Electronics > Power/Renewable Energy/EV's
UK Heat Pump/Exchanger Heating.
paulca:
So this has happened (I know not technically 'renewable'):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47559920
So, please be gentle as I'm only learning about this stuff. The stuff I have read suggests these are NOT a good replacement for gas as the cost savings are actually negative for natural gas heating systems and cost more to run. Of course the primary aim of this is to appear to be "lower carbon", however ... in the UK our electricity is mostly generated from coal. So while the domestic home's direct carbon foot print might lower the overall carbon footprint may well rise due to grid/transmission loses etc.
On the heating systems. I would guess my gas boiler system produces something like 12kW of heat into the water. This can either be used to produce hot running water out of the tap at 80*C or water circulating the radiators are 90*C. This means that to have a shower I need to run the boiler for about 5 minutes while I am in the shower. With a heat exchanger system, which is incapable, to my understanding of producing water at anything like that temperature I would need an immersion heater which would typically be 7kW and need to be left on for an hour or longer to produce enough water so the water does not run cold in the shower. So less efficient in real practical terms by a factor of 2 or more.
To heat my house after it has sat cooling for a whole day takes about 30 minutes. In the dead of winter my heating runs for about 3 hours a day. A heat exchanger system generally needs to run 24/7 as it only produces low level heating and radiators of 30*C or so. I'm a little sketchy here so do correct me kindly. The compressors in air-conditioner units, which to my understanding is just a heat pump backwards are usually around 2.5kW, so the heat exchanger will use 1/3rd that of the gas boiler, but need to run for a much, much longer time.
So less direct carbon, but most likely a much higher carbon foot print overall.
The smell of BS is also very high when sites suggest that water with anti-freeze can be used in ground loop heat exchangers. So no state-change endothermic heat is captured... is this really is the case? Therefore the only actual heat produced is from the compressor. I cannot see how, without the stated endothermic heat capture through evaporation that a ground loop can do anything but heat the garden up and make the system even worse. All I can assume is that these sites are incorrect and it is indeed state change refrigerant which is evaporated through the ground loop.... which in winter will freeze the soil and kill the grass eventually, just like office air con units in winter running in heat mode get covered in frost and ice.
Example: https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/renewable-energy/ground-source-heat-pumps
Also, I'm 100% certain in the dead of winter if I stuff a probe into my garden it will NOT be 11-12*C.
george80:
It’s part of a bid by Philip Hammond to address the concerns of children protesting about climate change.
Ahhh fluck me! |O|
Because children know so much about climate change don't they?
Every thing they are indoctrinated to think by gubbermint schools for close minded thinking they attend.
--- Quote ---So less direct carbon, but most likely a much higher carbon foot print overall.
--- End quote ---
And there you have it. Why not crunch the real numbers for yourself and see what the real story is before doing anything?
paulca:
--- Quote from: george80 on March 14, 2019, 09:48:14 am ---And there you have it. Why not crunch the real numbers for yourself and see what the real story is before doing anything?
--- End quote ---
Not easy to do. Well not in the short term. Some data might be easy to come by, like power consumption of a typical heat exchanger system, but others are less easy to get/calculate. Eg. U values of heating systems and houses versus true power output of the system. That and already the web is swamped by so called "Sustainable" power companies offering to install these thing with often poor or completely fictional data on their sites.
MarkR42:
--- Quote from: paulca on March 14, 2019, 08:52:15 am ---however ... in the UK our electricity is mostly generated from coal.
--- End quote ---
No it isn't.
The balance is about 40% gas, 20% nukes, and the rest split between renewables, imports (mostly France's nukes) and a few percent coal / biomass.
gmb42:
For current generation info see gridwatch, or iamkate.
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