HEAT PUMPS MARKET PREDICTIONS Four Ecodan air source heat pumps have been installed in the rhino pool at Edinburgh Zoo. They replaced a gas boiler and, according to Mitsubishi Electric, running costs and emissions have been cut by 30% PUMP PRIMING With financial backing from the renewable heat incentive, heat pumps are predicted to become one of the most popular domestic renewables in the UK. Mitsubishi Electrics John Kellett answers questions on why his company is preparing for a surge in demand this method, Mitsubishi Electric had to develop a patented technology to overcome the problem of limescale building up on the plate. We spoke to John Kellett, heating systems general manager, to find out more. By how much is the heat pump market growing? Reports from BSRIA indicate that the market for stand-alone air source heat pumps will grow from 14,000 today to more than 50,000 by 2017, with monobloc systems accounting for the vast majority of this growth. Hybrid installs where the heat pumps work with an existing high-carbon heating system will also grow from a few thousand a year, to around 15,000 in the same period. Whats driving the market? Not only is legislation on energy use becoming more stringent, but despite recent falls, the long-term price of oil and gas are predicted to rise as well. This combination will drive more people to look at renewable technologies. The domestic and nondomestic RHI is helping increase awareness of renewable heating. M itsubishi Electric says there will be a large uptake in heat pumps, and has upgraded its Ecodan range of air source heat pumps in anticipation of rising demand. As well as claiming to boost heat-up efficiency by 17%, Mitsubishi Electric says the new FTC5 range introduces remote energy modelling through its Metering and Monitoring Service Package (MMSP). Where will the growth occur? The domestic sector is slightly easier to predict, and the market growth will depend on a number of factors including: what replaces the Code for Sustainable Homes; how much energy prices rise; and how easy the application for RHI can be made. Commercially, while more education is needed on the benefits of heat pumps, there is a lot of potential for significant growth as building operators realise the benefits in the technologys low running costs and meeting energy legislation. How viable are hybrid systems? Heat pumps in particular offer the ability to bolt on to an existing, carbon-intensive heating system, significantly reducing both energy bills and carbon emissions. With the latest advances in heat pump controls, these systems are also now much simpler for homeowners to operate. How is proper installation ensured? We have always tried to ensure that anyone installing our Ecodan systems have been on our training courses. The This will allow occupiers to make the most of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which offers homeowners an additional RHI payment of 230 per year for seven years, if heat pumps are metered and monitored. Innovations include the replacement of the traditional internal coil with an external plate heat exchanger, which means water heats up and recovers temperature quicker. To use MCS-Accreditation will be important as it sets the appropriate standards for design, specification and installation, to ensure that each and every system is working in the most efficient way for each individual property. How important is monitoring? It is vitally important because, although heat pumps have been around for decades, and the modern inverter-driven systems have been on the market for six years now, they still appear new to many people. Theres nothing that helps convince people more than seeing things with their own eyes. Its all about providing real, tangible evidence of the effectiveness of a heat pump, and that is why we, as a manufacturer, are pushing monitoring so much. Will the RHI mechanism encourage uptake of MMSP package? The additional premium payment available for the governments MMSP is designed to make the whole exercise cost-neutral, so I dont think it will prove to be a massive incentive programme. CJ "