Three Northumberland County Council (NCC) fire stations operated by Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service have reduced their reliance on fossil fuels and identified innovative ways to generate income to invest back into core services thanks to a recently completed first phase of ground source heating installations managed by Kensa Contracting.
Kensa Contracting helped Stonewater Housing deliver a shared ground loop array heat pump programme of works in an estate of 49 one and two-bedroom bungalows in Herefordshire, resulting in halved heating bills for the residents.
Three Northumberland County Council fire stations operated by Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service have reduced their reliance on fossil fuels and identified innovative ways to generate income to invest back into core services thanks to a recently completed first phase of ground source heating installations. Read more
South Shropshire Housing Association and Kensa Heat Pumps have completed an off-gas heating retrofit programme featuring ground source heat pumps in rural properties in Cleobury, Shropshire. Read more
Hornsea Garden Centre near Hull has three Kensa Plantroom ground source heat pumps installed in a cascaded system to provide heating and hot water to a large new-build extension with 30,000 sq ft of retail space and a café kitchen.
In order to be eligible to claim for quarterly payments from the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI: this scheme has now closed – please visit this page to explore other funding), ground source heat pump installations must be compliant with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS). The MCS is an independent scheme designed to evaluate heat pump systems and installers against robust criteria, providing greater protection for consumers.
In October 2017 the MCS standard MIS3005 ‘Requirements for MCS Contractors undertaking the Supply, Design, Installation, Set to Work, Commissioning and Handover of Microgeneration Heat Pump Systems’ was updated.
The update includes a number of changes which will affect a heat pump project. This blog discuss the two main changes for homeowners and installers following the October updates, which are:
The standard Performance Estimate will detail the expected running costs of the heat pump system and estimated RHI* returns, and should be consistent no matter which installer is used. This will give a potential consumer an estimate of heat pump running costs compared to their existing heating system as well as estimated RHI* income and likely capital cost. All MCS Contractors will use the same format, providing clarity and comparability for the consumer.
To obtain this information and in order to produce an MCS compliant quote, the installer should obtain a copy of the property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) (or SAP in the case of new builds). Ideally the EPC should be provided by the house holder, or if the current lodged EPC is valid, downloaded from the EPC register.
Only one EPC should be used by any and all MCS contractors quoting for the project. It is preferred that the certificate is provided by an independent surveyor, but if it is provided by one of the prospective MCS contractors quoting, it must be made available without charge to all other contractors involved.
Ideally, fuel prices used in the Performance Estimate should be taken from recent actual bills for the property (if existing). Electricity tariffs should not include the standing charge element, unless it is intended that the ground source heat pump is going to be the only electricity consuming device in the building.
The important figures from the EPC are the space heating and hot water requirements. If the building is being altered (e.g. extended, additional insulation measures etc.), the figures may be taken from a draft EPC, which may not be formally submitted until the works are complete. If the requirements of the completed building differ from figures quoted on the draft EPC, then a new, up-to-date Performance Estimate should be provided as soon as these variations are apparent.
The energy loads quoted in the Performance Estimate should only be used to calculate running costs and estimated RHI* payments – they should not be used to size the heat pump. An appropriate whole house sizing method should be used, followed up with a room by room heat loss to BS EN 12831.
This is the methodology used by Kensa Heat Pumps who, if necessary, can oversee and certify an installation to be compliant using their MCS Umbrella scheme. Under the scheme Kensa takes responsibility for the sizing, specification, appropriate quotation, commissioning and MCS registration of the ground source heat pump system.
The other major change is that a room-by-room heat loss to BS EN 12831 is no longer required before a MCS compliant quote can be produced, although this calculation is still required once the order has been placed.
Any changes to the heat pump size caused by a more accurate sizing method being used or a change in operating temperature, should trigger a new Performance Estimate to be produced and, if needed, a variation of contract.
*Please note, the RHI scheme has now closed – please visit this page to explore other funding.
Kensa Heat Pumps has released a new video showing how best to unroll coiled slinky pipe for a ground source heat pump installation. Read more
Neat, quick, and efficient, this time lapse video shows the drilling of 25 communal boreholes which will feed heat to ground source heat pumps installed at 49 bungalows owned by Stonewater Housing in Burton Gardens, Weobley.
The ground source heat pumps are expected to more than halve the heating bills for residents, who were previously using night storage heaters.
Read more about this Kensa Contracting scheme here.
The owners of the Old Farmhouse in Lancashire replaced their old, inefficient LPG boiler with a cascaded ground source heat pump system from Kensa to provide heating and hot water to three separate dwellings, thus benefiting from the Non Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI: this scheme has now closed – please visit this page to explore other funding).
In this blog, first published in Heating & Plumbing Monthly in September 2017, Guy Cashmore, Technical Director for Kensa Heat Pumps argues that the renewable industry needs to embrace the thousands of potential new installers who are currently working with boilers.
Read more
Housing association residents in a development of 49 one- and two-bedroom bungalows in Herefordshire are set to have their heating bills halved as work begins on the installation of an innovative communal ground source heating system. Read more
The UK market for ground source heat pumps may have declined in recent years, but West Country based Kensa Heat Pumps believes the technology still has a big part to play in addressing the country’s energy needs. PHAM News visited the company to find out more.
