GreenGenUK installs 8.5kW Mitsubishi Ecodan air source heat pump to run alongside existing solar PV array and replace LPG heating system.

An 8.5kW Mitsubishi Ecodan air source heat pump installation in St.Buryan

Having installed a 4kW solar PV array through GreenGen towards the end of 2015, our customer was so pleased with the manner and quality of our work, along with the benefits they were now receiving through Feed-in Tariff payments and energy savings, that we were then tasked with the project of upgrading their existing, traditional LPG system to a more economic, renewable alternative.

After carrying out a site survey and a detailed heat loss calculation of the property that told us exactly how much heat the property demands, we put forward an 8.5kW Mitsubishi Ecodan heat pump as the most viable, beneficial solution.

System Specifications

The system installed consisted of the following:

– 8.5kW Mitsubishi Ecodan Air Source Heat Pump
– 210l Single-coil Unvented Hot Water Cylinder
– Upgrades to existing Radiator System, as required

Air source heat pumps generate usable heat for our homes and businesses by upgrading energy stored within the air surrounding a property. Energy stored within the air passes into the unit, mixed with a special fluid and compressed in order to upgrade the heat to usable temperature for space and water heating.

This process makes an air source heat pump unit capable of outputting over three times the energy they take to run.

As heat pumps emit heat at lower temperatures over longer time periods, it is often a requirement to consider the impact this might have on the existing wet heating system. As part of our quotation and installation package, we specify the changes that are required to ensure the maximum performance of our renewable heating installations and the costs involved. In this instance, we were tasked with installing both the heat pump and the amends to the radiators.

System Benefits

This 8.5kW Mitsubishi Ecodan air source heat pump now caters for 100 percent of the customer’s hot water and space heating requirement.

The customer now experiences the following benefits from their air source heat pump installation:

– Annual savings over LPG of £444
– £767 annual income from the Renewable Heat Incentive, for first seven years
– Up to 50 percent lower carbon emissions, compared to their LPG system

This correlates to a total yearly benefit of £1188.

The Renewable Heat Incentive

The Renewable Heat Incentive, more commonly known as the RHI, is a government-led scheme that pays customers for the renewable heat their system generates. The scheme was introduced to encourage home and business owners to uptake renewable heating technologies as part of a wider initiative to cut the UK’s carbon emissions.

The RHI pays domestic customers for every unit of heat generated by their heating technology at a set rate over a period of seven years. These payments, combined with the energy savings that can be made, mean that air source heat pumps regularly repay themselves within the seven-year payment period.

For more information on the Renewable Heat Incentive, visit our Renewable Incentives page.

Combining Air Source Heating with Solar PV

Combining two or more renewable heating technologies together will enhance the financial and environmental benefits of both installations.

As this customer had previously installed a solar PV system through GreenGenUK, the customer will now be able to partly run their heat pump through excess, unused generation from their solar system.

Typically, any unused solar electricity is sent back to the grid, as per the Feed-in Tariff, but by combining solar with an air source heat pump allows the extra energy to be used to generate free hot water, even space heating. This reduces the running costs of their air source unit and enhances the returns of the solar PV array.