Horsey Farm, Somerset
Ground source review: Horsey Farm
Two Kensa 9kW Evo’s were installed as a cascaded ground source heat pump system in a 19th-century farmhouse in Somerset to provide 100% of the heating and hot water requirements.
Ground source review: Horsey Farm
Opting for efficient & renewable ground source heating
Mr & Mrs Hollis, of Horsey Farm in Somerset, needed to install a heating system to meet the heating and hot water demands of the building. The farmhouse which dates back to 1808, is comprised of 4 bedrooms.
Mr Hollis deemed oil heating unfeasible because of the unpredictability of price and supply. He wished to install underfloor heating throughout the property, meaning the low input temperature provided by heat pumps was ideally suited. Ground source was seen as the most logical choice due to the fact that the land is surrounded by acres of loam – a soil with equal parts sand, silt and clay – which floods annually. This geology makes for a very efficient ground source system with lower running costs, as water is an excellent conductor of heat.
Looking for renewable installers on the internet, Mr Hollis came across Evergreen, who has been installing renewable technology in the South West for over a decade. Evergreen has worked as an accredited installer for Kensa since 2015. After the original system design was specified, the power company suggested that the available supply would need upgrading. Kensa worked with Evergreen to redesign the heating system to meet the available power supply. This resulted in a cascaded system of two 9kW Evo’s being recommended, which was accepted by the DNO. A cascaded ground source heat pump system allows heat pump units to work together flexibly to adjust to meet a property’s peak heat demand. When the demand for heat is low, a unit in the system can operate in isolation to optimise efficiency and reduce running costs.
Mr & Mrs Hollis had a positive experience with both Evergreen and Kensa during the installation process. The two Kensa Evo’s supply 100% of the heating and hot water demands to the property. The farmhouse owner is looking to install a Solar PV to further increase the sustainability of the system. Solar PV utilises solar energy and converts it into electricity, which can then be used to power the heat pumps.