5th January 2023 By neil merrett
The first issue of H&V News for 2023 has an in-depth look at our recent Heat Pump Question Time event and also considers the opportunities to ramp up automation across the HVAC sector
January’s digital edition of H&V News can now be read online. This month’s issue looks at the importance of education for both installers and customers around the effective installation and operation of heat pumps.
The issue of industry education is a recurring theme both in this month’s news stories, as well as in the coverage of the inaugural H&V News Heat Pump Question Time event that was held online late last year.
Experts working across the heat pump supply chain joined H&V News editor Andrew Gaved for the question time to look at recent progress to increase the existing heat pump installer base. They also discussed some of the crucial barriers undermining adoption of low carbon heating in the UK.
These barriers include a need to make it easier to ensure heat pumps are effectively installed and also operating efficiently in homes. These same homes should also be optimised as much as possible for use with lower temperature heating systems, the event heard.
Graeme Fox, technical director with building engineering body BESA and the current president of the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), said that there was now a vital need for heating engineers already trained to provide gas boilers systems to build up additional skills for correctly specifying heat pumps and ensuring they operate correctly in a specific property.
He said: “They really need to understand the kit better and understand that running lower flow temperatures for a longer period of time is the way to get efficiencies up and keep running costs down. Right now, if they don’t understand that themselves, they are not going to be able to educate the homeowner on how to operate them properly. That is where I think you get a lot of issues with homeowners not running the systems properly and incurring high energy costs.”
Mr Fox argued that there was an urgent need for effective advocacy from heating specialists to explain how an effective low carbon heating system operates in a home. This would be important to tackle national news headlines about poor quality installations.
The question time was sponsored by heating specialist Daikin UK. Iain Bevan, commercial director of renewable heating for the company, said during the event that an estimated 60,000 to 65,000 heat pumps are expected to have been installed across the UK in 2022.
This figure would be just over a tenth of the total amount of annual installations that the UK Government hopes the industry to deliver by 2028.
Mr Bevan said it was easy to underestimate the seismic changes in homes and the HVAC industry that is needed to switch to heat pumps at mass scale from natural gas boilers.
He added: “We are moving from an industry that has been developed over the last 40 to 50 years, if not more, to a completely new way of doing things within the next ten.”
“So, it should come with challenges, and I think we just have to embrace those and get on with it.”
The January issue also looks at the role that new technologies are having on the HVAC industry with Hilti setting out how new systems and tools that are able to make use of performance data can address poor productivity within an organisation and its supply chains. Another Foresight piece looks at how Ribble has been able to increasingly automate the packaging of HVAC products and components to benefit its customers.
You can read the issue in full by clicking on the cover below.
Tagged with: automation Daikin UK digital edition Foresight Heat Pump Question time Hilti January 2023
Recommended Articles
A cross-party body of MPs focused on environmental issues warns of an…
Latest studies published as part of ongoing research into UK’s transition to…
Requirements to ensure that MERV-13 filters are fitted as a minimum requirement…
Association says that calls from Professor Chris Whitty to prioritise indoor air…
or a new account to join the discussion.
Join our industry-focused LinkedIn group
Get the latest news and analysis sent straight to your inbox
