If you can answer most of the following 10 questions with a yes, then it probably is an efficient way to achieve Carbon Footprint Reduction for your house.

1. Is your house a new build where you can incorporate design features e.g. underfloor heating, well suited to the use of a Ground Source Heat Pump?
2. Are you able to claim back, or have your project zero rated, for VAT? (New Build)
3. Does your house have a garden or outside area where where the ground is suitable for you to put either boreholes or slinkies i.e an area large enough to accommodate several cars (boreholes) or to accommodate one or more tennis courts (slinkies*)?
4. Is your house well insulated, i.e. walls and roof insulation done in the last ten years?
5. Does your house already have underfloor heating?
6. If your house has only radiators, is there quite a bit of reserve, i.e. one third or more are usually not used?
7. Do you wish, or require, to cool your house during the summer months?
8. Do you have the space in an outhouse, garage, or utilities room to accommodate something the size of a fridge?
9. Are you prepared to invest for the long term, i.e. to accept a payback period of several years? (depending on energy prices)
10. Do you want to reduce your heating bills by a half or two thirds? (particularly if you currently use fossil fuels i.e. oil.)

The build quality and age of your house will determine two important questions

1. Is the house suitable for a GSHP heating system? Sometimes, e.g. for older buildings, it is simply not a solution which will give the best results in terms of heating performance or economic use of energy.
2. The size of heat pump required,

Example

The average pre 1980's 4-5 bedroom home that has good loft insulation and double glazing is likely to have an average heat loss of around 75W/m2 (average heat loss per square metre of floor space). Such a property would require a 17kW heat pump system. However, the same home constructed using the latest techniques and materials, could have an average heat loss as low as 40W/m2, and therefore only need an 8kW heat pump system.

* GSHP installers are increasingly moving away from the installation of slinkies because of problems with overcooling of the ground, i.e. permafrost above the collectors and manifold.

Should you wish to find out more about Ground Source Heat Pumps, please look at the information pages listed in the vertical menu box on the left of this page.

If you are interested in finding out more, discussing your thoughts with us, or getting a cost estimate, please go to our contact page

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