Installing a Heat Pump? - Get your Home Ready

You have made the choice to install an heat pump, but your home’s energy efficiency will play a large role in how well your heat pump works for you. Heat pumps play a huge role in making your home at a constant temperature. You want to make sure that you reduce the amount of heat that your house loses through roofs, floors, windows, doors, and walls so that your heater works more efficiently when you install it.

Increasing your Heat Pumps Efficiency

Insulation

Insulating your home refers to blocking any gaps in your house through which heat from inside can escape and allow cold air from outside to get in. This usually involves adding insulation that blocks or resists the flow of heat, forcing it to remain in one place.

Wall Insulation

If you built your house after 1935, it might have cavity (or hollow) walls, which make it easy to insulate. This will entail drilling into the walls and pumping the insulation into them. You need to get an expert to do the installation for you, but you will recover the cost once you start saving money through heat retention. If your house has solid walls instead of cavity walls, you can opt for outside insulation, albeit this is a little more difficult alternative.

Existing construction requirements will ensure that all homes built today are extraordinarily well insulated, making a heat pump a perfect heat source for such properties and lowering operating expenses. There is good news for buildings built after the late 1990s since they will all have enough insulation. This implies that installing a heat pump will be an easy option because they retain more heat and are preferable for lower-temperature heating systems.

Loft Insulation

Loft insulation refers to adding material to your roof space that acts as a barrier to prevent heat loss by trapping the heat inside the house. This insulation is simple to perform. First, you need to ensure that you have the appropriate u-value of 0.16W/m2k. As a result, you will need to have 270mm thick wool insulation put in your loft. The professional will either install the insulating material between the joists or the rafters. You may install it yourself or take advantage of a grant to have it done by specialists.

Double (or triple) glazing

Windows offer the ideal environment for heat to escape, and improving them can guarantee that your home is ready for the installation of a heat pump. Double-glazed windows are perfect for helping to maximize the potential of your heat pump. Replacing single-glazed windows with double-glazed windows will help you save more than £100 in heat expenses per year, among other benefits.

With double-glazing, you will make your house warmer by retaining heat. Moreover, you will not require as much energy to heat it. You will be able to minimise your carbon footprint and energy expenditures by using less heat. This reduces temperatures and the demands on your heating system, leading to lower energy bills at the end of the day.

Other advantages of double-glazing

While the main benefits of double-glazing are retaining heat and saving energy, they are not the only advantages. Double-glazing can assist in minimising noise by reducing the quantity of sound getting into your house.

Decide Which Type of Heat Pump You Want to Install

There are two major types of heat pumps: ground source and air-source heat pumps. As the name suggests, a ground-source heat pump comprises a network of pipes that an expert installs in the ground to fetch heat and transfer it to the house. The heating system consists of a refrigerant which, after extracting warm air from outside, compresses it to make it warmer, then transfers it to the house.

On the other hand, an air-source heat pump is attached to the exterior wall of your house, and it resembles an air conditioning unit. Just like its ground-source counterpart, an air-source heat pump traps warm air from outside and compresses it using a refrigerant to make it warmer. It then transfers the warm air into your house to warm it.

When choosing the right type of heat pump for your house, a few factors might affect your decision. First, the size of your home is the greatest determinant, and the budget you have in place for the installation. If you have a garden in your home, its size will determine the type of heater you can install and how accessible it is from the house.

Air Source or Ground Source Heat Pump?

Find The Right Person To Perform the Installation

How efficient your heat pump will depend on how well it was installed. Its initial design has to be planned, calculated and installed to offer the best performance. Before settling on the person or company to install your air source heat pump, ensure you do your due diligence first. Search online and seek reviews from people who have had installations before you. Look for a professional with an excellent track record and perfect services and aftercare. Look for someone who is MCS accredited, especially if you want to apply for a grant to assist you with the installation cost.

After performing the insulations and other measures to make your home energy-efficient, get in touch with a qualified manufacturer or technician who will come to your home to calculate the heat loss and radiators in every room. They will also inspect the pipework and the space where you want them to install the external part of the heat pump.