Air Source Heat Pumps

Here at Ice Energy we’ve been huge advocates of Heat Pumps for over a decade. While Ground Source Heat Pumps offer greater efficiencies over Air Source Heat Pumps, the ground source solution is not for everyone, often due to space considerations or the required ground works for heat pumps.

As a result, many people wrongly believe they are better off retaining their existing heating system but in actual fact, Air Source Heat Pumps can save you hundreds of pounds on your annual running costs with minimal installation disruption.

Our Air Source Heat Pumps

We have elected to supply Mitsubishi Ecodan units as our Air Source Heat Pumps of choice because of the superior quality of the product and the efficiency gains it offers. An Ecodan heating pump can produce efficiency gains of approximately 320% when compared to a traditional fossil fuel heating system. No gas or oil boiler could ever hope to achieve efficiency gains of this magnitude and this demonstrates the real potential of air source heat.

What are Air Source Heat Pumps

Air Source Heat Pumps are renewable energy products which extract
heat from the air to provide a total solution for domestic hot water heat
which can be distributed via Underfloor Heating systems or radiators.
 
While air source pumps provide heating during the winter, they can
also provide air cooling in the summer months.
 

How do Air Source Heat Pumps work?

There are many Heat Pump misconceptions which have led to confusion as to how air source heat is produced, but in fact the way in which Air Source Heat Pumps work is actually very simple and not unlike any domestic refrigerator.

Overview

As Air Source Heat Pumps simply move energy rather than creating it by burning fossil fuels, they are extremely efficient. For every 3kW of heat moved into the house by the heating pump, only 1kW of electricity is consumed. This gives a perceived efficiency of performance by air source pumps of 300%, sometimes stated as a Co-efficient Of Performance (COP) of 3:1

Collecting the heat

The air source pump uses a fan to force air over a heat exchanger (simply a copper coil filled with refrigerant) to extract heat from the air.

The Evaporator

The purpose of the Evaporator within the Air Source Heat Pump is to take the air source heat obtained by the heat exchanger and boil the refrigerant (which boils at approximately -10˚C). The act of boiling turns the refrigerant into a vapour which is then transferred to the Compressor.

The Compressor

The Compressor does exactly what its name suggests; vapour is compressed in volume and as its volume reduces, its temperature increases to levels between 75˚C and 125˚C. The gas is then fed through a heat exchanger within the heating pump.

The Heat Exchanger

Forcing the hot gas across the cold water from the central heating system condenses the refrigerant back into a liquid. As it condenses its heat is passed into the heat exchanger which supplies the domestic hot water and powers the central heating system using the air source heat extracted originally.

The Expansion Valve

To complete the closed circuit of the Air Source Heat Pump, the only thing which needs to be done is reduce the pressure of the condensed liquid. This is achieved via the expansion valve.

  The case for Air Source Heat Pumps

  There are many advantages of Heat Pumps, not least the
  ability of Air Source Heat Pumps to extract heat from the
  surrounding air at temperatures as low as -25˚C (depending
  on the size of the heating pump installed). At those sorts of
  temperatures, it’s fair to say that most boilers simply would
  not cope but with air source pumps, you can be sure of a
  warm and comfortable environment for you and your family.