Ground Source Heat Pumps Plymouth
Ground source heat pumps in Plymouth are a bigger job than air source, and they are worth doing properly. Get the ground loop wrong, or size the system by guesswork, and the customer pays for it every winter for the next twenty years.
HPE Airflow SW Ltd is run by Alan Carruthers, a Daikin certified installer who has spent fifteen of his twenty plus years in the trade on heat pumps. Daikin featured one of his installations in a national case study, and they bring him in to train other firms’ engineers and to train architects on heat pump design. He also holds the heat pump design module, which is the qualification developers and architects ask for, and the one that matters most on a ground source job.
Ground Source Heat Pumps
A ground source heat pump draws heat from the ground rather than the air. Pipes filled with water and antifreeze are buried outside, either in long horizontal trenches or in vertical boreholes. The ground a metre or two down stays at a steady temperature all year, so the system has a warmer and more consistent heat source to work with than an air source unit does in February.
That steadiness is the point. A well designed ground source system will normally run at a higher efficiency than air source, and it will hold that efficiency through the coldest part of the year, which is exactly when you are asking most of it. The trade off is the groundworks. You need space, and you need the digging or the drilling done before anything else happens.
Where ground source suits best. It needs land and groundworks, so most of our ground source work is outside the city: Ivybridge and the surrounding villages, Kingsbridge and the South Hams, and rural property around Launceston.
Horizontal loops or boreholes
Horizontal ground loops are laid in trenches, usually about a metre and a half down, across an area of garden or field. They are the cheaper option where you have the land for it. The ground is reinstated afterwards and once it has settled you would not know it was there. Ground array systems, of the type Kensa build, work on the same principle laid out across a wider area.
Vertical boreholes are drilled straight down, so they need far less surface area. They cost more because of the drilling, but on a tight site they are often the only way to make ground source work at all.
Ground source generally needs a good deal more outside space than most people expect, which is why the survey comes first and the quote comes after. Which option suits your property depends on the space you have, the ground itself and the heat your building needs. That is a survey question, not a phone question.
Free Surveys On Ground Source Heat Pumps
No charge for the visit and no pressure. We look at the ground, the space and the heat the building needs, then quote properly. Call 07789 373208.
Is your property suitable?
Ground source suits some properties and not others. In and around Plymouth it works best for new builds and self builds where the groundworks are happening anyway, rural properties with land coming off oil, larger homes across the South Hams and towards Tavistock and Ivybridge, barn conversions and renovations where the floors are already coming up, and commercial or public buildings of the kind we do for Cornwall Council. If you have a small garden in the middle of Plymouth, ground source is probably not your answer, and we will say so at the survey. Air source is usually the better route in that case, and it qualifies for the same grant.
What our ground source heat pump installation includes
A free survey with a proper look at the ground and the space available. A room by room heat loss calculation. Full system design, including the ground loop, the emitters and the hot water storage. Coordination of the groundworks or the drilling. Supply and installation of the heat pump and the ground array. All the pipework and all the electrical work, done in house by an NICEIC Approved Contractor. Then commissioning and a proper handover. Because we do the plumbing, the refrigeration and the electrics ourselves, you are not chasing three trades to get one system finished.
Boiler Upgrade Scheme
Ground source heat pumps qualify for the government grant, currently £7,500, on the same basis as air source. We handle the paperwork, the heat loss calculations and the application for you, and the quote you receive already has it deducted. Read the full page.
Underfloor Heating
Ground source and underfloor heating are a natural pair. Underfloor runs at a low flow temperature, which is exactly where a heat pump is at its most efficient, and it spreads the heat evenly across the room instead of relying on one hot panel on a wall. We install both wet and dry underfloor heating.
Unvented Hot Water Cylinder
A heat pump heats water to a lower temperature than a boiler does, so it needs more storage to keep up with a household. Most installations therefore include a new cylinder, which gives mains pressure hot water throughout the property and frees up the loft and airing cupboard space the old tanks were taking.
Heat Pump Servicing
Ground source systems are long lived, and an annual service is what keeps them that way. It protects the efficiency, the running costs and the manufacturer’s warranty. We service every major make, whether we installed it or not. Read the full page.
Heat Pump Repair
If your ground source system is underperforming, short cycling or throwing fault codes, we can find out why. Often the fault is not the heat pump at all but the way the system around it was designed or set up. F-Gas certified, with a fast local response across Plymouth.
Air Source Heat Pump Installation
If ground source is not right for your property, air source usually is. No groundworks, lower installation cost, same grant. Read the full page.
Renewable Energy Systems
Ground source is one of several routes to a low carbon home. We also install air source heat pumps, air to water systems and air conditioning that heats as well as cools. At the survey we will tell you which of them actually suits your building and your budget.
Areas we cover for ground source heat pumps
Plymouth, Plympton, Plymstock, Ivybridge, Tavistock, Kingsbridge and the South Hams, Looe, Launceston, Okehampton, Bodmin and St Austell.
Contact HPE Airflow SW Ltd
Call 07789 373208 or send an enquiry and we will arrange a free survey at a time that suits you. Gas Safe 221881, NICEIC Approved Contractor D602867, F-Gas 2000776, Daikin certified CI35, WaterSafe approved, heat pump installer qualification and design module. Open Monday to Friday 7am to 8pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm, Sunday 9am to 1pm.