Heat pumps serve prestige housing development in Ireland
Panasonic’s Aquarea T-Cap heat-pump system is at the heart of the energy strategy for 21 luxury homes in Straffan, Co. Kildare, Ireland. These homes have five and six bedrooms, and heating and hot water is provided entirely by the heat pumps all year round.
Mulberry Properties, the developer of Straffan Manor, was looking to achieve an A2 building energy rating using renewable energy and exceed the requirements to reduce carbon emissions outlined in Part L.
12 kW split systems were installed by Mick O’Shea Heating & Plumbing. With energy saving being a priority, the energy consumption of the heat pump was offset by pairing it with a thermal store and photo-voltaic panels
The risk of legionella was avoided by installing Kingspan thermal stores with a capacity of 540 l and a domestic-hot-water coil. Because of the large volume of the thermal store, there is never a dramatic drop in temperature, so there is no need to prioritise between heating and hot water. The heat pump can comfortably recover the temperature.
SolarPV panels in the roofs of the houses yield about 1530 kWh of energy a year, offsetting the electricity used by the heat pumps.
There is underfloor heating on the ground floors of these homes which, because the homes are airtight, heats the whole building.
