Heat Pump 

Changing your heating system may seem daunting at first. You may be plagued with thoughts like “What are my options for clean energy?” “How much will it cost?”  “How much will an oil or gas boiler replacement cost?” “where can I use a heat pump?” “What are SEAI grants and how do I apply for them?” “Will it be as convenient?” Well lucky for you, we’re here to answer all of your questions. 

What Are My Options for Clean Energy?

Renewable energy is generated from natural sources that replenish themselves, so they never run out. The most common sources are solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. These sources of energy do not produce direct greenhouse gas. Indirect greenhouse gases are produced for manufacturing and installation, but they are minuscule. Once built, renewable energy costs very little to run and tends to be stable over time. Sources like wind and solar and hydro need no extra energy, and geothermal uses extremely little energy to run, they can be a very viable option to lower your carbon footprint.

So now you may be asking yourself “why isn’t everyone using renewable energy in Ireland?”

It is difficult for renewable energy sources to generate energy a the speed and on the same scale as fossil fuels. As we are sure you know, the weather changes all the time. That’s why solar and wind energy can be problematic. Batteries can store limited amounts of energy. However, they are still weather dependent to a point.

Heat Pumps are a type of geothermal energy and they derive their energy from the air, the ground or water. Heat is taken from natural sources and converted into energy. This is done by using a small amount of electricity (which can be taken from a renewable source) to pump it through.

Air to water heat pumps takes their energy from the natural warmth in the air. Ground to water heat pumps have a long plastic pipe that digs deep into the ground below freezing point to warm up ad return to the surface to heat your home.

Water to water heat pumps takes their heat from a water source, for example, a well. A fourth type is a recovery heat pump, these are mostly used as industrial heat pumps. These heat pumps reuse heat that would normally be pumped out to heat your factory system. Each type of heat pump comes with its advantages and disadvantages, so it comes down to your needs and resources. 

How much will an oil or gas boiler replacement cost?

Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to that. If you wish to replace your boiler with a heat pump system there are a few things you need to take into consideration.

Firstly, 

Are you a homeowner? 

A business owner?

Do you have insulation?

Are you trying to save energy or heat waste?

Once you know the answer to all of these questions, MasterTherm Heat Pumps will be able to tailor a heat pump system that suits your needs and answer the question;

How much will an oil or gas boiler replacement cost?

The Heat Pump Installation cost is the largest fee you will have to pay when changing to a heat pump. Heat pumps use a small amount of electricity to run. Over 70% of your heating is powered by natural resources. This means huge savings on your energy bills, which pay back the price of installation over only a few years. It costs around 60-75% less to heat your building with MasterTherm heat pumps than it would with traditional LPG or oil boilers and about 40-50% less than with a natural gas boiler. 

For example, when using the ground-water heat pump, for every kWh used, 20-30% is from a nonrenewable source and the remaining 70-80% is drawn from natural surroundings.

Here is a chart depicting the efficiency of different heat sources per kWh of energy.

Because heat pumps use less carbon to produce higher amounts of energy than your average heater, they greatly reduce your carbon footprint. 

Where can I use a heat pump? 

Heat pumps are perfect for a home, workplace, factory or plant. 

An industrial heat pump application normally involves a recovery heat pump. This converts steam vapour that otherwise would be pumped out of the factory and converts the heat into energy to then be used for 

What Are The Benefits of Using a Heat Pump?

There are many benefits to using a heat pump for your home or your business. As most of us are comfortable with what we know and trust (AKA fast working/ fast burning harmful fossil fuels) it’s hard to manage a solution that works just as well and will provide the same security as what we have become reliant on. So, here are a few that we think are the most important.

1. The comfort of a Heat Pump

   With a heat pump, you will have constant heating throughout the day, which means underfloor heating, radiators and whatever else you have your pump attached to. Each heat pump comes with a cooling function, it can function simultaneously for heating and cooling water, and then can pump out the cold air conditioning in the summers which can provide you extreme comfort. 

2. The convenience of a Heat Pump

   Because heat pumps are constantly repeating the loop of taking energy from natural sources, converting the energy to heat and loping around again, you will constantly have hot water. So no waiting around for the emersion to heat up or washing dishes with cold water. MasterTherm heat pumps can be controlled by your Android or iOS device. Being able to control your heating remotely makes for extreme comfort and convenience 24 hours a day.

3. Reduces carbon emissions

   The importance of reducing our carbon footprint has never been greater than today. The over-use of oil and gas is detrimental to our planet’s ecosystem. Changing your homes heating source to a renewable, low carbon source could make your home or business more sustainable in the long-term

4. Monthly savings of a Heat Pump

   Oil and gas prices are rising rapidly and it is becoming difficult for people to pay for their heating and petrol. Because heat pumps take such a large amount of their energy from natural resources, they cost a fraction of the price to run. Not having huge energy bills arriving at your door every month can make a huge difference to your lifestyle, your ability to save and of course, it takes a huge and unnecessary weight off your shoulders.

5. Saving heat waste

   In industrial companies, there is a huge amount of heat waste that goes into heating and cooling. In food and beverage production, pharmaceutical production and the agriculture industry, it is vital to have big refrigeration systems to keep produce fresh and temperature-controlled, and boilers to ensure there is hot water for thorough cleaning. A lot of chilling systems work by pumping the heat out of the factory to allow the container to become cold. This wastes water and heat energy. Using an industrial heat pump (recovery heat pump) we can compress that extra energy until the temperatures are high enough to start heating water while only using a fraction of the energy.

What are SEAI grants and how do I apply for them?

The Sustainable Energy Association of Ireland (SEAI) are encouraging people to make the change to a more sustainable heating and cooling system. As heat pumps can do both simultaneously they are a clear choice. 

According to SEAI’s research in 2020, 40.8% of all energy-related CO2 emissions were heating. That’s higher than transport (33.8%) and electricity (25.3%). In Ireland, oil and gas boilers are the popular options for home heating. While they are efficient they are also expensive and burn an excessive amount of fossil fuels. Oil accounted for 58.9% of the fuel burned last year. That is over half of our CO2 emissions.

SEAI see the need to cut that portion out and therefore reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions 

Will it be as convenient as my boiler?

Yes. A heat pump is just as convenient as your boiler. The only downside is that a heat pump does not heat water at the same high temperature. However, this is easily fixed by the electric boiler that will be installed with your heating system. This is to ensure you will not go without hot water. 

What if the air is too cold to run an air-water heat pump?

The output of the MasterTherm air-to-water heat pump is designed for 100% of the house’s heat loss. In addition, each heat pump comes with a backup boiler, so if you run out of hot water or the weather is just too cold to contract any heat from the air, we’ve got you covered.

Why MasterTherm?

Heat pumps can be used in commercial settings, especially those that require heating and cooling. A MasterTherm heat pump solution can be an efficient way of repurposing heat energy that otherwise would have been wasted. This will make your company more sustainable and profitable.

MasterTherm heat pumps are ultra-quiet, have a 7-year warranty, give you lower heating bills and can be controlled easily from a tablet or phone using inverter technology.

We will design and tailor a personalised heating system to suit your industry needs. Whether it’s for a complex monitored heating and cooling system using rejected heat, or a central heating system with air-conditioning. MasterTherm will ensure that your business is getting the maximum benefit from your heat pump system.

If you’re looking for a heating and hot water solution for your building, we may suggest multiple heat pumps working together. If you are unsure about how to start the journey to renewables using heat pumps, contact us and we can start by creating a bespoke design for your heating system.