LIVING ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

04, January 2008

The Future of Sustainable Heating has arrived

Mitsubishi Electric (Stand E432) is using the EcoBuild exhibition (Earls Court, 26 – 28 February) to demonstrate the future of energy efficient heating with its advanced Ecodan™ air source heat pump boiler.

Designed specifically for the UK residential sector, the ultra efficient low carbon heating system can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 35% (*) compared to a modern gas condensing boiler and can help new homes achieve Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, which the UK  Government has introduced to set minimum standards for sustainability in energy use within the residential sector.

The average UK household produces over 5 tonnes of CO2 per year with space and water heating accounting for more than 73 per cent of this and many different alternatives to gas are competing to prove their green credentials in this market.

With a conventional gas boiler, one kilowatt of energy delivers less than one kilowatt of heat to a building.  With an Ecodan heat pump boiler, one kilowatt of energy delivers a heat output in excess of 3 kilowatts – that’s a 300 per cent increase in energy efficiency – and that is set to grow as the technology develops.   Heat pumps are movers of heat energy – they upgrade naturally occurring low temperature heat into useful high temperature heat to reduce primary fuel consumption.  

Other alternatives to gas are often unproven, depend on how brightly the sun shines or how hard the wind blows, are far too expensive, require complex equipment, or in the case of biomass boilers, leave the homeowner with waste to dispose of.

The Ecodan unit runs off a normal domestic electric circuit and is easy to install, although Mitsubishi Electric is stressing the need for exacting standards of installation coupled with modern levels of building insulation to ensure the greatest efficiency.

“One of the easiest ways of achieving a significant reduction in CO2 emissions would be through the greater use of heat pump technology which extracts free energy from the surrounding air,” explained Jason Tinsley, Product and Technical Manager for Mitsubishi Electric’s Heating Systems Department. “This energy that surrounds us is a key sustainable resource that doesn’t currently factor into many people’s thinking.”

Mitsubishi Electric is holding free seminars on the Ecodan heat pump boiler in Hatfield, Herts. For further details email heating@meuk.mee.com, call 01707 282880 or visit www.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/heating

(*) Independently verified by the Building Research Establishment Limited which provides a complete range of independent consultancy, testing and commissioned research services covering all aspects of the built environment, and associated industries. For further details visit www.bre.co.uk.     

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