Is My Home Suitable for a Heat Pump?

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Heat pumps are gaining popularity for two main reasons. Firstly, they are a key part of trying to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and secondly they are actually a smart way of reducing spiralling energy costs.

Table of Contents

Heat Pumps Explained

Heat pumps are devices that extract heat/warmth from an exterior source and use it to generate heat internally. The main two are air source and ground source.

Air Source Heat Pumps

These pumps extract warmth from the ambient air outside and then use it to warm up the internal water supply. These have an efficiency rate of around 300%. Although they do still work in colder temperatures, they are more efficient in warmer months.

Ground Source Heat Pumps

These work in a very similar way to air source pumps, with the key difference being that they extract warmth from below ground as opposed to from above. This offers more consistency. These pumps are much more expensive and invasive but can achieve up to 400% efficiency.

Experts in Air Source Heat Pumps in Gloucester

If you would like to know more, there are a number of companies such as //gsmlimited.com/services/air-source-heat-pumps/gloucester that specialise in air source heat pumps Gloucester and the surrounding areas.

What Factors Affect Suitability?

Although the government is constantly pushing the benefits of heat pumps, the truth is they are not suitable for all properties. In fact, more than half of UK homes are not suitable for them.

The key factors that affect suitability are:

Property type: flats and apartments cannot utilise ground source heat pumps, whilst most other property types can. Some flats may be suitable for air source heat pumps, however.
Property size: as long as there is sufficient space, most properties can theoretically have an air source heat pump.
Quality of insulation: poorly insulated properties are not suitable for heat pumps, as they cannot retain the heat that the pumps will extract.
Property age: for various reasons, older properties are less likely to be suitable for heat pumps.