It’s not a secret – UK weather and our methods of controlling it are not the best. From sweltering hot summers to ‘big freezes’ at any given point in the year, we find ourselves in a weather dilemma – it’s either too hot, too cold, too windy, or too wet – sometimes all in one week! There is an alternative to heating and cooling our homes and businesses, and this article explains what that alternative is.
The fact stands that current methods to both heat and cool our homes are expensive and can be quite inefficient. For one, central heating is the go-to heat source for many homes in the UK. There are still a huge number of homes that don’t have central heating, which makes it costly and disruptive to install. For homes that do have it, the costs are still high and you need a boiler to keep the fuel going – not great for the wallet or the environment.
Other alternatives include gas and electric fires which are inefficient and just as expensive, and wood/multi-fuel burners, while good for heating the home, aren’t always a great resource as good wood is hard to find at decent prices and if you don’t have a chimney flue already it can again be hard to install.
What do we have left? There must be another way.
And there is! Air source heat pumps are slowly introducing an alternative way to heating and cooling. It’s difficult to break into the market, especially when it’s trying to offer an alternative to the popular central heating and gas systems.
But let’s stop here and think. This system has its merits, and a wealth of benefits too. A correct installation and for a good price could offer a lifetime of clean, affordable energy all year round.
So what are air source heat pumps, and how do they work? Essentially, it’s a system that brings in the outside air into a liquid state, where it is compressed to then fuel the home. It can distribute hot or cold air, depending on your needs.
Why they’re great is self-explanatory. They only require electricity to run (or can be completely carbon-emission free if generated by solar or wind power) – the fuel they need to heat your home is non-existent, using just the natural air from outside. That’s right, no oil. No gas. No fossil fuels of any kind!
Because of this, you won’t be paying expensive bills to fuel your home. Cheaper to run than traditional oil/gas boilers, you’ll save a ton of money and won’t have to worry about expensive winter bills. Of course, with a big system like this, there is an initial price to install. But air source heat pumps are incredibly reliable – many last around 50 years – and the longevity of cost savings throughout your lifetime means the system pays for itself over and over again.
Compared to your average boiler, this is a comforting piece of information. Invest in air source heat pumps now and you could drastically change the way you cool and heat your home.