I’ve just got back from talking with a Heat Pump specialist who gave me some advice on choosing a Heat Pump for our home. With winter fast approaching I’d like to have this installed sometime mid Autumn. We’ve been dicscussing the options between a Fujitsu Nocria, Mitsubishi and Panasonic all in the 5-7kW range. This is a guess at the size we would need to heat our home, which will be confirmed by a specialist this Monday.

The main things to look for in an efficient heat pump solution are :

• Energy Star award – These heat pumps are the most efficient, they are required to be able to continue heating even in temperatures down to 0 degress celcius.

• Power Output – The power output from a heat pump is quoted in Watts. A 7kW heat pump for example puts out 7kW of heat, however unlike a 2kW electric heater which uses 2kW of electricity to generate the heat output, a heat pump can provide the 7kW of heat with a lower electrical wattage level.

• COP rating – This refers to the amount of heat output vs the amount of electrical energy required. For example a heat pump with a COP of 4.1 would achieve 4.1kW of heat output for 1kW of electrical energy input.

Will keep you posted on the model we end up choosing and why.