Published on: Sep 10 2013
Considering the Green Deal? The answer’s not necessarily under your feet. A recent winner at the National Heat Pump Awards, ThermaSkirts’ Martin Wadsworth tries to dispel a few myths. If you were considering a package of Green Deal measures to improve the energy efficiency of your properties, the list prepared by DECC in their Consultation document would seem a good place to start.
Chief amongst them would be insulation and double glazing – improving the properties ability to retain the heat it has, is the most cost effective (and necessary) improvement you could make.
Replacing the old boiler (if on-gas) with the latest A rated condensing boiler, with variable flow temperature and weather compensation makes perfect sense.
Installing renewables such as solar thermal or a heat pump (if off-gas) makes a compelling argument, especially with uncertainty & volatility in the gas markets threatening to disrupt supply.
Of course, to maximise the efficiency of such measures and to operate at low flow temperatures in order to optimise performance you would install under floor heating. Right?
If you read the papers, and the barrage of PR articles, you might be convinced that Under floor heating is the only emitter suitable for Green Deal measures, and in some flights of fancy might even be eligible for ‘grants’.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The fact is, that the SAP documentation produced by the BRE (Building Research Establishment) which underpins the Green Deal, takes no account of the emitter, only whether it can deliver the necessary heat required at the design flow temperatures that permit the energy savings at the heat source to be realised.
The Under Floor heating lobby have been very successful at persuading people that as UFH has to operate at low temperature (to prevent damage to the sub floor or becoming uncomfortable under-foot) that somehow it is the only viable method of delivering the heat energy into the occupied space.
Consider the official position on the matter:
“Such low temperature systems can also be achieved using other types of heat emitters, and they are likely to be more responsive than underfloor systems.”
The BRE themselves are even more unequivocal:
“The concept of “efficiency” does not apply to heat emitters. It applies to heat generators, such as boilers and heat pumps. When the heat generator is able to run at lower temperatures it is generally more efficient. The energy saving benefit attributed to underfloor heating arises principally from lower temperature operation at the heat generator.”
So, in order to provide a heating system that can demonstrate the energy savings required to comply with the Green Deal, the installer is able to install a whole range of products, including over-sized radiators, fan assisted radiators and indeed radiant skirting. Yes, radiant skirting, like UFH and other emitters, when designed and installed correctly can be used in Green Deal projects.
With nearly 10,000 systems installed over the last 5 years, mainly in retrofit applications, radiant skirting heating has a track record and history of problem solving 2nd to none, and with Green Deal just around the corner, many believe its time has come.
