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Contrary to the prevailing wisdom that reducing GHG emissions will raise societal energy costs, Heat pump technology can provide consumers with lower and more stable heating costs while dramatically cutting GHG emissions.
There are a number of opportunities where heat pumps could contribute to reduced energy demand,
· GreenhousesOur company, AC Heating Ltd., has developed a unit that can be utilised in any of these applications. It is a brand new Air – Water invert technology Heat Pump, that is manufactured out of high resistant material and can face the tough farming environment. Each of the areas mentioned above have different heat distribution systems; heat mats in greenhouses, heat exchangers in fish farms, industrial fan coils in chicken farms or resting pads and delta pipes in pig farms. Therefore heat pumps need to be modified for best performance and maximum savings in any of these areas. We are able to control the temperature of the heating water or the room area. In the past few years, we have installed our machines in a number of pig farms and other facilities.
· Dairies
· Fish Farms
· Pig Farms
· Chicken Farms etc.
The savings, especially in the pig breeding sector, are reaching stunting heights of 75% compared to the usual fossil fuels e.g LPG, kerosene etc. Yet, the system gives the farmers more control of the temperature at the resting pads in farrowing houses or the room temperature in the weaners section.
The heat pump produces a constant water temperature in the resting pads or automatically adjusts the temperature of the heating water in the weaners section. This means there are no waves of heat being released and the heat is distributed evenly. This may possibly lead to higher productivity of the farm.
This range of heat pumps, as opposed to classical systems, is equipped with a frequency converter/inverter, an electronic expansion valve and many other improvements, leading to a high efficiency of our systems. Therefore, there is no need of a buffer tank to be used with conventional heat pumps.
Recently, we have carried out a case study on Ashleigh Pig farm in Co. Waterford. This was done to investigate the difference of the costs of heating using the condensing oil boiler compared to the air-water heat pump. The results were outstanding, the heat pump slashed down an unbelievable 73% of the original heating expenses. ( The full case study report can be found at: www.acheating.ie )
Mr. McGrath states, “ I am very happy with the Air-Water Heat Pump System supplied by AC Heating Ltd. The heating cost per pig is 0.32 cents at the moment which gives a total cost reduction of 0.86 cents per pig ( farrowing/ weaners section ) and this accounts to 73% savings over my previous oil boiler. This is a very good saving, as a result the payback on the investment will take no more than 2 years. The technology is supported by SEAI ( Sustainable Energy Association Ireland ) which offers a 30% grant on all equipment.
Also our overall Carbon Emissions have decreased on the farm . When using the oil boiler our farm produced 325kg's of CO2 or 88kg's of Carbon per day compared to the current situation now with the heat pumps, where we now produce 80kg's of CO2 or 21.8kg's of Carbon per day. So on top of the savings we are also helping the environment.”
Once repaid, farmers will benefit from savings on their energy costs, as well as a reduction on their carbon footprint.
AC Heating Ltd
