Paul Braithwaite talks to Tony Bowen, President of the Heat Pump Association
Tony Bowen, president of the Heat Pump Association (HPA), is soft spoken. He might not raise his voice, but he does exude passion for his subject. 'The heat pump has come a long way,' he says.

Bowen reckons many of the drawbacks associated with heat pumps - such as the lower water temperatures supplied for heating - have been overcome. He also says efficiencies have increased significantly.

There are, he adds, thousands upon thousands of heat pumps in the world - and all working
perfectly well. He cited applications in Germany and Nigeria - the first of which operates with very low temperatures, and the other with very high temperatures and high humidity.

Key place
He says: 'The commercial sector fully accepts that heat pumps work extremely well, but there is still a great deal of caution in the domestic arena.'

Now - with the higher cost of fuel and the need to reduce carbon emissions - the heat pump is being considered for the domestic arena, he says.

So, he reasons, while the capital cost of a heat pump is obviously higher, it, nevertheless has a key place in the market because of the life-cycle cost and advantages it provides.

He says, compared with the domestic sector, the commercial sector can be far more complicated. But, 'the limiting factor is the ability to install correctly'.

Most installers in the commercial sector, he says, are competent but it is a new technology for domestic installers. He says it is for this reason that the HPA is a supporter of the Micro-generation Certification Scheme. Bowen says the HPA is working with other micro-generation
technologies. It also, he says, got together with government department Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) a couple of years ago. This was to pull together the Micro-generation Certification Scheme. He says the idea was that individuals could go to a micro-generation installer certified under the scheme, who would also use certified equipment.

'This is so householders can be sure the installer understands how to install the equipment correctly,' Bowen says. The downside for installers is that it costs £1,800 to become certified. He adds that all qualified installers and manufacturers are listed in the BRE Green Book.

Bowen insists that, as far as heat pumps are concerned, there is definitely no problem with new builds - they can be introduced as part of the design process. Retrofit in the existing housing stock will require consideration of the type of system to be installed, given the prevailing parameters of the building, he says.

Hot water
'For domestic hot-water services, some heat pumps will supply water at 60˚C, the majority will produce 55˚C, while all will produce 50˚C. This means that, in some instances, domestic hot- water heating requires at least an immersion heater to take the temperature up to 60˚C for the
control of legionella.

'The key is to make sure the hot water is heated by the pump to its maximum temperature, and then topped up by the immersion heater where necessary.''

In Swedish applications, he adds, the heat pump does about 70% of the work, while the immersion heater adds the 30%. 'But then the cost of the country's hydroelectric is far less than we pay in the UK,' he says.

Here, he says, the target for the heat pump is 100% of household heating and hot water.
'This 100% is not only feasible, but also realistic for many householders across the country.'

Some manufacturers, he says, suggest their heat pumps will give a coefficient of performance of between 3.5 and seven. Bowen reckons the seasonal heat-pump performance factor is an average of three for an air source and 3.5 for a ground source heat pump.

In the commercial sector, Bowen reports the take-up of reverse-cycle heat pump systems that also provide cooling. More than 90% of split systems sold, he says, offer heating as well as cooling.

'The heating season is a lot longer than the cooling season in Britain, although this depends on the heat load or losses in the office or factory. Such products provide a year-round environment for the occupants of the building.

'For larger installations, the VRF systems are giving selective heating and cooling locally on demand. The heat drawn off in the cooling process in one part of the building can be reclaimed and used to warm another part of the building.

'For example, with this type of system installed in a building, in the morning the sun comes up in the east, so the offices on this side of the building will probably need cooling. On the west side, the offices are cold, so they will need heating. With this system the
heat generated in the cooling process is sent to the other side of the building.

Energy performance
'In the afternoon the cooling will be needed on the other side of the building, and the heat in the east - the system will change as needed. This will give a generous COP and, further, the energy performance of the building will be superb,' he says. And heat pumps, he says, continue to improve.

'The Standard Assessment Procedure figures for heat pumps are already out of date, because the technology has moved on. The Heat Pump Association and its members are working with BRE on testing the average efficiency of the heat pump.

'The HPA has had eight consultations - with DEFRA, CLG, BERR, Carbon Trust, and EST - which all require the HPA's input. We are happy to give it,' he says.

And, Bowen insists, they are listening. 'We are getting through to the people who matter. Ten years ago, when the HPA first started getting involved, no one in government knew what a heat pump was. This is changing'.

'The HPA pitch has been that it does not grandstand, unlike some in the green renewables lobby. It answers questions factually and correctly,' he says.

The HPA, he says, is full of engineers, and these are, by their very nature, down-to-earth, honest people.

'Government now, mostly, knows what heat pumps can do, and is working to see how they can be incorporated into their plans.'

Bowen suggests that all renewable technologies are costly, and government has to face up to this.

'The energy profile of the country is changing - heat pumps are a part of this change. In three or four years' time, the heat pump will be much more the norm.'

He suggests that what is focusing minds now is that by 2020 the UK must have 15% of its energy coming from renewables.

Government is, he says, beginning to think of incentives, but it is weak at communicating the
messages down the line.

'When it does come up with initiatives, such as the Micro-generation scheme, it fails to promote them. This leaves those firms that have parted with their money in a sort of limbo, with the public not knowing anything about it.'

So it is left to the manufacturers to push the scheme, which, adds Bowen, they are doing, putting effort and money into promoting the scheme.

The association has linked to the MCS and the Ground-source Heat Pump Association, a contractor organisation, on the creation of a series of training courses for installers.