Air source heat pumps- what are they?
Air Source Heat Pumps extract heat from the ambient air outside and compress it into high grade heat to warm your home or office.
Air source heat pumps look very similar to traditional air conditioning units. They are generally sited on the exterior of a building and either connected directly to a wet central heating system or via a thermal store. They use a large fan to draw the air over over a heat exchanger.
Air source heat pumps are simpler and less expensive to install than ground source heat pumps and can be an ideal solution to provide low cost and low carbon heating for small to medium sized buildings. They can heat your home effectively even when the ambient temperature is as low as -20°C.
A more technical explanantion...
Air is sucked over a large heat exchanger by a fan. Heat from the ambient air is transferred to a refrigerant gas and the gas is pumped over the opposite side of the heat exchanger. This gas is then put into a compressor and presurised, causing it to liquefy and gain heat. The pressurised, liquid refrigerant is then passed over a second heat exchanger and then the heat is transfered to the central heating system in your building. The refrigerant is then allowed to expand, causing it to evaporate and the whole cycle begins again...
