The achievement of the 1000th Daikin Altherma air-to-water heat pump installation for the Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP) has just been celebrated.
This landmark installation brings DGHP over two-thirds of the way through one of the largest projects of this type in Britain. As well as reducing fuel poverty, the project upgrades existing housing to meet the 2015 Scottish Housing Quality Standards by reaching an RdSAP rating of 63.
The Dumfries and Galloway area has many small towns and villages that are off the gas grid. The programme of improvements includes the supply of renewable central heating installations to some 1650 homes across the district.
The project aims to help alleviate the incidence of rising fuel poverty within the Dumfries and Galloway area by installing energy efficient central heating systems in hard-to-heat properties. As well as easing tenant hardship, the installations help to protect the building fabric, delivering increased warmth and reduced carbon emissions as part of the Government’s Carbon Reduction programme.
Individual property surveys were carried out through Scottish Gas Community Energy and Coolheat Energy Systems to identify insulation and heating requirements for every household. A range of model sizes were specified from 5kW to 11kW input depending on the dwelling size and heat loss identified at each property.
Upgrades to the insulation of the building fabric were carried out in order to optimise efficiency of the air-to-water heat pump installation. These measures include cavity wall, loft and under floor insulation. By providing tenants with a well insulated home, the heating demand and subsequent running costs will be lower.
Alex Dingwall, Area Operations Manager for Scottish Gas Community Energy, who has overseen the project across the Dumfries and Galloway area, explained that “the air-to-water heat pumps ticked all the boxes on British Gas’ green agenda which aspires to provide new, modern ways for heating customer housing”.
Daniel Queen, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer at the Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership, said: “In the three years since the start of the renewable heating installation project in existing off-gas grid properties, we have now installed our one thousandth air-to-water heat pump central heating system.”
“The customer satisfaction ratings for this project have been the highest of all the planned refurbishment contracts simultaneously being carried out by DGHP. This is testament to the quality of the air-to-water heat pumps, installation and in ensuring that the tenants’ views are central in the system survey and design."
Central to the success of the project is the employment of a Tenant Liaison Officer who is used both before and after the installation to ensure the tenants’ understanding of the technology, and to ensure they are operating and controlling the systems correctly to provide the required level of comfort while operating most efficiently.
In the domestic sector, Daikin Altherma HT Split and LT Split and Monobloc air-to-water heat pump systems absorb heat from the atmosphere and convert it, via a condenser, into efficient central heating and hot water systems. They provide a greener source of energy, producing fewer carbon emissions compared with other types of fossil fuel based heating measures.