Renewable Energy Systems Plymouth
Renewable energy systems in Plymouth, designed and installed by HPE Airflow SW Ltd. Heat pumps, air to water systems and underfloor heating, sized properly for the building and wired in by the same firm that fits them. Most of our customers claim the government grant towards the cost, and we handle that application for them.
What counts as a renewable energy system
Renewable heating means taking energy from a source that replenishes itself rather than burning a fuel that does not. In a domestic property in this part of the country that means one thing above all others: a heat pump.
A heat pump takes warmth that is already present in the outside air or in the ground and lifts it to a temperature useful for heating a house and its hot water. It uses electricity to run that process rather than to become the heat itself, which is why it delivers considerably more heat energy than the electricity it consumes. Nothing that burns oil, LPG or gas can do that, because a burner can only ever give back the energy contained in the fuel.
That single difference is what makes the technology worth fitting, and it is why the government grant exists.
Air source heat pumps
The most common renewable system we install, and the right answer for the large majority of homes around Plymouth. The unit sits outside the building, takes heat from the air and needs no land, so it suits terraced and semi-detached property as readily as it suits a farmhouse.
Installation is quicker and cheaper than ground source, and the equipment has moved on considerably in the fifteen years Alan has been fitting them. Modern units extract heat from air well below freezing. What decides whether one performs is the design: a room by room heat loss calculation, radiators or underfloor sized for a lower flow temperature, and controls set up to run the system low and slow.
Read more on air source heat pump installation.
Ground source heat pumps
Ground source takes heat from the earth rather than the air, through pipework laid in trenches or dropped down boreholes. Ground temperature barely moves through the year, so a ground source system runs more efficiently in the depths of winter than an air source one, which is exactly when you need it most.
The trade-off is groundworks. It needs land, machinery and a bigger budget, so it suits rural property with space around it rather than a town garden. Where those conditions exist it is the strongest renewable system available for a house.
Read more on ground source heat pumps.
Air to water, and what it feeds
Most domestic heat pumps we fit are air to water systems. The heat pump warms water, and that water then does the work through radiators, underfloor heating and the hot water cylinder.
This is where renewable installations succeed or fail, and it has little to do with the heat pump itself. A boiler pushes water round at a high temperature. A heat pump runs cooler, so the things the water feeds have to be sized for it. Radiators may need upsizing. The cylinder usually needs replacing with one that has a larger coil, because a cylinder designed for a boiler will not recover properly on a heat pump.
Fitting a heat pump to a system that was never adjusted for it is the single most common reason people are disappointed with renewable heating. See air to water heat pumps, underfloor heating and hot water cylinders.
The grant
Nearly every heat pump customer we install for claims the government grant, and we handle the application through the scheme we work under. The grant is taken off the quote before you see it, so you are not laying the money out and waiting to claim it back.
The paperwork behind it matters more than people expect. The heat loss calculation has to be done properly and the installation has to meet the standard, which is a large part of why we do the design work ourselves rather than fitting to somebody else’s specification. Read more on the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
What we do not fit, and why
We install the renewable systems we can design, fit, wire and stand behind. Heat pumps, air to water systems, underfloor heating and the controls and cylinders that go with them.
Solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and biomass are renewable technologies but they are not ours, and we would rather say so than take on work outside what we do well. If your interest is solar or biomass we will tell you plainly that you want a different firm.
Where those technologies sit alongside a heat pump, we work with them. A property with solar panels already fitted pairs well with a heat pump, because the electricity the panels generate can run it.
Why one firm matters on a renewable installation
A heat pump installation is a refrigeration job, a plumbing job and an electrical job happening at once. Most firms hold one or two of those and subcontract the rest, which is where the delays and the finger-pointing come from.
Alan is Gas Safe registered 221881, F-Gas certified 2000776, an NICEIC Approved Contractor D602867, WaterSafe approved and a Daikin certified installer CI35. That means the refrigeration circuit, the pipework, the cylinder, the electrical supply and the certification all happen on the same visit by the same firm.
Daikin featured one of our Plymouth installations in a national case study, and bring us in to train other companies’ engineers and architects.
What renewable energy systems do you install?
Air source and ground source heat pumps, air to water systems, underfloor heating and the cylinders and controls that go with them. We do not fit solar or biomass, and we will say so rather than take on work outside what we do well.
Is a heat pump actually renewable?
Yes. It takes heat that is already present in the air or the ground rather than burning a fuel, and it delivers considerably more heat energy than the electricity it uses to run. It also gets cleaner every year as the electricity grid does.
Air source or ground source?
Air source suits most homes, needs no land and costs less to install. Ground source needs space for trenches or boreholes and runs more efficiently through winter. We fit both, so the survey decides rather than our preference.
Will I need new radiators?
Possibly some of them. A heat pump runs at a lower flow temperature than a boiler, so certain radiators need upsizing to give out the same heat. We work out which ones at the survey and include them in the quote.
Is there a grant?
Nearly every customer we install for claims the government grant, and we handle the application. It is deducted from your quote before you see it rather than claimed back afterwards.
Which areas do you cover?
Plymouth and out across Devon and Cornwall, including Ivybridge, Tavistock, Okehampton, Kingsbridge, Looe, Launceston, Bodmin and St Austell.
Book a free survey
Call 07789 373208 or send an enquiry. The survey is where the design happens: room by room heat loss, what the existing radiators and cylinder can do, where the unit can go and what the grant will cover. You get an itemised written quote afterwards. We cover Plymouth and out across Devon and Cornwall, including Ivybridge, Tavistock, Okehampton, Launceston, Bodmin and St Austell.
Areas we cover. Ivybridge, Tavistock, Okehampton, Launceston, Bodmin and St Austell, where properties off the gas grid see the strongest case.