Why doesn't the UK embrace domestic air con?
Our recent weather has shown, once again, that UK homes don’t deal well with long hot spells. ☀️☀️
This time though, discussions about domestic air conditioning seems to have cranked up a level.
This research piece, published by DESNZ last week, looks at the suitability of reversible air-to-air heat pumps. This type of heat pump provides dwellings with both heating and cooling in a single system.
The report says this tech can meet demand for heating, cooling and hot water in new-build homes, but it doesn't include real-world data, and assumes older properties will need to rely on immersion cylinders for hot water (something my heat pump manufacturing friends will certainly take issue with!)
Personally, I like the idea of reversible heat pumps, so much so that I might even be tempted to replace my aging ASHP with one.
But from the new-build Building Regulations compliance side, reversible heat pumps have two major hurdles to overcome:
🟢 On the Part L side, we have to deal with SAP. It struggles to accurately model air to air heating systems which often leads to worse EPC results and puts developers off. The cooling demand calculation in SAP is very simplistic.
🟠 And on the Part O side, we have the Cooling Hierarchy. To mitigate against overheating, developers must focus on passive measures, only turning to mechanical cooling systems as a last resort.
If you install a single system that covers both heating and cooling in a single unit, this takes us into a very fuzzy area of the Part O Hierarchy, and SAP results often get worse because of the additional electricity for cooling.
We know SAP’s replacement, the Home Energy Model, will calculate the energy performance of air-to-air systems far more effectively, so that should resolve current issues with Part L and EPCs.
And we also understand Part O is due for a revamp with a consultation planned later this year.
But will these changes make it easier for this kind of hybrid technology, or should fabric and passive measures remain at the top of the agenda?
Is there a happy medium where both Camp Fabric and Camp Tech can agree?
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