A new animation
produced by Kensa Heat Pumps aims to educate the owners and developers of the
tens of thousands of high rise flats in the UK to the solution posed by
retrofitting district ground source heat pumps.
With the majority of high rise
tower blocks in the UK featuring uncontrollable storage radiators for heating,
the short film by Kensa demonstrates the ease of replacing this and other types
of electric heating with district ground source heat pumps.
Addressing the key stages of a
retrofit installation, the film depicts the drilling of shared ground loop
borehole arrays, which when connected to individual Kensa Shoebox ground source
heat pumps in each flat qualify the upgrade for 20 years of income via the Non
Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).
Dr Matthew Trewhella,
Contracting Director at Kensa Heat Pumps, who is currently overseeing a number
of tower block upgrades including England’s largest district heating ground
source heat pump scheme in the London Borough of Enfield, says:
“We are frequently asked how
our system design - a Kensa Shoebox heat pump fitted inside each flat and fed
by pipework connected to a communal borehole array - can maintain pressure and
flow in high rises; our clients are amazed when they realise the depths the
borehole pipework reach in comparison to the height of the tower block - 120 to
200 meters - and soon appreciate that the height of the high rise is of no real
barrier! Our new animation neatly demonstrates this scale of work, and also
debunks many myths, including the requirement for lots of exterior space for
ground arrays.”
By bypassing the need for a
central plant, the collective power of circulation pumps inside each ground
source heat pump in each household move the fluid around the shared ground
loop, ensuring sufficient pressure and flow are always maintained throughout
the system.
Traditionally flats posed
particular challenges for the installation of ground source heat pumps
including lack of space and access issues, pipework distribution problems, and
the potential for noise disruption in a small living space.
Dr Trewhella continues: “Our
solution overcomes the much-publicised drawbacks of conventional district
heating schemes in flats featuring large central plant, which require costly
insulated pipes to protect the heat as it is circulated away from the source,
large billing overhead costs, system operating costs and maintenance for the
energy supplier.
"All of these can result
high bills on householders who have no opportunity to select an alternative
heat supplier. By contrast, in Kensa’s recommended model where a small and
quiet Kensa Shoebox ground source heat pump is fitted inside each property, heat
is only generated close to the point of use, the fluid circulating around the
distribution pipework is at ambient temperature, reducing the installation
cost, and most importantly, householders can source electricity to run their
heat pumps from their own preferred energy company, switching as required to
secure the most competitive tariff.”
