What’s Up With Home Heat Pumps?
Pint of Science
Guildford 2025
Damon Hart-Davis
Net Zero, Warm Toes
Pile Of Facts
- I spent about 10 years on Radbot, saving ~13% > TRV
- ~30M UK homes
- ~20M now with gas will still be standing in 2050
- Maybe 20% will get district heat
- Most of the rest will retrofit heat pumps
- Thesis: “Improving UK home heating decarbonisation”
How Do Heat Pumps Work?
- Like a fridge, backwards
- Modern bidirectional can heat and cool (but no UK grant for it, yet, and doesn’t work with rads)
- In use since late 1800s
- ASHP outside unit is moped size
- Net Zero as soon as grid is
Heat Pumps vs TRVs?
- Heat pumps need much more water flow and volume than gas boilers
- Heat pump installers not keen on TRVs
- TRVs save energy in unused rooms (eg Radbot)
- TRVs keep bedrooms cooler
- I wrote a paper on this! - 10.3390/su16114710
Energy House vs EnergyPlus
- Energy House 1 is an end-terrace inside a lab
- Used EH1 for Radbot
- Will test TRV vs heat-pump in July
- Also modelling in EnergyPlus
- Next paper(s)!
My Heat Pump Experience
- Took 12 years (or one week, depending)
- Works well, energy bills are down (£22 for April)
- But complicated ‘craft’ job
- Researching how to simplify
- Another paper!
What’s Up With Home Heat Pumps?
Thank you for listening!
Questions?
Damon Hart-Davis