Heat pump moves house from Code Level 3 to 4
The Osborne demonstration house on the BRE Innovation Park is being brought up to Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable homes with the installation of Mitsubishi Electric’s Ecodan heat-pump residential heating system.
The Osborne house was designed by Baily Garner Architects as an example of a flexible, contemporary, adaptable and economic home. It was built in a day and a half and is based on an adaptable combination of structural insulated panels. It requires just a third of the energy for heating and cooling a house constructed to the 2006 Building Regulations.
The house has underfloor heating, heat-recovery ventilation, solar thermal hot water, electric skirting-board heating and temperature control taps.
‘This is already a very sustainable home, but adding an Ecodan air-source heat pumps takes it from Code Level 3 to 4 in one easy step,’ explains Max Halliwell, product manager for Mitsubishi Electric Heating Systems.
Econdan systems are available in three sizes and accredited under the Government’s Microgeneration Scheme, making them eligible for a £900 installation grant. They can help halve a home’s CO2 emissions and reduce running costs by at least 30% over modern gas boilers.
