Better Planet was invited to specify and quote for a heat pump system and underfloor heating for this 1,300 m² property in Cambridgeshire built to the highest specification including an indoor pool and a helicopter pad.
Normally, a ground source system beats an air source in terms of efficiency as most of a property’s space heating takes place in the winter when the ground is warmer than the air. In this case, as the system is supporting not only space heating and domestic hot water but also pool heating to a significant degree, the heat generation is spread more evenly over the year.
Air source is actually more efficient than ground source when the outdoor temperature exceeds 7°C and we found that the most efficient solution for this property was to combine ground source and air source. The heat pump manufacturer CTC has a control solution that makes it possible to combine the ground source and air source and prioritize the most efficient source of energy: When it is colder than 7°C the ground source heat pump is the master and the air source the slave and the other way around when it is warmer than 7°C. The result is a system with a higher seasonal efficiency (SCOP) than any standalone ground source in our air source system.
Location: Cambridgeshire
Summary:
- A 35 kW ground source heat pump from CTC
- Two 22 kW air source heat pumps from CTC
- Two 500 litre heat pump cylinder
- A 750 litre buffer tank
- 1,800 m ground collector pipes
- The installation done in line with the MCS standard
Elliot Timlin, technical manager at CTC UK worked alongside Better Planet’s team for the commissioning of the installation and he comments:
Better Planet’s team did a great job with this installation. Great workmanship all the way though.
Multisource heat pump installations are one of the company’s specialities, and in this case we were pleased to see an application of CTC’s unique solution for combining ground source and air source. We look forward to work with Better Planet in many projects to come.”
