What energy sources can I use?

With any development one of the first decisions is which energy source is the most suitable to provide the low grade energy input for the heat pump. This energy source can be air, water or the ground.

With air systems the installation is easier, however there can be noise issues and air source heat pumps are generally less efficient than ground or water.

Using water source is ideal as water has a high heat transfer rate and installation again is reduced. However suitable water sources are not always adjacent to the development and even if present issues such as extraction rates, boat traffic, etc might need to be taken into account.

The most common source of energy for any development is from the ground. The ground provides a good heat transfer rate and because the temperature is generally constant below one metre, efficiency rates are high. The downside is there are additional ground works to complete, however as this is generally done at the early stages of the project costs and disruption are usually minimal.