The Environmental Benefits of Air Source Heat Pump Installation
Are air source heat pumps efficient?
An air source heat pump system can help to lower your carbon footprint as it uses a renewable, natural source of heat – air. How much CO2 you’ll save depends on the fuel you are replacing. For example, the figure will be higher if you are replacing coal or an oil boiler rather than natural gas. A heat pump needs a power source, usually electricity, to power the heat pump, so there will still be some resulting CO2 emissions. To get the best from your heat pump, you’ll need to know how to use it most effectively. Often you’ll need to set your heating to come on for longer than with a traditional system. We will show you how to control and look after your heat pump system, although we do advice to have your heat pump serviced every year.
Environmental benefits
Here are some environmental benefits of using an air source heat pump.
Example of air source heat pump savings on a modern four-bedroom house
Energy prices vary, and our homes and energy use differ too. So it’s hard to give an exact figure for how much money you could save in a year. But, based on some industry-wide figures, we’ve put together this example.
£874 in gas per year
A modern four-bedroom house might need about 19,000kWh of heat per year (although this will vary). This would cost around £874 in gas (90% efficient gas cost of 4.6kWh multiplied by 19,000kWh).
16p per kWh
Using an air source heat pump and electricity priced at 16p per kWh the cost would be almost identical (16p/kWh divided by coefficient of performance of 3.5, multiplied by 19,000kWh).
Save 25%
If you did only half of your heating overnight – using the cheap-rate electricity – you could save 25%, which is about £215– calculated at 2.3p/kWh based on our GoElectric tariff. You save 25% because it’s half the cost of gas for half of the time.
Hot water savings
The savings increase when you consider hot water. On average, a four-person household uses about 160 litres a day. This requires about another 2,800kWh per year (4.2xlitresxtemp difference)/3,600. For 160 litres heated from 10-50 degrees that gives 7.5kWh per day.). Using a 90% efficient gas boiler that’s a saving of £129. If you got all your hot water from an air source heat pump powered by cheap-rate electricity, you might only pay £65. It’s 4.6p/kWh (90% efficient gas) vs 2.3p/kWh (GoElectric tariff).
Heat pump energy labels
Heat pumps must have an energy label on them. It states how energy efficient the pump is on a scale from dark green (most efficient) to red (least efficient). Since 26 September 2015, all new heat pumps must be sold with an EU product label. The installer should also produce a package label that displays the efficiency based on several different components in the heating system. All heat pumps certified by the Microgeneration Certification Scheme must be sold with a product label, and the installer must produce a package label. If your heat pump is not sold with a product label, it may not be eligible for any Government grants.
Air source heat pumps are one of the most efficient ways to heat your home, making the running costs far lower than what you’d typically pay for your heating system.
According to Energy Saving Trust, it costs about 4.6p per kWh to heat a home with gas and about 9 -16p per kWh with standard electric heaters. Whilst a typical air source heat pump might cost about 4.7p per kWh to run, it could be as low as 2.3p if you use Economy 7 electricity or switch to our GoElectric tariff.
