Heat pumps are almost magically efficient. They use a small amount of electricity to take natural, low-level heat from the air outside and condense it to generate significantly more heat in your home. They can turn 1kWh electricity into up to 4kWh of heat - that's 4x more than even the most efficient gas, electric or oil boilers. Because they're so super efficient they require much less renewable energy than other alternatives (like pure electric boilers) and due to their inherent flexibility they can actually help reduce peak loads on the grid.

Air-to-water heat pumps take heat from the outside air and feed it into your wet central heating system. They're most suitable for larger radiators or water underfloor heating because the heat they produce is cooler than that from a conventional gas or oil boiler. To be most effective they need a large surface area to release the heat. It is more straightforward to incorporate larger radiators or underfloor heating for a heat pump while you're extending your home or in a new-build property. It can also cost less than retrofitting underfloor heating later on. An air source heat pump is a low-carbon way of heating your home. They absorb latent heat from the outside air and use it to increase the temperature inside your home. Air source heat pumps look similar to air-conditioning units. Their size depends on how much heat they'll need to generate for your home - the more heat, the bigger the heat pump. There are two main types of air source heat pumps: air-to-water and air-to-air. They work in different ways and are compatible with different types of heating systems.

Generally, an air source heat pump produces noise levels of 40-60 decibels from a distance of one meter away. This does depend on the system, however. The reason why they are relatively noisy is because of the four main elements – the compressor, AC condenser, expansion valve and evaporator – can all be heard operating when in use. Most common boilers produce 40-50 decibels when running.

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Heat Pump Maintenance A good quality and well installed air or ground source heat pump system will require relatively little maintenance and can be expected to last for at least 20-30 years. Installations require an annual check which can be done either by the system’s owner or by a qualified installer or engineer.