How to choose the right Heat Pump for your business?

As a low-or-zero carbon solution, Heat pumps can provide heating from 40°C up to 165°C and do not emit any direct emissions, significantly reducing or replacing an organisation’s need to burn fossil fuels on-site. In fact, when compared to a natural gas-burning boiler, a Heat Pump can reduce your overall Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by as much as 66%, compared to a gas boiler.

But there are a range of different Heat Pump options out there, so which one is right for your organisation? Let's explore the basics of each option and some of the things to consider when looking to implement on-site, sustainable heat generation.

1. Air-source heat pumps

Capable of supplying hot water to any site under most conditions, this option is the least intrusive and most capital cost-effective option. Normally fitted to the side or on the roof of a building, the Heat Pump draws air from outside and transfers the heat by means of compression. By utilising a waste heat interface the heat pump can recover waste heat from chillers or waste water, thereby improving the performance and financials.

Advantages

• Lowest capex and maintenance cost option
• Simple, scalable and straightforward installation
• Possible to increase efficiency by utilising waste heat
• Potential to integrate heat storage to load shift and enable the possibility to provide DSR services

Consideration

• Efficiency is highly dependent on ambient conditions
• Reduced thermal energy management
• Low efficiency of the system can impact business case
• Lowest lifetime carbon savings of all heat pump source options

2. Ground-source heat pumps

Heat from the sun as well as from the core of the Earth keeps the ground below us at a reasonably consistent temperature all year. Ground-source Heat Pumps can use thermal boreholes as a heat source for year-round reliable and predictable source of stable temperature heat. The heat recovery loop can be used to store heat in the ground during the hotter months for drawing off during the cooling months.

Advantages

• Greatly increased seasonal performance over air-source
• Larger reduction in associated carbon emissions
• Ground loop system enables seasonal thermal balancing

Consideration

• Increased Capex relative to an air source system
• Process to drill boreholes can be disruptive
• Retrofit projects can be challenging due to space required
• More complex to retrofit on an existing site than air-source

3. Water-source

A similar system to a ground-source, they extract heat from a body of water and convert it into useful heat using submerged pipes containing a working fluid to absorb heat. If available to your organisation, an open body of water (e.g. reservoir, lake, sea), a flowing body of water (e.g. river, wastewater) or underground water (e.g. aquifer) source can provide more an even more advanced heating solution.

Advantages

• Seasonal performance similar to, or better than, ground-source
• Larger reduction in associated carbon emissions
• Capex and land requirement lower than a ground source
• Can use the water source to provide ‘free cooling’

Consideration

• There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ with water source systems
• Unlike ground source systems, thermal energy management may not be possible
• If needed, obtaining abstraction licence can be a length and complex process

4. Waste Heat Source Heat Pump

Heat Pumps can also utilise a waste heat source. This option is often used by food and drink manufacturers and supermarkets who use a lot of refrigeration. These systems will be expelling heat, and it's this heat which can be harnessed and used as a fuel source for your Heat Pump.

Advantages:

• Can achieve the very high seasonal coefficient of performance
• Can achieve the greatest reduction in associated carbon emissions of any heat source
• It can be possible to achieve temperature in excess of 100°C

Consideration:

• Waste source heat pumps are very bespoke to the specific site and application
• Performance is highly dependent on the volume and temperature of waste heat available
• Waste heat can be difficult to ‘capture’ and can be intermittent

5. Cascade Heat Pumps

A cascade system combines two or more different types of Heat Pumps in order to meet an organisation's heat demand - for example, harnessing both air and water as a heat source.

Advantages:

• Relatively straightforward installation.
• Scalable design
• Possible to utilise waste heat to increase system efficiency
• Potential to integrate heat storage to load shift and maximise waste heat & heat pump utilisation
• Potential to rise up temperatures > 120°C for industrial processes

Consideration:

• System efficiency very dependent on ambient conditions
• Increased CapEx, relative to an air source system
• Harder to retrofit to existing sites than air source

Looking for more reasons to choose Heat Pumps?

As one of the UK’s leading business energy solutions partners, we have over 30 years’ experience in designing, financing, deploying, operating and monitoring on-site energy infrastructure.

We supply a variety of Heat Pump types to best suit your specific requirements; and a range of commercial financing options to ensure a robust business case.

• Integration with other onsite energy generation technologies, like Solar and CHP
• Expert after-care via maintenance plans that encompass remote, proactive and reactive servicing
• No upfront capital needed with our range of flexible financing options
• Reduce investment risk with our 35+ years of experience in onsite energy solution design and deployment
• Natural refrigerants used to reduce the climate impact while safeguarding Heat Pump performance 
• Superior project delivery to minimise planning risks, manage noise impact, support with grid consent, and ensure seamless integration into your existing energy infrastructure
• Technology agnostic approach means we select the right Heat Pump manufacturer for each specific project to create a bespoke solution

If you are looking for additional reasons to select heat pumps today our expert team of professionals are more than happy to discuss the advantages of this clean, affordable and sustainable technology for your business.