With uncertainties about Government incentives and its commitment to supporting renewable technologies, the UK heat pump market has failed to reach the levels that many people were predicting some 10 years ago. In fact, recent years have seen a decline in numbers and the current level of demand for ground source heat pumps suggests that it remains very much a niche market, with just 2120 units installed in 2016. Disappointing returns on investment have meant that some larger manufacturers decided to cut their losses, leaving the field open to early adopters like Truro based Kensa Heat Pumps. While acknowledging disappointment at the size of the market, MD Simon Lomax is proud that the company is now, by some distance, the market leader for ground source heat pumps in the UK.
It might surprise some people, but we’ve sold more ground source heat pumps than anybody else for some time now.
Some global or pan-European companies have walked away from the UK market because they simply decided that it’s too tough. So we’ve benefited from their absence and filled the void.
Kensa was founded in 1999 by two former marine engineers – Richard Freeborn and Guy Cashmore – who, having spent a number of years working on heat pump installations for luxury yachts in the Mediterranean, recognised the opportunity to transfer the technology to applications closer to home. From early on, they also recognised that the key to success was to come up with a simplified and less costly alternative to what they considered to be often over-designed and unnecessarily complicated imported products.
Guy, who is now the company’s Technical Director, explains:
The original idea, and it still runs through the business today, is that a Kensa heat pump would be transported as a kit to anywhere in the country, and then a plumbing or heating engineer – who had probably never seen such a product before – would be able to get it installed, working, and fully commissioned, with only phone support. It’s not necessary for a Kensa engineer to go anywhere near it during the installation process. Of course they are available if needed, but we kind of feel if they have to go out to a job, we’ve got something wrong. I think that’s a significant reason why we’ve succeeded in this market while others have failed – we’ve made the design so simple and easy, which means that we’ve not had to incur the cost of having a fleet of service vans.
A central part of the company’s thinking is that its products should be installed by heating and plumbing engineers who know their way round a domestic heating system rather than newly qualified renewables specialists who may have come from outside the industry. Simon says:
We try to mimic the technology that installers are familiar with. It’s still a box that produces hot water, and what you do with that hot water can essentially follow the same paths as if you had a gas or oil boiler in place. Obviously we give them lots of support in the areas where they have no knowledge – the size of the ground array and what you might have to do with the heat distribution system – but the actual work they do using the tools is going to be straightforward and familiar work for them.
Designing and manufacturing products in the UK for installation by British plumbers in British homes perhaps gives the company an edge over some of its competitors, but another key factor is the relatively modest size of the business which has enabled it to adapt quickly to shifts in the market. Guy explains:
If we made a plan 10 years ago and stuck to it we probably wouldn’t be here today.
So we have to be resourceful. One of the benefits of being a small company is that we can be more flexible than some of our bigger competitors.
The development of a contracting side to the Kensa business was not part of the original plans, but it has enabled the company to address the needs of large social housing projects and the growing demand for district heating solutions. Equally important was the launch of the company’s Shoebox product – claimed to be the world’s smallest ground source heat pump – which has proved to be an ideal solution for multi-occupancy dwellings, where the heat pumps can be fitted in a cupboard or under a kitchen sink and linked to a micro heat network.
Although Kensa can lay claim to having been involved in a number of prestigious projects over the years, and can count the RNLI as one of its regular clients, its the prospect of being able to reduce energy bills for those people who need it most that presents the strongest case for the wider adoption of ground source technology. Simon continues:
We’ve got plenty of evidence now that these things really work and do save money. It’s not about putting a fancy bit of kit into a big house – there’s a social purpose to this business. I get most satisfaction when we get letters from social landlords, or their tenants, which say that you actually told us it would save this much, but it’s saved even more. If you have an elderly resident in a two bed bungalow, previously paying a thousand pounds a year for night storage heaters, and we’ve suddenly knocked that down to £500, well it actually transforms their lives. In many cases they’re actually heating more of the property for longer and still saving money.
It’s such real life case studies that give Kensa confidence that the prospects for the UK ground source heat pump market remain positive and such technology should play a central part in the Government’s carbon reduction plans. Simon comments:
We are dependent on government decisions and it’s hard to get away from that. They need to be involved because our technology is more expensive than the alternatives, but it’s also the most energy efficient option available.
Despite the ongoing challenges, Simon is proud of what the company has achieved so far and relishes the prospect of continuing to beat the odds.
There is a perception that engineering businesses don’t reside in this part of the world, so we’ve had to fight that a little bit, but for us it’s all part of this underdog story – a small company in deepest Cornwall battling against the pan-European giants – and winning! That’s the message I’m always telling to staff – never forget how good we are – the market numbers are telling us we’re number one.
In this blog, Dr Matthew Trewhella, Managing Director of Kensa Contracting, explains how Kensa Heat Pumps’ Shoebox heat pump paired with a Shared Ground Loop Array makes it easy to install ground source heat pumps in flats.
Read more
Discover the Evo Series of ground source heat pump from Kensa Heat Pumps.
Formerly a Medieval inn, Llanishen House situated in the Monmouthshire countryside has two Kensa ground source heat pumps installed; a 24kW Twin in the expertly renovated main house; and a 9kW Evo for the soon-to-be converted granary. The first heat pump system uses coiled slinky pipes, whilst the second uses boreholes to maximise the remaining available land.
