A proven but relatively new technology to the Irish market air-to-water heat pumps offer an energy efficient, low-carbon solution to a households heating and domestic hot water needs. We, as a nation are becoming more and more aware of our carbon footprint and the need to reduce carbon emissions. As such, new technologies like heat pumps are becoming more common place as we move away from fossil fuels such as oil and gas to alternate, cleaner sources of energy to heat our homes.

• Heat Pumps are extremely efficient and are capable of delivering 4-5kW of usable heat energy for every 1kW of Electrical Energy consumed.
• Indoor system tanks such as those provided by CTC are optimised to work with heat pumps and can provide a whole house energy solution.
• Flow Temperatures of up to 65°C from the EcoAir510M ASHP ensures high quality hot water without the need for supplementary immersion heaters.
• Reliability – capable of producing heating and hot water right down to -22°C
• Energyflex by CTC provides total flexibility for your heating system allowing the incorporation of existing solar or solid fuel stoves.
• Noise effects are an extremely important factor in heat pump installations. The CTC EcoAir 510M is one of the quietest on the market with a sound level of just 55.6dB.
• Instantaneous DHW production through the use of CTC EcoZenith indoor models means there no stored domestic hot water and no issues with Legionella build up.

An air source heat pump is a perfect option for your home whether it’s a new-build project with underfloor heating or as part of a deep retrofit on an existing home.

New Builds – Installing a heat pump in a new property will be a large step towards meeting the Part L Building regulations. It is also much easier to install Underfloor Heating (UFH) in a new build where the floors haven’t been laid yet. Heat pumps are extremely efficient when they run at low temperatures which makes them ideally suited to UFH applications where a lower primary flow temperature is required (30-35°C).

The principle of operation of an Air-Source Heat Pump (ASHP) is almost identical to that of a refrigerator but in reverse.
It’s a 4-stage cycle which never stops.

1. Air is passed over an evaporator which contains refrigerant, this liquid boils and evaporates at low temperature.
2. This low-temp low pressure gas is passed through a compressor which increases its pressure and temperature.
3. This high temp, high pressure gas is then passed through a Heat Exchanger (Condenser) where it transfers its heat to the water in your heating system.
4. Finally the refrigerant flows through an expansion valve to bring it back to its’ natural state and the cycle repeats.

Retrofit – As of April 2018 the SEAI have made available a grant of €3500 for a heat pump retrofit on any home built before 2011 provided it is considered “heat pump ready”. This will be dependent on the heat loss factor of the house which can be calculated by an SEAI technical advisor. When replacing existing boilers with a heat pump the size of the heat emitters must be carefully considered. Due to the lower temperatures heat pumps operate at some emitter sizes may need to be increased. Where possible UFH could be a retrofit option with products such as our LK EPS16 Insulated Slotted Board.