating buildings. The only energy used by Ground Source Heat Pump systems is the electricity to power the pump. Normally a system will deliver 3 or 4 times as much thermal energy (or heat) as the electrical energy used to drive the system. This adds up to big energy savings. On average you can expect to save between £400 and £800 off your annual heating bill, and between 2 and 8 tonnes of CO2 annually. If you can source your electricity from a renewable source such as wind or solar, then your heating will be completely clean and non-polluting.
Ground Source Heat Pumps have been widely used for many years in both Europe and North America. There are now several hundred thousand in operation. In Germany, tens of thousands of systems are installed each year.
If you are interested in installing a Ground Source Heat Pump in your home you can request a quotation from our installation partner, by following this link to our enquiry form.
They typically cost more to install than conventional heating systems. In the UK you should currently expect to pay from £8,000 (plus VAT) or more to heat a medium-sized house, although government grants can refund some of this cost (up to £1,200 is available in England and more in Scotland).
