Vaillant’s aroTHERM plus was specified for an eco-friendly family home that required a new HFC free heating system.
Long-standing environmental campaigners, Chris Rose and Sarah Wise, had already renovated their property with sustainable products and services, such as upgraded loft and additional external wall insulation, solar PV and solar thermal which contributes to the hot water requirements, argon-filled double glazing, a green electricity tariff and PVC wiring.
In 2020, having replaced the gas cooker with an electric cooker, the couple decided to replace their condensing gas boiler with an air source heat pump.
Norfolk based installers, Ecoplumb, worked with Vaillant to design a simple system using a 5kW aroTHERM plus to provide heat to the radiators and the uniSTOR 150litre hot water cylinder for the family home.
The aroTHERM plus uses a natural refrigerant, R290, which is not only HFC-free but also has a low Global Warming Potential (GWP) of just 3.
As the aroTHERM plus is MCS approved, the family will be eligible for the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) where they will receive repayments over the next seven years. Additionally with a high SCOP of 5.03, the family now has one of the most efficient heat pumps on the market.
Chris Rose says: “We both worked on Greenpeace campaigns in the 1990s, aimed at preventing HFCs being widely adopted in heating and cooling systems as they are super-powerful greenhouse gases.
"Unfortunately, many heat pumps, while great technology for replacing gas boilers, still use HFCs as heat-exchanging gases. As with fridges and aircon systems, HFCs can always leak out into the atmosphere, adding to climate change. So, we wanted a HFC-free system, and when Vaillant’s new aroTHERM plus became available in the UK, it was a natural choice for us”.
Technology used:
1 x aroTHERM plus 5kW air source heat pump
1 x Heat pump interface
1 x uniSTOR 150litre hot water cylinder
1 x sensoCOMFORT system control