Heat pumps

Why heat pumps are set to play a key role as we head towards Net Zero, and how they can provide attractive financial benefits to farmers.

Heat pumps are set to become a cornerstone of the heat generation and efficiency strategy towards meeting our Net Zero aspirations, as well as providing financial benefits for producers and farmers. Heat pumps are in general use across the dairy sector (the milk cooling system is a heat pump, after all), so they should be quite readily embraced and not seen as new or challenging technology.

How heat pumps work

Simply put, heat pumps use a small amount of electricity to boost rejected or low temperature heat to a more useful temperature, making use of waste heat to substitute traditional fuels. A heat pump uses one unit of electricity to produce three units of useful cooling or four units of useful heating.

They are often considered a renewable technology, and were included as technologies supported under RHI, where ground, air or water is used as a heat source.

Even greater heat pump potential

Use of the rejected heat to preheat hot water systems has become popular over the last 10 years but is limited by the reduction in efficiency at temperatures above 45°C. However, as technologies emerge there is potential to go further. Developments in heat pumps, driven by Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) requirements, provide this opportunity and return on investment within normal, sub-five-year, boundaries.