Professional Solar Panel Installers in Bridgwater

This is a very difficult question to answer as there is no one right answer. It is purely down to the characteristics of the dwelling. If for example the dwelling was a new build and had a heat loss of around 8-9kW then the most practical and efficient way would be a heat pump with in screed under floor heating. We could specify that the installation has a Season Performance Factor (SPF) of 3.5 meaning that over the course of the year the heat pump would be 350% efficient. For every kW of electricity put into the heat pump you would get 3.5kW back in heat. A gas boiler, oil boiler or biomass boiler has a typical efficiency of 90% as some the heat generated by them is lost to the boilers surrounding (which is greater if installed in an external boiler room) and heat is lost in the flue when emitting gases. Condensing boilers are more efficient as the flue temperatures are lower so less heat is lost. All boilers are very efficient, as the market improves so will the means to heat buildings. For dwellings with small heat losses or new builds air source heating is the best method. For larger properties then any biomass technology is perfectly suitable depending on clients' demands and requests.

Most properties can accommodate a biomass boiler, although there are certain exceptions such as a flat in a block of flats - this would benefit from a district heating installation. Provided that a house, bungalow etc. has the space to accommodate a boiler then in most circumstances it is feasible. A small dwelling could benefit from either a hydro pellet stove or a small pellet boiler. These typically need an area of 1.4m x 2m so that there is suitable clearance for servicing, the boiler's flue can be connected to the boiler and the boiler can be accessed for cleaning. Small hydro pellet boilers are installed in fireplaces or within the building as they are more aesthetically pleasing, whereas boilers tend to be installed in utility rooms, garages or out buildings such as sheds.

If the building is in a permitted develop rights area usually there is no problem, it is however advisable to get permission from your local council before installing a boiler. If the building is listed or in a conservation area such as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) or in a National Park then planning permission must be filled out and permission granted before any work goes ahead.

This might seem like a peculiar question but there is potentially a problem installing an air source heat pump to a dwelling or building that has an electric power shower. The reason for this is the amps that the components use. Typically a dwelling has an 80-100amp circuit breaker meaning that if the amps being used by the anything plugged into the mains exceed the circuit breaker then the circuit will blow and knock out the power supply to the house. An electric shower typically requires a constant demand of 30amps whilst it is in use as can potentially a heat pump. This means that if both are used at the same time then 60amps from a maximum of 100amps are being used, then if you add in the other day-to-day electrical components that are used such as televisions, cookers, microwaves, fridge freezers, laptops, computers etc that are in use then the circuit breaker in the building will trip and the power supply be shut off to the building. In most cases if a dwelling is installing a heat pump then the electric shower is removed as the hot water for the dwelling will be provided by the heat pump, but it is an aspect that will be looked into and asked about at a site visit.

The answer is yes. As the renewable sector grows so too does the demand for more efficient hot water cylinders. In the case of thermal it is simply the addition of a further hot water coil in the cylinder. This is usually in the upper part of the cylinder, but this coil can also be in the bottom of the cylinder. As a solar thermal panel requires a gycol mixture for heating fluid transfer with the cylinder (as this has a greater thermal conductivity than water) a solar thermal panel can still provide or top up a hot water cylinder in the winter. In the case of air source heat pumps, they have made specialised cylinders for these renewable technologies. The coil within the cylinder has a greater area than a conventional hot water cylinder so that the maximum amount of heat is extracted from the heat pump.