Will a Heat Pump provide enough warmth even in winter?

A good, correctly sized and well-installed heat pump will keep you warm even in the coldest days of winter.

But how can you ensure your heat pump ticks all the above boxes?

Essentially, the key is to find a knowledgeable, experienced installer with MCS certification.

At PBT Installations, we have been installing heat pumps for nearly a decade. In that time we have come across many different makes of heat pumps and have narrowed down the brands that we know are at the cutting edge of design, reliable, efficient and easily maintained. Our brand of choice is Stiebel Eltron. Stiebel Eltron have been manufacturing since 1924 and provide a wealth of experience. They are committed to investing in the future and have recently expanded their headquarters to increase their state of the art training facilities to help train more heat pump installers as demand for this technology grows. We have a strong and well established relationship with Stiebel Eltron and are proud to champion their products.

The efficiency of a heat pump is measured in something know as CoP – the Coefficient of Performance. It compares the input to your pump with its output. For example, if a ground source heat pump uses one kW of electricity to produce four kWs of heat, the CoP would be four. The higher the CoP value, the more efficient your heat pump. When the outdoor temperature is around 7 ℃, the average heat pump should have a CoP of approximately 4.5. However, this value can drop to 2.3 when the temperature outside falls to -7 ℃.

At PBT Installations, we aim to maximise the CoP for your heat pump, thereby reducing energy usage and saving you money. Some of the ways which we do this include using a high end heat pump like Stiebel Eltron, which are designed to work in much harsher conditions than the UK and therefore designed to be efficient at converting heat. We ensure your home is sufficiently insulated and radiators are correctly sized, situated and used to their best advantage. We install under floor heating where desired – it’s a good investment alongside heat pumps if you have the option – and evaluate existing pipework and whether an upgrade would improve performance.

Due to the nature of how heat pumps work, we need to design them so that we know how much heat there is in the source (air or ground for example), how much heat we need in the home and how big the ‘engine’ needs to be to transfer the heat across. 

One of the first things our team at PBT Installations do when you enquire about a heat pump is to look at the plans of the property. Not only does this give us practical information such as potential siting for the heat pump, cylinder and potential buffer tank, but also the size of the area to be heated. An idea of property size helps us to give you an indication of costing for your project, but before any work is done, we still carry out a full Heat Loss Calculation.

These calculations are paramount to ensure a balanced system is designed where the heat pump and the heating system, be it underfloor heating, radiators or both, are all carefully specified to meet your heat requirements. Our experience and qualifications ensure we can be trusted to achieve a perfect solution for your property and personal demands. Without these careful calculations and the expertise of a qualified and experienced designer and installer, you can end up with an incorrectly sized heat pump or inadequately designed heating system, both of which can leave you cold or paying far more than necessary to get your required warmth.

All this means that by choosing the right people to help you with your heat pump installation, you can not only be kept warm in a harsh winter, but can do so with as little energy usage as possible.

Get in touch today to discuss your needs .