Aquarea heat pumps make it home
26th October 2022
UK: Housebuilder Gleeson Homes is specifying Panasonic’s Aquarea heat pumps following trials at a number of UK affordable housing projects.
Panasonic provided 5kW Aquarea Monobloc air-to-water heat pumps to the trial homes in three locations where the developer was looking for a sustainable alternative to replace gas boilers in its new housing developments.
At the Gleeson affordable homes development in Poolsbrook, Chesterfield, a three-bedroom detached house was fitted with the Aquarea heat pump and had its performance compared to an identical home fitted with a gas boiler on a nearby development. The same trial that is also being carried out at two other Gleeson developments in England.
With the aim of reaching sustainability targets beyond the requirements of the new SAP10 regulations, Gleeson Homes has now planned a controlled roll-out of the Panasonic Aquarea heat pump within 1000s of its properties. Installation has already commenced on 256 new homes under consrtuction in South Lincolnshire.
Adam Butterfield, Design Manager for Gleeson Homes revealed that the choice came down to looking beyond upfront costs and considering quality, ease of installation and critically the seasonal coefficient of performance figures for the units.
“Following independent testing by one of the UK’s leading energy consultants, the Panasonic Aquarea unit achieved industry-leading efficiencies in the UK climate,” Butterfield said. “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.”
Gleeson Homes is aware of the challenges presented by a switch from gas boilers to renewable alternatives. Simon Brown, Panasonic’s business development manager, said: “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.”
