Heat pump and underfloor heating masterclass

If you are building a property, have a well-insulated home or are extensively renovating, then it’s likely that a heat pump is suitable.

Heat pumps are at their most efficient when producing low temperatures. This means that the property needs to be well-insulated to reduce heat loss and, ideally, the heat pump should be paired with underfloor heating, which is a low temperature heating system, to create a warm home with low running costs.

Yes, we design all of our heat pump systems to provide your heating and domestic hot water demand. You won’t need an additional or back-up heat source.

Yes. Providing your property is suitable for a heat pump and the system has been designed correctly, it will heat your home year-round. We only ever supply heat pumps in projects where we know it will work.

We would work this out for you, taking the size of the property and the heat demand into account.

Yes, you should tell your electricity company that you are installing a heat pump. It’s important to check that the heat pump won’t cause any undue stress on your local network.

This is a really difficult question to answer, because it depends on what’s most suitable for the project and you as the homeowner! If you are looking for an efficient, low-carbon heat source and have an average-sized garden, then you might choose an air source heat pump. If you have a large plot, expect to do groundworks or are easily able to and are looking for a really consistent performance year-round, you might pick a ground source heat pump. Both are good options and whilst a ground source heat pump costs more, the Renewable Heat Incentive payments take this into account.

A rough rule is around three times the total floor area of the property. So, if you have a 100m ground floor and a 100m first floor, you have a 200m² house. This would mean you would need around 600m² available for the ground loops.

A correctly designed heat pump system in a well-insulated home will not be costly to run. Whilst electricity costs more than gas, for every unit of electrical energy a heat pump uses to extract warmth from the air, it typically outputs three times more as heat! With the government looking to phase out fossil fuels, it’s also likely that gas and oil will rise in price with electricity becoming cheaper and greener thanks to renewable generation.

There are two main grants available in England that can be used towards installing a heat pump.

The first is the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). This is a tariff-based scheme that is paid over seven years, offsetting the cost of the installation. The RHI is available until 31st March 2022 and providing the system is installed and commissioned by then, you would receive the tariff payments (which are fixed) for seven years. When the RHI ends, it’s set to be replaced by the Clean Heat Grant which is currently as consultation stage.

The second option is the Green Homes Grant. This is an upfront grant that can be used alongside the RHI, but the voucher amount will be deducted from any RHI payments. Read more about how to maximise the Green Homes Grant on our blog.

Yes, they do. We can also help you find an installer through our network of Registered Installers and support them with the MCS requirements, essential if you are looking to claim any government grants.

In terms of performance, the location of an air source heat pump has minimal effect. Usually, you locate an air source heat pump as close to the house as possible. You also need to consider any local planning restrictions, if there are any, and the MCS requirements – we will help with this.

Yes, this is possible. You will need to consider the distance between the property and the outbuilding as this will affect the amount of insulated flow and return pipework, which can add cost. You can also choose to site the heat pump in the outbuilding but keep the hot water cylinder in the house, which would reduce the amount of flow and returns.

When you heat a home with radiators, you are circulating hot water that is around 70-80°C to emit heat through a small surface area into the room/s. Because a heat pump is at its most efficient when producing low water temperatures, it is best to pair it with a low temperature heat emitter, like warm water underfloor heating. Underfloor heating covers the entire floor area, meaning that it can effectively heat the space with the water at much lower temperatures of around 40-45°C.

It is possible to have radiators, but to balance the efficiency of the heat pump with keeping your house warm using lower temperatures, they need to be much larger – around two to three times the size of standard radiators. If underfloor heating isn’t an option, you could also consider low surface temperature radiators. These are smaller but do cost considerably more than a standard radiator.

Every project is different, so it will depend on the specific heat pump you require. As a guide, for an average 200m² four-bed home, you would need around 1.4m x 0.8m for an air source heat pump plant room and an additional 2.1m x 0.8m for a ground source heat pump plant room, to give room for the ground source heat pump itself.

This depends on your motivation for considering a heat pump!

If you are looking to reduce your carbon emissions, become more sustainable and want to future-proof your home then a heat pump is appealing. The government is actively moving away from fossil fuels, so it’s likely that you will also benefit from lower running costs down the line while fossil fuels will become more expensive.

If you are purely looking to save on running costs right now compared to gas, then you wouldn’t see significant savings switching from a boiler to a heat pump.

Warm water underfloor heating is a tried-and-tested, reliable heating system. The heating tube embedded in the floor is incredibly strong and there are no joins – so no weak points – meaning the chance of leaking is incredibly slim (it would have to be damaged during installation). The serviceable parts of the system, like the manifold which controls the flow of warm water through the rooms, are visible and easily reachable.

Yes. Underfloor heating can be installed either directly over suspended timber floors or within the floor itself, either in between or over the joists. Our ClippaPlate^® system is a popular option.

Yes, you can install underfloor heating across different subfloors. For this type of example, in a renovation project, we would suggest LoPro^®Max.

LoPro^®Max is one of our low profile retrofit underfloor heating systems and can be installed over different subfloors. It includes a self-levelling compound, so providing the floors are brought up to a similar level before installation, the finished surface will be level throughout. The benefit of installing LoPro^®Max throughout the ground floor, rather than choosing a screed system for the extension, is that the underfloor heating will have the same response time.

Yes. Underfloor heating is designed in zones, so specific rooms can be controlled separately. You can even choose to create separate zones in a single space, like a large open-plan living/kitchen area, allowing you to set the perfect temperature.

Underfloor heating is compatible with most heat sources, including gas condensing boilers and heat pumps.

Most floor coverings can be used with underfloor heating. Hard surfaces like stone or ceramic tiles, or engineered wood, offer the best heat transfer as they are the most thermally conductive.

Yes, you can. We’d recommend that you choose a carpet and underlay with a combined tog value that’s less than 2.5.