These are a list of questions we are often asked about air source heating. If there is something we haven’t covered here, please talk to one of our team on 01473 727727.
Air source heat pumps (ASHP) rely on vapour compression, transferring the hot air from a place to another exactly in the same way as a refrigerator does. Read more about how air source heat pumps work here.
You will receive quarterly, tax-free payments from Ofgem, for 7 years, for heating your home with renewable energy.
Your payments are calculated using the heat demand figures from your Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), and therefore you must have a recent EPC dated within two years of the commissioning date of your heating system. We will arrange an EPC for you as part of the installation.
No. Heat pumps are no louder than the sound of your fridge. The Mitsubishi Ecodan heat pumps we install have been awarded the ‘quiet mark’ by the Noise Abatement Society, in recognition of their industry-leading low noise levels.
In most cases planning permission is not required, as heat pumps come under permitted development rights, as long as:
– The heat pump is only used for heating purposes (not cooling).
– There is no existing wind turbine on the property.
– The heat pump is not installed under or next to the window of a habitable room.
– The building is not listed.
– If the property is within a conservation area, the heat pump will not require planning permission unless it is installed on a wall which fronts a highway.
The simple answer is yes! Radiators need to be sized correctly to maintain the correct, ambient temperature. We will advise on suitable radiator sizes after completing a heat loss survey of your property.
Although it would seem like a good idea in principle to over-size your heat pump, ‘just in case’, this is actually counter-intuitive.
A vastly oversized heat pump will ‘short-cycle’
This means that the system will reach its target temperature very quickly, meaning that the compressor cycles on / off for a very short time.
When your heat pump is ‘short cycling’, it is less efficient and therefore more costly to run.
This could also reduce the lifespan of the heat pump, as it forces the system to work much harder than it is designed to.
It must be remembered that you do not use heating on warm, sunny days, when there will be the most difference between in temperature between the south and the other sides of your property. This makes little difference in reality. It is just as important when choosing a location to try and minimise pipe runs between your cylinder and the monobloc.