Earth Notes: General Bibliography (harris2023heatpumps)

• [harris2023heatpumps] Ben Harris and Alan Walker Research Briefing: Heat Pumps (accessed 2023-08-07), UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), 2023-07, PDF (report) (BibTeX).
  abstract

  This POSTnote considers advances in heat pump technology, their suitability for UK properties, barriers to deployment and government policy support mechanisms.
  note

  [Quote: "A third of UK energy consumption is used for heating, mostly in the domestic sector. Three quarters of energy used for heating is from burning fossil fuels, primarily natural gas. The Climate Change Committee* projects that, to reach net zero, domestic heat pumps will be needed in at least half, but likely closer to 80%, of homes by 2050. Heat pumps are widely used in some European countries, such as Norway (60% of homes) and Sweden (43%), but account for 1% of UK homes." Quote: "For efficient operation, heat pumps and emitters should be sized to match the heating demand of the building. Undersized heat pumps will not achieve the desired building temperatures. Oversized heat pumps will operate at partial load, which reduces efficiency, although improved compressor technology has reduced this effect. Continuous low temperature operation is generally the most energy efficient way to use a heat pump. Most people use gas boilers on demand, so user education is required to switch heating patterns." Quote: "If insulation is considered it should ideally be installed before a heat pump so that the heat pump is correctly sized."]