These provide reliable, renewable heating and hot water production for a wide range of installations. The system is available in 8.5kW and 11.2kW sizes with market-leading sound levels that are three times quieter than previous models making passing permitted development requirements much easier.
Listen at your leisure Ecodan Ambassador, architect and TV Presenter, George Clarke At Mitsubishi Electric, we always stress the need to look at Seasonal Efficiency rather than the standard performance levels written in the sales blurb. For us, this is a bit like miles per gallon (mpg) with a car. We all know that the car manufactures show off the highest mpg possible, but this is always from a laboratory test, in optimum conditions. Once you get your car on the road, at all speeds and in all weathers, that is where you really see what the performance is. The same is true of any heating system so always ask about the seasonal efficiency won’t you?
Shh, people are sleeping Another key area that will affect adoption of renewable, energysaving air source heat pumps is noise, to ensure tenants and their neighbours aren’t disturbed, which is why permitted development exists. In the residential environment, sound is important because low sound increases the flexibility of where a heat pump can be positioned. As heat pumps are adopted in more homes, noise will become an increasingly important factor and many are sited close to windows, where the unit’s apparent low noise during the day, can become a different matter in the quiet of the night. Permitted development requires sound levels to meet certain limitations, with the sound pressure level not exceeding 42 decibels, dB(A) when measured at a point one metre away from the neighbour’s nearest door or window.
To help people understand the full benefits of air source heat pumps, we’ve created a series of podcasts all about renewable heating with our Ecodan Ambassador, architect and TV Presenter, George Clarke and in one of the latest, we look specifically at the social housing sector. George and I talk about social housing in the UK, ‘affordable warmth’, and the need to educate the entire sector, from government, developers, housing associations, and residents about heat pump technology. We also consider the case for new-build developments versus retrofitting the UK’s existing social housing stock to be more sustainable and energy-efficient. In another, more recent podcast, I talk with Rob Hicks, Innovation Manager at Sovereign Housing Association and we discussed Sovereign’s decision to invest in sustainable heating technology to meet their long-term, ‘affordable warmth’ objectives for residents. In the podcast, Rob reflects on the housing association’s ten-year relationship with Ecodan, and the educational challenges they overcame when introducing new technology. With the government recognising how important air source heat pumps will be for the future of low carbon heating in the UK and forecasting one million sales a year by 2030, the time could not be better to look at improving the heating future for tenants. Not only could you benefit from £5,000 per property, if the work is completed before the end of March, the property could also be eligible for the Renewable Heat Incentive, earning quarterly payments for the next seven years. But there’s no time to lose as both the Renewable Heat Incentive and the Green Homes Grant end on the 31st March 2021.
That is exactly why we as a manufacturer have looked beyond performance and focused heavily on developing some of the quietest units ever available, which we have appropriately named ‘Ultra Quiet’.
To listen to any of the podcasts, visit podcast.ecodan.uk Rob Hicks, Innovation Manager at Sovereign Housing Association
If you want further information, give us a call or visit www.ecodan.co.uk. •11•
