Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs) are getting more and more coverage in the news cycle and more people are becoming aware of them as the new way of heating your home. But how exactly do they work? As is often the case with new technology there are a lot of questions about them, and not always a lot of answers. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
How Does An Air Source Heat Pump Generate Heat?
First and foremost, all ASHPs work in the same way. There are different types of ASHP, and the actual execution of the way they deliver heat into your home differs, and we’ll explain how later, but the way they generate heat is the same. An ASHP works in 4 stages.
First, the heat pump takes the ambient heat from the air around it outside and absorbs this heat into a liquid refrigerant at a low temperature. With the heat the refrigerant absorbs it eventually gets hot enough to become gas. Second, the pump compresses the gas to further increase its temperature, and once the temperature is high enough, it then condenses the refrigerant back into a liquid to release the stored heat. Third, the stored heat is released from the ASHP into your home, with the delivery method depending on the type of ASHP you have. Finally, the now liquid and low temperature refrigerant is recycled within the Heat Pump to go back to the beginning of the process and be reused again.
What Are The Different Types of ASHPs?
There are two different types of Air Source Heat Pump, an Air-to-Air Heat Pump, and an Air-to-Water Heat Pump. As we said earlier, they both work in the same way to generate heat, but they deliver it in a different way.
How Does An Air-to-Air Heat Pump Work?
An Air-to-Air Heat Pump works very simply by delivering the heat from the pump into your home by heating the air in your home. Your home needs a warm air circulation/distribution system to incorporate an Air-to-Air heat pump. It’s also important to note that an Air-to-Air heat pump won’t be able to provide hot water, so you will need a separate hot water system, alongside your heat pump.
How Does An Air-to-Water Heat Pump Work?
An Air-to-Water Heat Pump works by delivering the heat from the pump to the water in a traditional wet heating system, distributing it out through large radiators and underfloor heating if you have it. Once the heat has been passed to the radiators any excess heat can also be sent to a hot water storage tank, which will provide your home with hot water too.
What About During Cold Temperatures?
This is a question that get asked quite often about Air Source Heat Pumps. If they use the heat from the outside air, what happens when the outside air is cold?
The answer is that they will still work. Depending on the AHSP you have, they are designed to work effectively in temperatures as low as -15 to -20°C. The country in Europe with the most Air Source Heat Pumps is Norway, and other countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia all use Air Source Heat pumps. It’s fair to say that if an ASHP can work to heat homes in a Norwegian winter, they can handle a British one!
It might be surprising, but the technology that drives Air Source Heat Pumps is actually based on physics we’ve known about since 1852 and was first described by Lord Kelvin. Because we are so used to traditional boilers the idea of moving to a new type of heating system can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.
If you think that now is the time, and an Air Source Heat Pump is the right choice for you, then get in touch with us here at Honest Quotes, and we will be happy to help get you started. If you’re still not too sure about whether Air Source Heat Pumps are right for you it might be worth checking out the benefits of an Air Sources Heat Pumps.
