Paul Braithwaite talks to Garry Broadbent and Rebecca Hill of ICS Heat Pump Technology, a company that is dedicated to forging partnerships in the emergent heat pump market
Garry Broadbent, managing director of ICS Heat Pump Technology, and marketing
manager Rebecca Hill, add value for the installers of their equipment from day one.

Contractors who sign up for
the installer partner scheme are offered:
· Training - levels one and two
· Sales support
· Installation support
· Heat pump information website
· Partner branded literature
· National advertising campaigns

The scheme is designed to provide the partner installer with a low-risk, no-cost, opportunity to enter the fast-growing heat pump market. Broadbent says: 'There is an educational job to do: first to wean installers off the condensing boiler, then to sell consumers heat pumps.'
But he says one excellent selling point is a saving of at least 20% against the cost of running a
condensing boiler.

Reciprocal link

Hill says: 'The company is providing full technical and marketing support for the installers who sign up with ICS. We want to have them active in the heat pump market as quickly as possible.'
But, she insists, it must be done correctly.

Hills says: 'We have put together a complete marketing package. For instance, the heat pump information website works with a reciprocal link to the installer's site - or it can be a standalone site if the installer has not got a website, or ICS will create one for an installer.'

The website will offer key heat pump information, including system design. It will also feature the
complete DeLonghi-Climaveneta heat pump product range, along with the benefits of choosing a heat pump, such as carbon reduction and the fuel cost savings.

'ICS Heat Pump Technology has thought long and hard about the marketing package and supporting sales materials,' says Hill.

There will also be generic printed literature and targeted direct-mailing materials. And for a small extra cost, it can be printed with the installer's details.

Broadbent reckons he has been quite successful already with some 40 installer-partners signed up.
But he wants more, and will be targeting firms during the next two years.
But, Hill insists, the company wants installers who recognise this technology is a selling opportunity for them, something that will drive their business forward.
'They will have to attend training courses,' she says.

Level one takes installers through all the preinstallation procedures so they are able to discuss consumer's needs and specify equipment.

Growing market

Level two happens after the first order. ICS commissioning engineers go to site with the installer to show the installation engineers what to do.

Broadbent says: 'We recognised the growing market in the UK and Ireland for residential heat pumps, as well as the growing commercial market.

'We were aware DeLonghi had a range of products that it was not actively selling in the UK. It was selling well in France and Germany, both of which account for about 100,000 residential units every year. About 70-80% of this is air source.'

The group has been dealing with Italian manufacturer Climaveneta and DeLonghi for more than ten years within the commercial and industrial sector. About eight months ago, ICS offered to deliver heat pumps and support for the domestic sector. It was offered an exclusive deal. ICS Heat Pump Technology has now been active in the market for five months.

'The products are up to date and made in Europe for our climate,' says Broadbent. It fact, DeLonghi-Climaveneta manufactured its first residential heat pump in 1979.

There is a team of 12 at ICS Heat Pump Technology, backed by the group's 45 field-based refrigerant technicians, a telemarketing department, IT, and the administration staff.

And head office will retain this backup function for the foreseeable future, although the sales and
marketing staff will grow along with the heat pump business.

Because the company is putting a lot of money behind the launch of ICS Heat Pump Technology, it has done its research. The residential boiler market buys and installs about 1.5 million units each year.

'The only way in for heat pump manufacturers is through the installer base,' Broadbent says.
There are a few players in the market, Broadbent insists, mostly offering ground source - mostly to self-build - and he estimates this is worth about 4,000 units a year.

On top of this, he says, there are potentially some 200,000 spec builds on a good year, and about another 150,000 for social housing being built.

Few players

'This new-build market is one sector we are looking at,' he says.

There is also the retrofit sector, but this brings its challenges. He says: 'The heat pump likes to work as far down the curve as possible. There is no point trying to mimic a boiler.'
A heat pump working at 35˚C with underfloor heating will bring a saving over a gas boiler of 20-25% - seasonally adjusted.

But he reckons that against oil and LPG - there are 2M installations in this sector - the saving could be as much as 55%.

The big market is still the main retrofit market - replacing mains
gas boilers.
'Here it is about how to deliver the heat to the lounge or dining room effectively.'
Broadbent says there are two ways. One is to adequately size the radiators, perhaps replacing a number of ordinary radiators with triple-layer ones.

'But some radiators may not need replacing because they are already oversized to the necessary degree. It is simply a case of the appliance staying on for longer.'

For areas such as a hall - where doors to the outside are opened and closed, and there is an occasional vast heat loss - hydronic fan-coil units can be used.

DeLonghi-Climaveneta heat pumps can be reversed so that cool air can also be circulated.
He says: 'On a retrofit application, we can provide a home climate pack for those who are so inclined. Take, for instance, a bedroom or a child's nursery - we can put in a reversible unit that will still provide hot water as well as cooling.'

ICS Heat Pump Technology holds a stock of triple-layer radiators and fan coil units so that installer-partners can play it safe.

'An installer may wish to try to use the client's existing radiator, but might also warn him or her that it might be necessary to change the existing radiators for a larger one or a fan coil unit,' Broadbent says.

He added that a number of people who owned LPG, or oil-fired, boilers were quite willing to pay the extra for fan-coil units or triple-layer radiators to get rid of the high-cost LPG or oil system.
He says: 'We operate a best advice policy. We look at a property, an application and the installer
partner's needs.'

The company also offers heat pumps with simultaneous outputs.

'One of the issues with a heat pump is the amount of hot water it will deliver. The single-output heat pump works with, for instance, underfloor heating on the ground floor and oversized radiators upstairs.

Underfloor heating

'What usually happens is that water is mixed down for the underfloor heating, to about 35˚C, while feeding the upstairs with water at around 50˚C. There is a feed-off going to a vented or unvented cylinder of hot water. This can be inefficient, causing the heat pump to provide a low coeffcient of performance,' Broadbent says.

He adds that most of the load is ground-floor related, with the heat pump ticking away nicely, leading the unit with an efficient COP. If the hot water is drawn off, the heat pump immediately transfers all the load to the primary heat exchanger to top up the cylinder, while reducing the heat to the 55˚C

system upstairs. But these double units will provide hot water and heating simultaneously with a very high efficiency, he says.

There are other benefits from a heat pump. For instance, take the F-gas regulations, which have been introduced to reduce the potential for refrigerant leaks in a building.

He says: 'The best way to minimise leaks in a building's air conditioning system is to engineer them out. This is by putting all the refrigerant in a place where no damage will occur and it will not be tampered with - outside in a compound, or in a plant room. From the heat pump, there is
nothing but a flexible, insulated water pipe.'

Broadbent reckons the next step- change in heat pumps will be when they switch to CO2, but this will not be for about ten years. The good news is that they will be able to swop the existing unit for one of the next generation.

Want to be an installer partner?
Visit www.icsheatpumps.co.uk