ASHP installation - great new invention

[JohnMo]

Thought the title may drag you in - this is the rubbish installers see, hail the buffer makes your life simple - not the home owner that pays the bills.

 

https://www.installeronline.co.uk/heating/hewer-launches-under-cylinder-solution-to-support-heat-pump-installations/

[SteamyTea]

Had a quick skim though, seems like a reasonable idea.

Not idea how it will affect overall SCoP.

[sharpener]

34 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

Not idea how it will affect overall SCoP.

 

Will make it worse. 

 

The cutaway view here shows the main active component is a standard plate HX, and from the description is it clear this is used to provide separation between the HP loop and a pre-existing heating system.

 

Assuming there is the typical dT of 5 C between primary and secondary of the HX it means the HP will have to run 5C hotter for the same heat delivered to the home. It will not reduce the need for larger emitters in many instances, in fact it will make this more of a requirement to get reasonable CoPs. Their video is misleading about this.

 

I don't see why they are targeting social housing in particular, or emphasise the saving on glycol. Anti-freeze valves are a readily available alternative.

 

The remote controllable backup heater is novel but I can't see what form it takes. It does not seem to have a standard immersion heater boss, and if more than 3kW will need a new power supply to the airing cupboard. As it is designed to fit under the HW cylinder it would not appear to avoid the need for a new cyl.

 

I would not have one.

[SteamyTea]

15 minutes ago, sharpener said:

I don't see why they are targeting social housing in particular, or emphasise the saving on glycol. Anti-freeze valves are a readily available alternative.

I suspect it is easier to deal with one company that manages a few thousand houses, than a few thousand customers that have 1 house each.

The glycol saving is probably a real saving if it is changed on a regular basis, as it should be.

[JamesPa]

2 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Thought the title may drag you in - this is the rubbish installers see, hail the buffer makes your life simple - not the home owner that pays the bills.

 

https://www.installeronline.co.uk/heating/hewer-launches-under-cylinder-solution-to-support-heat-pump-installations/

@johnmo thanks for flagging this. 

 

So its a plate heat exchanger built into a plinth, especially designed to increase householder running costs by perhaps ~15% - 30%, targeted at those least able to afford it and institutional specifiers who haven't got a scooby.  The voiceover to the ad is worth listening to for a laugh.  Apparently the device also means that radiators will not need replacing (in a parallel universe presumably, where the laws of thermodynamics don't apply)

 

Isn't free market capitalism wonderful!

Edited Wednesday at 10:40 by JamesPa