Rick Clarke, Product Supervisor, NIBE Power Techniques Restricted, investigates the advantages of exhaust air warmth pumps.
For installers, the race to decarbonise new properties isn’t nearly adopting new applied sciences; it’s about discovering options which can be sensible to suit, simple to keep up and ship the efficiency builders want. In city areas the place outside house is tight and aesthetics matter, the choices can rapidly slim. That’s why exhaust air warmth pumps (EAHPs) are quickly gaining floor throughout the UK.
Compact, all-in-one and designed to work with none exterior models, EAHPs are rising as one of the vital environment friendly methods to ship low-carbon heating, air flow and scorching water in new-build and retrofit settings alike. For a lot of builders and housing associations, they’re fixing each a regulatory and a sensible design problem in a single.
How they work
Not like conventional air supply warmth pumps, EAHPs recuperate warmth vitality from the nice and cozy, stale air extracted from kitchens, loos, and utility rooms. This vitality is upgraded by means of the warmth pump to supply heating and scorching water. The cooled air is then discharged exterior, making certain good indoor air high quality.
As a result of they harness indoor vitality, EAHPs preserve constant efficiency year-round, whatever the climate, and this can be a key profit for developments the place reliability issues. Built-in air flow ensures compliance with trendy constructing requirements, making the system a pure match for low-energy properties.
EAHPs are significantly nicely suited to new-build residences and multi-residential schemes, the place house is commonly restricted and vitality efficiency targets are excessive. They’re additionally a robust possibility for smaller, well-insulated properties that require environment friendly, compact heating options.
In retrofit tasks, EAHPs will be put in typically with minimal disruption, making them a pretty alternative for housing associations and builders trying to decarbonise current properties. Extra broadly, they assist developments aiming to satisfy low-carbon and vitality efficiency requirements with out the necessity for complicated system designs. For installers, the all-in-one nature of EAHPs means quicker set up, no exterior plant and fewer on-site problems, all serving to to maintain tasks on time and on price range.
Why EAHPs?
– Decrease carbon emissions: By drawing vitality from indoor air, EAHPs cut back reliance on fossil fuels and assist decarbonisation targets.
– Excessive effectivity: Constant efficiency all year long, even in colder months, helps maintain working prices down.
– Compact, all-in-one design: No want for exterior condensers or plant rooms, making set up less complicated and house necessities smaller.
– Improved indoor air high quality: Built-in mechanical air flow maintains recent, filtered air whereas recovering warmth that will in any other case be misplaced.
– Future-ready: Designed to assist new properties meet the Future Houses Commonplace and different low-carbon constructing necessities.
A brand new era
Fashions just like the NIBE S735C supply a steadiness of efficiency and practicality, combining environment friendly heating, scorching water and air flow in a single, space-saving unit. With Quiet Mark certification for low noise ranges, a compact set up footprint and a SCOP of as much as 4.6, the S735C is nicely suited to dense residential settings resembling residences and multi-dwelling developments.
The S735C displays the rising position of EAHP know-how within the UK’s low-carbon housing panorama. For installers, methods of this sort simplify on-site supply as there isn’t any exterior plant, quicker set up and fewer coordination challenges.
An instance of EAHP know-how at scale will be discovered at Royal Winchester Home in Bracknell, a residential growth comprising 337 one- and two-bedroom residences. Every residence is fitted with a NIBE F730 exhaust air warmth pump, offering heating, scorching water and air flow from a single compact unit put in inside a service cabinet of round 0.6m². This strategy eradicated the necessity for an exterior plant, preserved the clear structure of the constructing, and supported compliance with Components L, F, and G of the Constructing Rules.
To display how the know-how continues to evolve, one of many residences was upgraded with the newer NIBE S735C, showcasing how next-generation EAHPs can ship even increased efficiency, decrease sound ranges and sensible connectivity. Collectively, the unique set up and the present residence spotlight how EAHPs can scale successfully whereas adapting to altering regulatory and design necessities.
Picture: NIBE