During a recent conversion, a delightful two bedroomed cottage on Cowper’s Farm was totally refurbished and transformed with the addition of a two bedroom extension and a conservatory at the rear. At the planning stage the owners decided to install central heating from a renewable source and, as a further way of conserving energy, converted the existing 9” brickwork to a cavity wall construction. Steve Bowes Building and Roofing of Darlington, who carried out the conversion work, called on HT Energy Ltd, another local company based in Swainby, to design a suitably eco-friendly heating system. Since the cottage has a large open area to the rear HT Energy devised a ground sourced system involving the burial of some 500 metres of ground looped plastic piping at a depth just below the frost level, around one metre in the cold North Country. Filled with an anti-freeze solution, the pipe is linked to a NIBE F1245 8kW Heat Pump handily sited in the double garage near the cottage’s back door. The solution is warmed by the solar warmth permanently stored in the soil and is passed through to the heat pump where it is harvested into the pump’s closed system containing a refrigerant that converts liquid to gas at a comparatively low temperature. Passing through the pump’s highly efficient compressor very sharply raises the temperature before a condenser is employed so that the resulting heat can be passed into the super-insulated hot water cylinder [situated beside the heat pump] ready for use. The F1245, one of NIBE’s new generation of pumps, is one of the most efficient on the market and as well as generating maximum heat it also cuts CO2 emissions to an absolute minimum.
HT Energy, a NIBE registered VIP installer, linked the unit into the under-floor heating system on the ground floor and to the radiator heating on the first floor and the heat pump will also supply the domestic hot water requirements of the entire house. The F1245 heat pump is contained in a nicely styled unit only 1800 x 600 x 625mm in size and has exceptionally clear and easily accessed controls. The unit incorporates an immersion heater in case of exceptional hot water demand coinciding with peak central heating usage but experience indicates that it is unlikely to be required. Steve Bowes, main contractor for the conversion was delighted at the ease and rapidity with which the ground sourced heating system was installed.