{"id":288,"date":"2026-02-08T19:24:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T19:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/?page_id=288"},"modified":"2026-10-15T06:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T06:56:20","slug":"heat-pumps","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/heat-pumps\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat Pumps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"heating\"<\/span>
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HEAT PUMPS \/ THE BASICS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHeat pumps don’t generate heat.
\nThey move it.<\/span>\n<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The idea behind the modern heat pump is more than 170 years old. The clever part isn’t making heat \u2014 it’s collecting heat that already exists and moving it into your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
How heat pumps work \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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01<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Heat is collected from the air, ground or water outside the home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

02<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Electricity powers the process that raises the temperature of the collected heat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

03<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Move<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The upgraded heat is transferred into the home’s heating system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

04<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repeat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The refrigerant cycle continues, moving heat rather than creating it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
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NOT A NEW IDEA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat pumps have been a long time coming.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For many homeowners, heat pumps seem like a very modern technology. In reality, scientists and engineers have been exploring the principle for generations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

1850s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scottish physicist William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin, developed the theoretical principles behind moving heat from a colder area to a warmer one using mechanical energy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

LATE 1800s \u2192 EARLY 1900s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrigeration proves the idea<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Refrigeration systems demonstrated that heat could be removed from one place and released somewhere else. The obvious question followed: could the same process heat a building?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1930s<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large-scale heating<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Early large-scale installations appeared in Europe. In Switzerland, engineers used heat from Lake Geneva to provide heating for public buildings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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1970s \u2192 TODAY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficiency becomes important<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The energy crises of the 1970s renewed interest in reducing fossil-fuel use. Modern heat pumps are the result of decades of improvement in the same basic idea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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THE SIMPLE EXPLANATION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of a refrigerator.
Then reverse the job.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A refrigerator removes heat from inside the cabinet and releases it into the room. A heat pump uses the same basic principle to collect heat from outside and deliver it into your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Outside heat \u2192 Heat pump \u2192 Your home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It isn’t creating energy from nothing. It is using electricity to move existing heat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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WHERE DOES THE HEAT COME FROM?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three main heat sources.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The heat-pump principle is broadly the same. What changes is where the system collects its heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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01 \/ AIR<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An air source heat pump extracts heat from the outside air and transfers it into the home’s heating system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore air source \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
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02 \/ GROUND<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ground source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ground source systems collect heat stored in the ground using buried pipework or boreholes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore ground source \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
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03 \/ WATER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Water source heat pumps can collect heat from a suitable body of water and move it into the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore water source \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

There is another option.<\/strong> A hybrid heating system combines a heat pump with a boiler, allowing the two technologies to work together when required.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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WHY EFFICIENCY LOOKS DIFFERENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Electricity runs the pump.
It doesn’t provide all the heat.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A traditional electric heater converts electricity directly into heat. A heat pump uses electricity to operate a system that moves additional heat from the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand COP and SCOP \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

ELECTRICITY IN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2193<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEAT MOVED<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3\u20135<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exact performance depends on the system and operating conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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COMMON MISCONCEPTION<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what happens
when it’s cold?\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Heat pumps are not a technology designed only for mild climates. Sweden, Norway and Finland adopted heat pumps much earlier than many countries and use them in conditions considerably colder than most of the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The important issue isn’t simply whether a heat pump works in cold weather.<\/strong>
The design, sizing, controls, emitters and home itself all matter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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HEAT PUMPS IN THE UK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are we hearing so much about them now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Heat pumps have been installed in Britain for years, but wider adoption remained limited while gas, oil and other fossil fuels dominated domestic heating.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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01   Rising energy costs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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02   Better heat-pump efficiency<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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03   Government support and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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04   Reducing carbon emissions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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05   Greater awareness of home energy efficiency<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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THE BIT THAT MATTERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A heat pump isn’t automatically right for every home.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The technology is proven. But good performance depends on careful design and understanding the property it is being installed into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heat loss, insulation, radiators or underfloor heating, flow temperatures, hot-water requirements, controls and the behaviour of the people living in the home can all influence how well the final system performs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n

KEEP EXPLORING<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand the system
before choosing the system.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

01   How heat pumps actually work \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

02   Is my home suitable? \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

03   Types of heat pump \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

04   COP and SCOP explained \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

05   Insulation and heat loss \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

06   Grants and funding \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n
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Helping with the retrofit puzzle.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Understand the home first. Then decide which technology belongs in it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
Back to the homeowner handbook \u2192<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

01 Collect Heat is collected from the air, ground or water outside the home. 02 Compress Electricity powers the process that raises the temperature of the collected heat. 03 Move The upgraded heat is transferred into the home’s heating system. 04 Repeat The refrigerant cycle continues, moving heat rather than creating it. NOT A NEW […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-288","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":161,"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5455,"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/288\/revisions\/5455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mywarmhome.co.uk\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}