Welcome to Heat Pump House, your resource for everything related to Heat Pumps and energy efficient heating for your home.
What is a Heat Pump?
Heat pumps are an energy efficient way to provide hot water and heating to your property. They work by extracting heat from the air outside your property or the ground beneath it and condensing this heat into a liquid or wet heating system.
Heat pumps are considered by many to be the future of home heating because they produce more heat energy than they use in electrical energy to run.
Air source heat pumps use an external fan mechanism to extract heat from the air and pass it into your home through pipes to a hot water cylinder which connects your heating system to provide heat in your home.
Ground source heat pumps work in a similar way but extract heat from boreholes dug in the ground to heat water in a network of pipes in your home.
Water source heat pumps work in exactly the same way as ground source pumps, but extract heat through pipes laid in a nearby body of water.
Here is more about what a heat pump is and the benefits each type can offer you.
Types of Heat Pump
There 4 main types of heat pump available on the market currently, these are;
| Heat Pump Type | Power | Installation Requirements |
| Air Source Heat Pump | Electricity | External space with good air flow for the external fan to attach to the wall. |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | Electricity | External space to excavate an install the ground loop. You may also need boreholes to gather heat. |
| Water Source Heat Pump | Electricity | External pipes directly to an established water source near your property, like a lake, river or a borehole. |
| Hybrid Heat Pump | Electricity and Gas, oil or LPG | Hybrid heat pumps are usually a combined traditional gas or oil boiler with an air source heat pump included. They work best where the climate is changeable or temperatures get very cold in winter. |
Here are more details on the types of heat pump available.
Popular Heat Pump Brands
Here are some of the most popular and well known heat pump manufacturers and heat pump brands.
| Company Name | Air Source Heat Pumps | Ground Source Heat Pumps | Hybrid Heat Pumps |
|---|---|---|---|
| LG Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Dimplex Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Calorex Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Mitsubishi Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| CTC Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Nibe Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Daikin Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Vaillant Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Samsung Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Panasonic Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Danfoss Heat Pumps | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Kensa Heat Pumps | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Should You Get a Heat Pump?
Heat pumps are expensive. Air source heat pumps start from around £6,000 with ground source heat pumps priced from around £10,000. However, there is help available. Take a look at what government funding is available for heat pumps.
It’s not just the cost of buying the heat pump, the installation will need to be carried out by a qualified professional so there can be a considerable cost here too.
If you need a new boiler, have a very large home or want to reduce your carbon footprint because of the environmental impacts that gas and oil-fired boilers have, then it’s worth considering installing a heat pump at home.
However, be sure to consider them;
- the average cost of heating your home for the past 5 years
- the amount of money your heat pump will save you each year
- any home improvements you’d need to pay for alongside the heat pump, like underfloor heating or larger radiators
Then you can add the cost of the heat pump, installation and annual maintenance fees to calculate how long it will take you to earn back the financial investment you have made on your new heat pump.
You will also need to check if you need to get planning permission to install a heat pump on your property.