Stephanie Gregory, Director of Marketing, the Kensa Group, on why ground source heat pumps are the future of sustainable heating…
Owners and operators of holiday and leisure parks could be saving thousands in energy costs and generating a profitable additional income stream by adopting renewable heating options.
With many park sites being without access to mains gas, energy sources are often limited to more expensive and carbon intensive electricity, oil or LPG.
However in light of UK Parliament passing a motion declaring an ‘environment and climate emergency’, UK businesses will need to make significant changes to their approach to energy in order to reduce their environmental impact, and help the UK achieve net zero carbon targets by 2050. One quick and easy way to achieve this is by switching from fossil fuels to low carbon heating.
The lowest carbon heating solution is ground source heat pumps. By producing three to four times more heat energy than the electricity they consume, and with the growing decarbonisation of the electricity grid owing to increased contributions from wind, solar PV and hydro, ground source heat pumps carbon footprint is continually diminishing. 
The efficiency of ground source heat pumps provides more than just carbon savings; crucially for businesses it also provides running cost savings, and maintenance savings; energy bills are effectively reduced by a third.
It is due to the efficiency and carbon benefits of ground source heat pumps that Government pays the highest tariff for owners of the technology via the Non Domestic Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI); for businesses, this provides a 20 year guaranteed quarterly income – the RHI is in place until 2021.
The free and constantly replenished energy extracted from land or water sources by ground source heat pumps can be used to fulfil the heating and cooling requirements from single units to multiple buildings, as well as commercial processes, all year round.
Fuelled by ease of planning, many ground source heat pump schemes feature clusters of holiday accommodation. Kensa Heat Pumps, the UK’s dedicated manufacturer – and number one supplier – of ground source heat pumps, has designed the ‘Shoebox Heat Pump’ with smaller dwellings in mind. Perfect for lodges or chalets, the Shoebox is small and quiet, and so can be installed inside the dwelling occupying minimal space.
By installing individual ground source heat pumps inside each dwelling connected to communal pipework, rural businesses will receive fixed Non Domestic RHI payments based on deemed energy usage, avoiding the headaches that many with metered biomass systems will be familiar with.
Furthermore, the communal pipework, pioneered by Kensa as ‘Shared Ground Loop Arrays’, an advancement in Fifth Generation District Heating, reduces ground work costs. The individual ground source heat pumps can operate independently, receive their own energy bills, and if required, switch energy supplier.
Ground source heat pump systems can also be easily integrated with existing electric renewable technologies and battery storage, allowing rural business owners to become more self-sufficient. Many entrepreneurs are also using ground source technology to diversify their businesses, utilising surplus electricity to provide heat energy for new business opportunities.
For more information on ground source heat pumps, see www.kensaheatpumps.com
