Heat Pumps Today

14 Written by Mel Summers, Marketing Manager at Climalife Heat pumps – with the move away from fossil fuel-based products, it’s time to re-consider all the fluids inside As the UK Government looks to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050, the heating of virtually all buildings will need to be decarbonised. The phase out of fossil fuel boilers will help to meet these carbon reduction targets, and heat pumps will become an increasingly popular renewable heating solution. Heat pumps are often said to work like a fridge in reverse. They transfer heat from the outside air (Air Source), the ground (Ground Source) or from water (Water Source) into a building and then increase the temperature until it is suitable for use April | May 2023 Mel Summers, Marketing Manager at Climalife R E F R I G E R A N T S within a heating system. Air source heat pumps (ASHP) tend to have the largest market share and are the cheapest and easiest to install, however ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are considered more e‚cient. GSHPs have a longer lifespan and provide a constant course of heat across diƒerent seasons. They require pipes to be laid into the ground and therefore tend to be a bit more expensive to install. They are well suited to new builds, in particular apartments and social housing. It is estimated that the UK still has 23 million gas boilers and with the ban from 2035 on installing any new gas boiler, the government has introduced its Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), aimed at incentivising and increasing the deployment of low carbon heating technologies. Grants are available in the region of £5,000 for an ASHP or biomass boiler, and £6,000 for a GSHP. Refrigerants – their role and improved profiles An essential component of any heat pump is the refrigerant, required for the vapour compression cycle which over many years has been mainly R-410A and R-134a. With the focus on sustainability, the global warming potential (GWP) of R-410A of 2088 means that it is unsuitable for new equipment. Equipment manufacturers are now moving to using lower GWP refrigerants such as R 32 (GWP 675) and R-454B (GWP 466) instead. Some mono-block hermetic systems with low charge sizes use R-290 or R-134a. Some heat pumps, mainly ground source, that have historically used R-407C, are now moving to R-454C or R-455A, both with a GWP of 148. Some of the lower GWP refrigerants have a degree of flammability but as long as the installer is trained in the safety and installation of such refrigerants, their use should be embraced. Long term, R-1234yf (GWP 4) or R-1234ze (GWP 7) will be used instead of R-134a, however R-513A (GWP 631) is a short-term easy switch. In