TEST DRIVE A HEAT PUMP
Air source heat pumps have been around for decades and are a tried and tested technology. They dominate home heating in places like Scandinavia, where it gets much colder that the UK. They’re also three times more efficient than a gas or oil boiler.
TAKE IT FOR A SPIN
We’ve teamed up with Dr Mike Fell, an academic energy researcher at University College London, who has developed a heat pump test drive, to simulate what it would be like to have an air source heat pump in your home.
Take a test drive and find out more about heat pumps below.
SEE
Use the Augmented Reality (AR) tool on your smartphone or tablet to see what a heat pump could look like in your home.
Using your smartphone or tablet, scan the relevant QR code below. Now go to the location you would like to view the pump. Click “View in AR” and your phone or tablet will go into camera mode.
Point it where you want the pump to appear – it may take a minute to load. This doesn’t show a particular model of heat pump, but it is a similar size and look to some available on the market.
Small Pump
Scan or click this option if you have a small to medium (e.g. 1-3 bedroom) or better insulated home.
Large Pump
Scan or click this option if you have a larger (e.g. 4+ bedroom) and/or less well insulated home.
Wall Mounted Pump
Scan or click this option if you have a small to medium (e.g. 1-3 bedroom) or better insulated home, and are thinking about getting your heat pump installed at height.*
Hot Water Cylinder
Scan or click this option to see small to average sized cylinder. It’s usually installed in a cupboard, as close to your heat pump as possible, to minimise heat loss through the connecting pipe.
*This option shows a pump mounted with the lower edge 2 metres above the ground.
To find out more about the different parts of a heat pump system that go inside your home, please visit the inside page.
To view more heat pump options for your home, and for guidance on positioning outside your home, visit the outside page.
HEAR
Play the sound of a heat pump.
Hit play on the audio track below to listen to the sound a heat pump makes when it’s working its hardest (in deepest winter). See our guide below to set the volume correctly – it should sound similar to a quiet fridge.
Have a Bluetooth speaker or second phone or tablet? Put it where you want to install your heat pump and play the sound from there. You can then wander round and listen to it from different positions.
To set the right volume:
Open an online decibel monitor or download an app on your phone (such as Sound Meter for Android or Decibel X for iOS)
Find somewhere quiet. Start playing the sound above on your speaker or second device and measure the sound level 1 metre (3 feet) away from it.
Adjust the volume of the sound until you have a reading of about 50 dB. This is similar to a quiet fridge, and quieter than many gas boilers.
FEEL
Set your condensing combi boiler to run at a similar temperature to a heat pump and feel what the heating is like.
This involves turning down the flow temperature on your boiler. This is the temperature of the water that your boiler supplies to heat your radiators.
Nesta have created an easy guide to help you do this as part of their challenge below.
Don’t make this adjustment if you have a hot water tank, as water stored here needs to be heated above a certain temperature to prevent bacteria from growing. To check which type of system you have follow Energy Saving Trust’s guide below.
If you use a thermostat with a timer to control your heating, you may need to set it to come on 15-30 minutes earlier than usual as it will take longer to heat up. If you find your rooms are still taking too long to heat up, you may want to increase the flow temperature by 5°C.