Heat pumps have been around for decades, but there’s a new breed of these systems that are becoming increasingly attractive, as they can provide water at higher temperatures, especially in excess of 70C. The devices are now capable of achieving these temperatures as a result of refrigerants, with R290 – propane- being one of the best available. By increasing the temperature and subsequently transferring heat into homes, the technology has become much more efficient than ever before. Heat pumps can now supply much higher temperatures than before, and the higher the temperature, the less likely the system is to lose efficiency.
However, the problem now is to convince homeowners of the advantages of using this technology over gas boilers and possibly switching over to heat pumps. This is down to the bad press it has received. Heat pump installers are now trying to dispel the notion of temperature anxiety akin to range anxiety in electric vehicles. Companies such as Octopus Energy and Vattenfall are among the companies offering propane-based heat pumps, which furthermore, are expected to boost energy efficiency within homes.
Researchers have been conducting tests on the innovative systems, and a non-profit Energy Systems Catapult has since 2020 been testing 742 heat pumps from various models across different types of housing schemes in England and Scotland and found that the R290 heat pump is performing surprisingly well. Already, around 72,000 heat pumps were installed last year, but this figure needs to at least increase by ten times to hit the government’s target of 600,000 per year.
Mari Martiskainen, director of the Energy Demand Research Centre at the University of Sussex Business School, suggests there is no barrier to the adoption of heat pump technology; what is lacking within the industry are supply chain issues and skills to facilitate the installation of heat pumps. Despite the challenges, it is worthy of note that the technology is much more efficient than what was obtainable in the past, and they can supply even hotter temperatures while remaining cost-efficient
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