What is....

This section is to provide you with an overview on how each of our system types actually work.

Click on the titled links below for each product.

• Split Air Conditioning Units
• Swimming Pool Heaters
• Air source heat pumps (ASHP)
• Ground source Heat Pumps (GSHP)

Split Air Conditioning Units

Most people think that air conditioners lower the temperature in their rooms simply by pumping cool air in. What's really happening is the heat from the warm air in the room is being removed and cycled back in as cooled air. This cycle continues until the room reaches the desired thermostat temperature.

How it works:

An air conditioner is basically a refrigerator without the insulated box. It uses the evaporation of a refrigerant to provide cooling or heating. The mechanics of the evaporation cycle are the same in a refrigerator as in an air conditioning unit.

This is how the evaporation cycle in an air conditioner works.

1. The compressor compresses refrigerant, causing it to become hot.

2. This hot gas runs through a set of coils so it can dissipate its heat, and it condenses into a liquid.

3. The liquid runs through an expansion valve, and in the process it evaporates to become a cold low-pressure gas.

4. This cold gas runs through a set of coils that allow the gas to absorb heat and cool down the air inside the building.

This process is simple reversed to provide heating. Mixed in with the refrigerant is a small amount of lightweight oil. This oil lubricates the compressor. A split unit has an inside unit and an outside unit joined by insulated copper pipes. Therefore, a wall mounted unit is a permanent installation that adds value to your premises, rather than merely a portable appliance. The other great advantage to a split unit is that they are also heat pumps, providing exceptional warmth to the room during the winter months.

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Air-source Heat Pump System for Pools & Spas

The air-source heat pump is a revolutionary new pool & spa heating system, which literally pumps heat from the surrounding air and into your pool. At peak operating temperatures this product operates at more than 400% efficiency to provide the pool owner with tremendous energy and cost savings. Air-source heat pumps are very cost effective to operate, and can save up to 80% on your heating bill verses other type of heaters.

Because air-source heat pumps are so efficient, and they do not burn any fossil fuels - they are very friendly to the environment. Although the heat pump does use electricity to operate the fan and the compressor, it doesn't use any electricity to produce the pool heat.

How it works:

Your existing pool pump circulates the water from your pool, through the heat pump, and back into your pool. The heat pump fan circulates air past the outer evaporator coil.

The liquid refrigerant in the air coil absorbs the available heat from the air, and transforms the refrigerant into a gas. The refrigerant gas is then pumped into the compressor. When the warmed gas is re-compressed, the refrigerant is re-liquefied. As the pool water passes through the heat exchanger, the hot gas transfers its heat to the cooler pool water, and the process starts all over again.

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Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)

Air source heat pumps (ASHP) absorb heat from the outside to heat buildings. It is even possible for air source heat pumps to extract useful heat from air at temperatures as low as minus 15°C. 

How it works:

In the same way that a fridge uses refrigerant to extract heat from the inside, keeping your food cool, an air source heat pump extracts heat from the outside air which is then converted into high-grade heat to be released through underfloor heating, radiators and into the hot water tank.

An air-source heat pump has three main parts:

• The evaporator coil absorbs heat from the outside air;
• The compressor pumps the refrigerant through the heat pump and compresses the gaseous refrigerant to the temperature needed for the heat distribution circuit;
• The heat exchanger transfers the heat from the refrigerant to the water.

For every unit of electricity used to power the pump, 3-4 units of heat are produced, making it an efficient way of heating a building.

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

A ground source heat pump collects the solar energy stored naturally in the ground and transfers it via a network of pipes to the building’s heating system. The pipes are connected through a water circulating pump (the ‘source’ pump) to the evaporator of a vapour compression refrigeration unit (the ‘heat’ pump).

How it works:

A water and antifreeze mixture, which the heat pump attempts to cool to a temperature of around 2 celsius, is circulated within the ground loop by the source pump, whenever the building’s thermostat senses a demand for heat. The ground holds a stable heat all year round of between 8-14 celsius, and the 10 celsius or so difference between the surrounding earth and the loop causes energy to flow from the ground into the loop, warming the source water for the heat pump.

The heat pump’s condenser is fitted into the heating system’s primary pipe work and takes the place of a boiler in a conventional system. It heats the water to temperatures suitable for a domestic heating system.

A big advantage of the latest GSHP systems is that they can be used in reverse during the hotter summer months to act as cooling units, extracting the heat from inside a house and ‘dumping’ it into the ground.
The pipe work for a GSHP can be in either a deep vertical borehole of about 75m in depth, or in a trench system of about 1.5 m depth.

Grants available
There is money available for domestic renewable technologies through the government’s Low Carbon Buildings Grant. An approved installer from the list on their website will need to be used. As the grant is reviewed regularly, it is best to check the website at the time of application to find out how much is available for GSHP. www.lowcarbonbuildings.org.uk

For every unit of electricity used to pump the heat, 3-4 units of heat are produced. As well as ground source heat pumps, air source and water source heat pumps are also available.

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