02 May 2024
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After the Environmental Audit Committee labelled the Government’s responses on adapting to heatwaves a “missed opportunity", Kensa Heat Pumps Technical Director, Dan Roberts, has urged for more to be made of how heat pumps can provide cooling for buildings: “It’s no secret that the world is getting warmer, and in the UK, our homes are not prepared to deal with heat waves. The Environmental Audit Committee has even cited in its Heat Resilience and Sustainable Cooling report that heat-related deaths could rise to 10,000 every year without concerted actions to adapt to the warming climate – this should raise alarm bells for everyone!
“When it comes to the home, if we start discussing the possibility of a mass retrofit program to make properties capable of coping with excessive heat, we should be making more of the cooling role that heat pumps can play.
“Heat pumps are pivotal to heat decarbonisation, but very few are aware of their cooling capabilities. Along with being a highly efficient heating source Ground Source Heat Pumps can also provide environmentally friendly, extremely low-cost cooling and overheating protection.
“If we’re looking to install low-cost, low-carbon heating systems so people can afford to heat their homes in winter whilst ensuring the best outcomes for the environment, then surely it's a win-win if that same product can deliver effective cooling at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.
“We gave oral evidence to the Environmental Audit Select Committee last summer on this subject, and if more was made of how heat pumps can be part of the cooling solution as well as heating, then it might help more people see the benefits of what a heat pump can provide.”
www.thekensagroup.com
