LG heat pump meets wood-burning boiler
When environmental engineering consultant Paul Hinam cannot keep up with the demand for logs for the wood-burning boiler in his environmentally friendly house near Cardiff, an LG heat pump steps in to meet the demand. He says, ‘It is a once-in-a-lifetime house. I wanted to showcase what I do for a living and do the right ting for the environment. We are ecologically aware as a family and as business.’
The low-energy 2-storey structure also has solar tube collectors on the roof.
Paul Hinam bought and plumbed in a wood boiler and used wood left over from the construction of the house. He also takes wood, with permission, from skips destined for landfill. He is approaching a locally managed forestry business to provide fuel. There is also a wood-burning stove in the lounge.
The LG Therma V system backs up the boiler and replaces one supplied by a different manufacturer which performed poorly, especially in cold weather.
He says, ‘The trouble with a biomass boiler is you need a lot of logs, and there is only so much time in the day. Although I enjoy the physical aspect of wood chopping, this gives us the best of both worlds — the heat pump tops it up and continue to run it.’
The boiler works in series with the heat-pump boiler secondary LTHW pipework and works well with the heat pump in automatic mode. As the wood runs out or we have had enough topping it up, the heat pumps kicks in. The Therma V has a COP of around 4.3 and a flow of 60°C.
