Hydronic heat pump basics
Lets get down to basics, and introduce you to hydronic heat pumps.
Hydronic heat pumps are relatively uncommon at the time of writing, but have the potential to be one of the most efficient types of electrical central heating. They take advantage of the refrigeration cycle to extract heat from the earth or even water into and around a building.
Closed loop hydronic heat pump systems are probably the most widely recognised and take heat from the earth using large loops of pipe buried in the ground. These loops move heat from the earth to your home using water in the pipes to pump the warmth from the soil around the loop in your home, and then the cooled water returns to the pipes in the earth.
Hydronic heat pump systems that extract heat from water, for example from a lake, are less common and referred to as “open loop” systems as the system is open to the atmosphere.
Hydronic heat pumps are, perhaps unsurprisingly, best suited to well insulated, airtight homes. This is due to the heat they provide being of a relatively low temperature, meaning they simply cannot compensate for the heat loss of more inefficient homes. Put simply hydronic heat pumps are not currently capable of producing the high temperatures most radiators and convection heater require. In contrast, other heating methods, in particular radiant floors, are ideally suited for use with hydronic heat pumps.
We’ll be exploring various forms of hydronic heat systems in the near future.