FEATURE
DOMESTIC BOILERS
& RENEWABLES
40 ALTECNIC
explains how to integrate
solar thermal into
existing heating systems
42 POTTERTON
asks whether combi or
system boilers are the
best installation?
44 BAXI
explains why now is a good
time to be thinking about
frozen boiler condensates
A breath of fresh air
Stephanie Gregory, marketing manager
at Kensa Heat Pumps, highlights how
innovative heating systems can combat
climate change and local air pollution.
Ground source heat pumps have
a major role to play in improving
London’s air quality
According to current estimates by
the UK Health Alliance, outdoor
air pollution contributes to
around 40,000 premature deaths,
over six million sick days and an estimated
total social cost of over £20 billion per
year.
In 2017, the Royal College of Physicians
revealed that 44 of the 51 UK cities in
the World Health Organisation (WHO)
ambient air pollution database exceed
WHO’s recommended limit for air
particulate matter.
AIR QUALITY
Air pollution comes in three main forms:
particulates; Nitrogen Oxides (NOx); and
Sulphur Oxides (SOx). Much of this air
pollution is caused by vehicle transport,
but there is also a contribution from
combustion heating systems that burn gas,
oil, LPG or biomass to produce heat.
In particular, air quality in the UK’s
cities is a major issue. In London, the
NOx pollution contribution directly from
domestic and commercial gas boilers is
estimated to be 16%, but that percentage
is set to grow as transport becomes
cleaner.
The correlation between air pollution,
climate change, and health has was widely
publicised in August after the Royal
College of General Practitioners (RCGP)
announced that it is to cease any future
investment in the oil and gas sector due to
climate change being a “clear risk to the
health and wellbeing” of patients, placing
the NHS under severe strain.
The public health charity, Medact,
described air pollution as “comparable to
tobacco in terms of the number of deaths
per year for which it is responsible”.
It added that the RCGP’s decision to
divest could not be timelier and it sends a
strong message that fossil fuel companies
that damage our population’s health
through air pollution and climate change
have no future.
Addressing our approach to heating
and cooling existing and new buildings is,
therefore, vital to deliver the air pollution
and carbon reductions needed to improve
the health and wellbeing of us all, and our
planet.
GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS
A ground source heat pump (GSHP)
is an electrically driven device with no
combustion. There are, therefore, no
point of use emissions of any pollution –
particulates, NOx or SOx (and no point
of use carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
either).
A particular benefit is the use of GSHP
systems in cities. For example, if a typical
three-bedroom property that consumes
12,000 kWh per year of heat was heated
by a modern condensing gas combi boiler
it would produce approximately 480g of
NOx emissions. For older, non-condensing
boilers this could be over 2kg NOx per
annum.
While ensuring that all gas boilers in
London are modern condensing boilers
would produce significant air pollution
38 Heating & Plumbing Monthly | OCTOBER 2018 | www.hpmmag.com
/www.hpmmag.com
