Successful trial of air source heat pumps leads to Gleeson Homes specifying Panasonic Aquarea for its affordable housing developments
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South Yorkshire. United Kingdom
2022
Aquarea air to water heat pump, Residential
Outdoor units: Aquarea 5kW A2W Heat Pump units
Indoor units:
Gleeson Homes
Gleeson Homes has
recently completed a heat pump trial for its housing projects in South Yorkshire,
which hold affordability for buyers at its core. The developer was looking for
a sustainable alternative to replace gas boilers in its new housing developments.
Panasonic provided 5kW Aquarea Mono-bloc
air to water heat pumps to the trial homes in three locations.
Challenge
At the Gleeson Homes development in Poolsbrook,
Chesterfield a 3-bedroom detached home ‘The Kildare’ was chosen to be fitted
with a 5kW Panasonic Aquarea monobloc ASHP and have its performance benchmarked
against an identical, but gas boiler heated home, located on another nearby
Gleeson development. A trial that is also being carried out at two other
Gleeson developments in England.
Solutions & Tech Applied
Gleeson Homes has
recently completed a heat pump trial for its housing projects in South Yorkshire,
which hold affordability for buyers at its core. The developer was looking for
a sustainable alternative to replace gas boilers in its new housing developments.
Panasonic provided 5kW Aquarea Mono-bloc
air to water heat pumps to the trial homes in three locations.
At the Gleeson Homes development in Poolsbrook,
Chesterfield a 3-bedroom detached home ‘The Kildare’ was chosen to be fitted
with a 5kW Panasonic Aquarea monobloc ASHP and have its performance benchmarked
against an identical, but gas boiler heated home, located on another nearby
Gleeson development. A trial that is also being carried out at two other
Gleeson developments in England.
On final examination of the trial property fitted
with the Aquarea Mono-bloc, the project provided great insight for the Gleeson
Homes team regarding the ease of installation and energy efficiency benefits of
using Panasonic. Gleeson Homes has now planned a controlled roll-out of the
Panasonic Aquarea heat pump within 1000’s of its properties, of which 256 homes
in South Lincolnshire have already commenced construction.
Gleeson Homes aims to build affordable homes to
appeal to its customer base: 80% of whom
are first-time buyers, with an average age of 28. Additionally, the developer
aims to reach sustainability targets beyond the requirements of the new SAP10
regulations, looking forward to the 2025 Future Homes Standards. Therefore, the
trial required a solution to deliver affordable and effective heating and hot
water.
Adam Butterfield, Design Manager for Gleeson Homes
explained: “The Panasonic units have been found to offer unmatched energy efficiencies,
with the heat pumps listed as having an average of 300%, whereas a gas boiler
only offers about 92-94%. It came down to looking beyond upfront costs and
considering quality, ease of installation and critically the seasonal
coefficient of performance (SCOP) figures for the units. Following
independent testing by one of the UKs leading energy consultants, the Panasonic
Aquarea unit achieved industry-leading efficiencies in the UK climate. We also used this trial at our Erin Court development in Chesterfield to
learn about the installation process and to ensure we have the right skilled subcontractors
on board, so that, as air source heat pumps become the standard solution, we
can hit the ground running and smash our sustainability goals.
The 5kW Aquarea Mono-Bloc heat pump is specifically
designed for smaller homes which have high performance requirements. It is simple
to install not only for new build, but also retrofit projects, as it can be
connected to underfloor heating, radiators, or fan units. The heat pump has an
A+++ energy class rating (average climate at 35°C), and works in temperatures
as low as -20 °C. This minimises carbon emissions whilst maintaining occupant
comfort.
Switching from a familiar technology such as gas
boilers to renewable alternatives can be challenging. Simon Brown, Business Development
Manager for Panasonic says, “We know adopting to change can be difficult, so we
have worked hard to make the Aquarea installation process very simple, to make
the transition from gas boilers to heat-pump systems as easy as possible for
both the installer and homeowner. The intuitive simple smart cloud controls mean
homeowners and installers can easily get to grips with this new technology, via
an app on their mobile phone or laptop. The system offers remote programming, energy consumption
monitoring, and notifies in the event of an anomaly. Additionally, installers can remotely maintain and monitor the heat pump via the Panasonic
Service Cloud app.”
Adam concluded: “Feedback from the team has
been overwhelmingly positive, we are excited for our first customers to
move into the ASHP homes next year. It was found that
any caution about introducing new technology into the home was outweighed by
the customers mindfulness about their environmental impact and the benefits of
the Panasonic heat-pump provided.”
For more information on Panasonic air source heat pumps,
please visit www.aircon.panasonic.eu/GB_en. To
learn more about Gleeson Homes please visit https://gleesonhomes.co.uk/.
Capacity
5kW