Ground Source Heat Pumps Power Underfloor Heating

We have written before about ground source heat pumps and their incredible energy efficiency, so it is always good to see more modern developments making use of this excellent green technology in concert with underfloor heating. A new social housing estate outside of Pontefract, West Yorkshire has been installing ground source heat pumps in order to provide the £5 million project with a good source of renewable energy.

The heat pumps are being installed by Sheffield-based engineering firm Danfoss Heat Pumps UK, who have worked with the primary construction firm Mansell before on another social housing development in South Yorks. There, they impressed the project manager with their high levels of technical support for the contractors and the ultimate success of their installation on the Rotherham estate. Once in place the pumps will ensure that there is a constant supply of hot water and heat for the underfloor heating system and the radiators in the homes, by extracting heat from the ground and transferring it to a liquid refrigerant circulating in vertically-buried pipework in the back gardens of the houses themselves. This liquid eventually evaporates and the compressed gas heats up before being passed on to a condenser. This changes is back to a liquid, albeit a much warmed one, and this is what goes to power the radiators, boilers and underfloor heating systems in the building.

Speaking to The Star newspaper, Danfoss director Chris Dale noted that “an increasing number of social housing providers are investing in heat pumps both to reduce carbon emissions and to provide their tenants with a means of low cost heating. This is preventing them from falling into fuel poverty due to the impact of rising energy prices.”