What Is an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP)?
Think of an ASHP as an all-electric boiler that lives outside your home. It doesn’t need a gas supply and doesn’t produce any harmful exhaust gases, making it a clean, green alternative for heating and hot water.
An ASHP works by absorbing heat from the air outside (even when it’s cold!) and boosting it to a higher temperature to warm your home and hot water. It’s powered by electricity and uses a clever refrigeration cycle, similar to how your fridge works, just in reverse.
For example, the back of your fridge feels warm because it’s removing heat from inside and releasing it into the room. A heat pump does the opposite; it captures heat from the air outside and brings it into your home.
And as our summers get warmer, ASHPs can also help keep you cool. By reversing the cycle, they can remove heat from your home and send it outside, just like air conditioning.
What Is a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)?
The sun has been quietly storing energy beneath our feet for millions of years in gardens, fields, and open spaces. A Ground Source Heat Pump taps into that stored energy to heat your home and hot water, all year round.
A GSHP works by circulating cool water through a loop of pipes buried deep in the ground either vertically (down boreholes) or horizontally in trenches. The ground stays at a steady temperature throughout the year, and this energy is absorbed by the pipes and delivered into your heating system.
Your GSHP unit is installed indoors in your home, garage, or a dedicated plant room. Some systems can even provide cooling by reversing the process: removing heat from your home and putting it back into the ground, helping to recharge it for the next heating season.
Efficient, renewable, and future-ready GSHPs make the most of nature’s hidden energy right beneath our feet.
What Is a Water Source Heat Pump (WSHP)?
If you’re lucky enough to have a river, lake or stream nearby, a Water Source Heat Pump could be the perfect renewable heating option.
WSHPs work in a very similar way to Ground Source systems, but instead of burying pipes in the ground, a specialist heat exchanger is placed in the flowing water. This allows the system to absorb the natural energy stored in the water, even during colder months.
The heat pump then uses the clever refrigeration technology to boost that heat and provide reliable heating and hot water for your home. WSHP systems can also reverse the process to offer cooling during the warmer months.
It’s a smart, low-carbon solution that makes the most of a natural energy source.
