Ground source heat pump installed in a barn conversion
A wood burning stove in the sitting room provides an additional heat source and a cosy ambiance, but the heat pump is sized to provide sufficient heating without it.
Ground source heat pump installed in a barn conversion
Barn Conversion with Ground Source Heat Pump
This is a charming conversion of farm bulidings in a rural hamlet.
Location: near Stamford, A period barn conversion (1999)
Property Size: 400m2
System Type: Two Ground Source Heat Pumps with boreholes
System Size: 31kW
Heat emitters: Underfloor heating on the ground floor, radiators on first floor
Extra features: a PV solar array
When the original barn conversion took place in 1999, a conventional oil fuelled heating system was installed. A large proportion of the building is single storey, with much of it open to the eaves thus creating a huge space to heat. With oil prices historically so volatile, our clients were keen to achieve a more sustainable and less expensive way to heat their home. The Government’s RHI scheme (designed to offset the capital outlay of such a project) also helped to sway the balance financially. The owners added a PV array to offset the energy costs by generating some of their own electricity.
Seven boreholes were drilled to a depth of 110m in the claystone/siltstone rock. A 40mm heat exchanger pipe, filled with a glycol mix was inserted into these to collect heat from the ground.
A new 300 litre hot water cylinder was relocated in the utility room alongside the heat pumps. Room thermostats control the temperatures in different zones throughout the house.
Due to the large heating demand, two heat pumps were required. We specified Ecoforest 5-22 kW inverter driven ground source heat pumps on the single-phase electricity supply. These increase their efficiency by adapting to the heating demand and so reduce fuel bills even further.