ground source heat pump | Selfbuild Central

Emitters (rads etc.)

Central heating

Emitters tend to be of two types – traditional radiators and underfloor heating. It’s a bit of a toss-up as to which is better. They have their respective advantages and drawbacks.

Underfloor

a pleasanter heat because it is better distributed no wall space taken up by radiators possibly more efficient because of lower [...]

The Renewable Heat Premium Payment is a one-off grant designed to help towards meeting the costs of installing renewable technologies in your home, until the Renewable Heat Incentive is introduced for domestic customers.

Technology

Voucher Value

Solar Thermal Hot Water £300 Air Source Heat Pump £850 Ground Source or Water Source Heat Pump £1250 Biomass [...]

The Tree House

The Tree House in Clapham, London is a recently completed and very elegant example of a self built detached house. It has, on occasion, been open to the public as part of the London Open House programme. Situated on a small urban plot of land dominated by a large sycamore tree it has [...]

Retrofit

‘Under the Sun’, a Victorian terrace house in Birmingham is an outstanding example of bringing a fairly typical old building up to PassivhausSee more on the Passivhaus standard. The PassivHaus Institute has pioneered a standard for low energy buildings. It includes very low energy usage and ways of achieving this. The word is derived [...]

Part L and SAP (England)

The Building Regulations, part L, is the section which covers energy conservation for new buildings (with part L1A covering new buildings and part L1B covering existing ones)

At present there is a period of transition which is well explained in an NHBCThe National House-Building Council describes itself as being “the leading warranty and insurance provider [...]

Thermal Mass

Energy storage

High thermal mass is generally seen as a useful quality in a building because it can be utilised to trap and save any spare heat which might turn up.

It can also do the reverse equivalent for coolth during hot weather. This quality is utilised in passive solar design, including the PassivhausSee [...]

Energy Harvesting

There are several methods of harvesting energy for a house but non of them are as important as providing excellent levels of insulation, air tightness and energy efficient appliances in the first place. Witness to this fact is the design of the PassivhausSee more on the Passivhaus standard. The PassivHaus Institute has pioneered a [...]

Ground Source Heat Pumps

Heat pumps (both ‘ground source’ and ‘air source’) are being heavily sold at present. GSHPs work a bit like fridges and freezers by shifting heat from one place to another. With houses they extract heat from the ground which tends to have a constant temperature of about 10°C, increase its temperature a bit (to [...]