Historically listed thatched property benefits from government scheme for Panasonic heat pump

Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions has delivered a sustainable and affordable heating solution to a pre-1900’s historically listed and extended five-bedroom thatched cottage in Royston, Hertfordshire with three bathrooms. The homeowners were looking to replace their existing gas boiler with a more renewable solution and sought the advice of Cambridge based Eco Installer who has valuable experience in renovating heating systems in older listed properties. Two Panasonic Aquarea K series A2W heat pump outdoor units along with bi-bloc indoor units and Panasonic Smart and Service Cloud controls were specified and installed for the project. The units were purchased and distributed through heat pump specialists, Secon Renewables.

Shane Freeland of Eco Installer commented, “Following an initial site visit and heat loss calculations, we were able to determine that to meet the desired heat loss across the whole house, two air source heat pumps would be required. Due to the façade of the house, its high-vaulted ceilings, and because it is a listed building, the installation required additional considerations, such as bringing the pipes up through the narrow roof, across the new part of the house, and into the old part. We also took out the old boiler, fitted the internal units in the same location and upgraded the DHW cylinder to a 236-litre hot water cylinder, crafted bespoke to fit the space available.”

Due to the property being a listed building, planning permission and DNO approval was required but due to many years of experience, Eco Installer and Panasonic were able to work closely and advise the homeowner through the application and gain the approvals required to progress the project.

The homeowners were also able to take advantage of the UK Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) and received £7,500 towards their heat pump installation which Eco Installer were also able to help with. As the installer is an approved Panasonic Pro Partner, the homeowner benefitted from the security of a 7-year warranty.

Two Panasonic Aquarea 12 kW K Series T-CAP air to water heat pumps were specified for the project. This was combined with retrofitting and replacing some of the existing radiators to triple and aluminium plus some rooms also now benefit from underfloor heating in order to meet the property’s heat loss.

The Panasonic Aquarea K Series range of air to water heat pumps offers high efficiency, achieving A+++ Energy class with SCOP of 5.12. Buildings with long pipe runs and complex layouts often require higher temperatures and costly infrastructure upgrades. Ranging from 9 to 16 kW, the K Series delivers outstanding performance and provides a refrigerant link between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.

For extreme weather conditions, the K Series Aquarea units are available in high capacity using T-CAP technology. Panasonic’s Aquarea T-CAP is a single outdoor unit that supplies water for heating and domestic hot water. This low-energy system provides ideal temperatures and hot water, keeping total capacity even with extreme outdoor temperatures. With constant capacity and operation range down to -20°C with 65°C water outlet temperature, it's designed to maintain optimum heating even at extremely low temperatures.

With the Panasonic Smart Cloud and Service Cloud, that enables remote control and monitoring of the heating system, homeowners are empowered to control energy consumption. Furthermore, installers benefit from remote monitoring capabilities for swift diagnosis and resolution of the system’s operation, reducing wait time and often travel costs.

Keen to move away from fossil fuels and make the transition to renewable heating solutions, homeowner, Chris Carter, commented, “Eco Installers and Panasonic have delivered an impressive heat pump installation in our listed home. Their initial survey was very thorough and built the confidence we needed to work with them for what was a difficult retrofit project. The challenges of designing our installation required access and knowledge to a wide range of alternative solutions – which was no problem for them. The team installing the system were hard-working, courteous and tidy and could solve the inevitable challenges of a complex project. They presented solutions which, whilst not easy to implement, were aligned with our wish to ensure the character of the house was maintained. I am confident in recommending them.”

“With the support of government funding, making the transition to energy efficient home heating solutions is more affordable than ever.” added Paul Taylor, Head of Renewable Heating for Panasonic UK. “The ease of accessing government grants like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), means homeowners are more than capable of making the transition to air source heat pumps.”

England and Wales offer the UK Government BUS scheme and can receive £7,500 towards their heat pump installation. Homeowners in Scotland can also receive a £7,500 government grant with an additional £3,000 for those living in rural areas through the Home Energy Scotland Grant, along with an interest free loan also offered to help cover the balance, with the maximum covered on the loan being £15,000 less the grant received. These grants result in lower upfront customer costs for installations, particularly for vulnerable and low-income families.

To find out more, please visit https://www.aircon.panasonic.eu/ or https://ecoinstaller.co.uk/