Input from Loughborough University could lead to an increasing number of heat pumps being installed in homes across the United Kingdom, reducing the country’s reliance on boilers.
The potential movement towards more energy-efficient heating methods comes after a recently published paper.
The paper, which involves significant contributions from a Loughborough University academic, used existing boiler data from approximately 4600 homes to predict their heat pump readiness.
The research found that 31% of the monitored dwellings could operate with Low-Temperature Heat Pumps (LTHPs) without radiator upgrades, while two-thirds could have High-Temperature Heat Pumps (HTHPs) installed. These findings contradict previous analysis, which intimated that radiator upgrades were almost always needed.
Dr Stephen Watson, from the University’s School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, said the study, carried out in collaboration with external government and academic colleagues, said the findings could change the way we heat our homes: “The installation of heat pumps into dwellings nationally is something the government has been looking at implementing for some time but there has always been that concern over cost and the believed need for some form of upgrade to the home – whether that be changing the radiators or upgrading insulation.
“Through this research, we wanted to use existing data to gauge how many homes could have heat pumps installed without needing radiator or insulation upgrades. Understanding this could lead to a faster rollout of heat pumps as it substantially lowers predicted cost and disruption levels, thus reducing emissions quicker. We can also better represent which dwellings need improving before they get a heat pump.
“If there are homes where LTHPs don’t quite work, then there are always higher temperature alternatives, which we found could be installed in many of the homes we assessed. The government had previously used building surveys to investigate the issue and found that almost all homes would need radiator upgrades, but we found that many existing systems are fit for purpose.”
Dr Watson added: “One of the co-authors on this paper works within the government, so I’d imagine what we’ve found as part of this study is their thinking regarding the next steps.
“Personally, I think there is still more work to be done in this space, and I hope it gives people a different perspective when discussing the use of heat pumps. There’s quite a lot of negative press around their use with many citing concerns over their cost, disruption and feasibility in fitting them in UK homes. However, what we’ve found shows there are many homes in which they can be installed without breaking the bank or causing too much interference.”
Laurence Childs, lead author and doctoral researcher at the UCL Energy Institute adds: “This is an exciting result which provides food for thought over how we can get more heat pumps into UK homes. In particular, the use of monitored boiler data in the analysis demonstrates potential to leverage this kind of data for more confident heat pump installations in the future.”
