Heat Pump Federation

The Heat Pump Federation represents the heat pump industry in the UK: from heat pump manufactures to systems designers, mechanical and electrical consultants and installers of air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and water source heat pumps.

The Heat Pump Federation’s five key aims:

  • Enhanced lobbying for electrification of heating and cooling
  • Inclusion of all heat pump industry interests
  • Ever closer collaboration with other trade associations
  • On-going development of robust installation training and standards
  • Strong quality management and consumer protection

The HPF influences legislation to encourage the electrification of heating and cooling as the surest and fastest route towards low carbon heating and cooling. The HPF also co-ordinates technical and market research with the aim of improving market opportunities, at home and abroad.

A major objective of the HPF is to raise awareness of the low carbon potential of heat pumps: heat pumps employ heat transfer instead of combustion and therefore issue no CO2, or anything else on site. Heat pumps already provide zero carbon heating when using green electricity to achieve heat transfer. The carbon content of grid electricity has fallen dramatically as coal powered power stations are being phased out and wind and solar generation takes over.

The Heat Pump Federation places emphasis on advice and education, to ensure that systems are appropriate to their applications and installed with the highest degree of professionalism.

Heat Pumps – Coefficient of Performance

Heat pumps supply more energy than they consume – by transfering heat from natural surroundings. An "unassisted" ground source heat pump system can supply as much as 3kW of heat output for just 1kW of electrical input. A heat pump linked to a ThermalBank can supply as much as 6kW of heat for 1kW of electricity. Heat can be transferred from outside air or from warm exhaust air. Heat can also be drawn from the ground or from a water source such as a river, waste water or an aquifer. Heat from any of these sources can be used to heat air or water for space heating, domestic hot water or other industrial needs.

Unlike other heating systems, heat pumps can also be used for cooling.

Heat pumps can be used for:

  • space heating
  • process heating
  • domestic space heating
  • domestic water heating
  • air conditioning and space cooling
  • saving carbon emissions
  • saving NO2 emissions
  • district heating based on central high temperature heat pumps – Fourth Generation District Heating
  • district heating and cooling based on a low temperature heat distribution with heat pumps in each building – Fifth Generation DH
  • helping to achieve planning permission
  • achieving Net Zero through the only sure route to the decarbonisation of heat

For more detailed information on the advantages of heat pumps see: Heat Pumps

 

See also: Heat Pump Federation aims and aspirations.

See also: Ten old myths surrounding ground source heat pumps that are simply untrue.

See also: Decarbonisation of the National Grid accelerates the case for electrification of heat and use of heat pumps.