Heat Emitter Guide for Domestic Heat Pumps

The Heat Emitter Guide has been produced by the GSHPA, the Heat Pump Association and other trade bodies with the support of DECC and the Energy Savings Trust.

The Guide is not a full design tool, but is designed to stimulate a proper review of heat loads in houses – room-by-room – and guide the sizing of radiators, or underfloor heating circuits, to lead to optimal performance and low running costs. It encourages the use of loft insulation and other measures to reduce heat losses in arriving at an efficient heat pump system design.

The underlying logic of the flow charts and star rated guidance table is that heat pumps work most efficiently – with a higher Coefficient of Performance – when they distribute heat at warm temperatures – 50°C – rather than the high temperatures – 65°C – often used in gas fired radiator systems. This requires larger radiators, fan assisted radiators or underfloor heating so that the lower temperature from the heat pump can be emitted over a large surface area.

See: Heat Emitter Guide for Domestic Heat Pumps.

Heat Emitters are also critical in larger buildings using ground source heating

The underlying logic of the domestic heat emitter guide applies equally to commercial buildings. However, each commercial building is different. Each has its own heating and cooling loads depending on the construction of the building, the uses to which it is being put, the orientation to the sun, the time of year and the geology it is supported by.

For these reasons a full thermal modelling exercise is critical to achieving a well balanced ground source heat pump design for commercial buildings.