Radiators work well with heat pumps - official!
The rise and rise of the heat pump is seeing the need for larger and higher capacity radiators. Stelrad has responded to these needs by broadening its already massive range of sizes and shapes for its most popular radiators and the introduction of a wider range of vertical radiators. It is also meeting the enhanced need for its K3 radiators – with three panels and three fins offering 50% more heating capacity from a radiator with the same footprint as a K2 format radiator for example.
Low temperature heating systems have brought with them perhaps understandable questions that installers and specifiers want answers to. Can we still use products we use now with traditional boiler driven heating systems if the heat source is a heat pump? Is there anything we need to consider that we take for granted nowadays?
In new build housing, using a heat pump-based solution is a relatively simple solution. The heating system can be designed into the home at the outset so you know the parameters in which the heating system has to operate. The levels of insulation can be agreed at the outset that will provide the best support for any heating system chosen, whether radiators or underfloor heating. The key to radiators operating well in any situation - new build or replacement heating system - is to size them properly at the outset, which involves accurately working out heat loss calculations to achieve the necessary number of BTUs required to provide comfort heating in each room and to select a radiator that can provide that level of heating.
Stelrad offers a simple to use and free radiator sizing and heat loss calculator along with a Renewables Advice page on its website. Facts and helpful information are also shared through a free to take CPD also available on its website, to anyone – not myths and misleading statements.
So, do we need to ditch radiators altogether and look for alternatives as some are suggesting?
The answer is a resounding no. Radiators are very much ‘fit for the future’ but as always, correct sizing will need to be undertaken to ensure that they keep the home warm and cosy. But can radiators work well with air source heat pumps? Very definitely yes, they can - and they already are in a host of installations across the UK.
Images © Stelrad
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