Do heat pumps work with radiators?
If you’re considering switching from a commercial boiler to a heat pump, you might be wondering whether a heat pump will work with radiators.
Contrary to what you might think, the answer is yes!
However, there are some emitter design considerations your system designer will need to bear in mind. Here’s the lowdown.
Do heat pumps work with radiators?
Yes, heat pumps work with radiators.
Air source heat pumps work by absorbing energy from the air and compressing it into high-grade heat, using a small amount of electricity.
Although this is different from how boilers create heat, the way they deliver this heat through your building’s heating distribution system is very much the same.
This means you can pair a heat pump with radiators or underfloor heating, and together, these will heat your building in a way that feels similar to a traditional boiler.
That said, it’s important that your radiators are correctly sized to the heat pump and its refrigerant.
This is because heat pumps are more sensitive and have a lower tolerance of poorly sized and controlled emitters than boilers do.
What radiators work best with a heat pump?
As a general rule, heat pumps work best with bigger radiators that have a larger surface area.
This is because many heat pumps operate at lower flow temperatures than traditional gas boilers. A larger surface area allows them to heat a room just as effectively while operating at a lower temperature.
With this in mind, most buildings will benefit from switching to larger radiators if they’re retrofitting a heat pump.
However, this isn’t always the case. Which brings us onto…
Will a heat pump work with my existing radiators?
While most buildings will benefit from upgrading to bigger radiators when retrofitting a heat pump, this isn’t a hard and fast rule.
Whether you can keep your existing radiators will depend on factors such as…
- The existing boiler
- The existing radiators
- The heat pump and refrigerant
In particular, many buildings in the past have been fitted with oversized radiators, meaning they’re already suitable for low flow temperatures.
Similarly, if you can’t easily make changes to your building’s existing infrastructure, your system designer may suggest a high temperature heat pump that’s designed to allow you to keep your building’s existing radiators.
Our Elm heat pump has been designed especially for this purpose, and is the UK’s first direct boiler replacement heat pump.
Radiators vs underfloor heating for air source heat pumps
Radiators and underfloor heating can both be very effective with heat pumps.
The right choice for your building will depend on lots of factors, like your budget, existing heating system, heat pump unit and refrigerant. Likewise, there will be different considerations for new builds vs retrofit projects.
Here are the pros and cons of each.
Heat pump and radiators
Radiators tend to cost less to purchase and install than underfloor heating. This is especially the case if you’re retrofitting a heat pump and you already have radiators in place.
In this case, switching your existing radiators for bigger ones (or even keeping your existing radiators if that’s an option) will cost significantly less than retrofitting underfloor heating.
It will also be less disruptive and therefore make it easier for businesses to operate continuously during the retrofitting process.
Pros
- Cheaper to buy
- Costs less to install
- Less disruptive to install
- More likely to allow for continuous operation during installation
Cons
- Less efficient than underfloor heating
- Potential for cold spots
- Takes up wall or floor space
- Less visually appealing
Heat pump and underfloor heating
Underfloor heating is a particularly efficient match for heat pumps as, just like heat pumps, it tends to operate at low flow temperatures.
This is thanks to its large surface area, which means it doesn’t need to operate at high temperatures to provide effective space heating.
It’s often a particularly attractive option for new builds, as it’s generally more cost-effective to install underfloor heating from scratch than it is to retrofit it. Plus, disruption won’t be such a big factor.
Pros
- Designed to operate at low flow temperatures
- Distributes heat evenly (no cold spots)
- Saves wall and floor space
- Out of sight
Cons
- More expensive
- More disruptive to retrofit
- Harder to ensure continuous operation during installation for retrofit projects
Let our system designers make the right choice for your building
As you can see, there are lots of considerations to take into account when you’re choosing what kind of emitters to pair with your heat pump.
However, this isn’t something that you need to worry about.
Rather, it’s your system designer’s job to recommend the best solution for your building, taking into account your site, budget, preferences and heating requirements.
At Clade, our system designers are experts in their field and can help to design the ideal heat pump system for your building, from the unit to the emitters and everything in between.
Just get in touch to get started.