New model debuted, as latest government figures confirm surge in demand for heat pump grant scheme
Kensa has this afternoon launched a new ground source heat pump that it claims is five times more energy efficient than a gas boiler.
The Cornwall-based manufacturer said its newest product - the Shoebox NX, named for its relatively diminutive size - is up to 20 per cent cheaper to run than air-source heat pumps, while also boasting lower maintenance costs and having a longer life expectancy.
The company said the upfront costs of installing the clean heating solution are eight per cent lower than an air source heat pump, provided units are installed as part of a heat network.
Kensa's model is designed to connect a number of households in a building or area to shared heat network infrastructure that pipes ambient low-carbon heat from the ground to the heat pumps in their homes.
Tamsin Lishman, CEO of Kensa Heat Pumps described the Shoebox NX as a "game-changing heat pump".
"Until now, achieving mass heat pump rollout has been a complex challenge, but with the launch of our Shoebox NX, we've engineered a small, high-performance heat pump that's ready to replace gas as the main home heating choice," she said.
"When combined with our networked ground source heat pumps solution, it unlocks cosy homes in the winter and cooler homes in the summer for almost anyone, and at low costs to the consumer."
Under Kensa's networked model, heat pump customers pay a standing charge as part of their energy bill to connect to the heat network. The infrastructure is funded by Kensa in advance of household ground-source heat pump installations.
Kensa, which last year secured £70m in investment from Octopus Energy and Legal and General Capital, said it had capacity to scale up factory production of the Shoebox NX to deliver 30,000 units annually.
It maintains the clean heating system can be easily fitted into homes by most heating and plumbing engineers without extensive training, and is designed to work in homes of all sizes, given it is "small enough to fit in airing cupboard".
The Shoebox NX can also provide passive cooling for homes in summer at a much lower cost than air conditioning, Kensa said.
John Bromley, managing director of clean energy strategy and investments at Legal and General Capital, hailed Kensa's "highly efficient, networked ground-source heating and cooling solution".
"As an experienced energy transition investor, we are proud to be supporting Kensa's growth and we are delighted to see the launch of their latest ground-breaking Shoebox NX heat pump, a culmination of years of expertise and development," he said. "We share Kensa's ambition to deliver reliable, efficient heating solutions for consumers, developers, housing providers, and more - taking us a step closer to decarbonising UK properties at scale."
The launch came on the same day that government statistics revealed applications for heat pump grants surged by 40 per cent in January, with more than 2,000 applications submitted under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
The figures were hailed by Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho as evidence of the success of the government's decision to increase the grants available through the scheme. "After we made our heat pump scheme one of the most generous in Europe, applications have soared by 40 per cent year on year - showing that our approach is the right one," she said.
However, January's figures remain below the level recorded in October and November, when applications to the Boiler Upgrade Scheme soared after the government increased the grants on offer for households installing air source and ground source heat pumps from £5,000 to £7,500. Experts have warned that without further action the government could struggle to meet its goal of 600,000 heat pump installations a year by 2028.
Jess Ralston, energy analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: "Heat pump sales have surged in the US, where they are dubbed 'freedom pumps' and Europe since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and are starting to gain momentum in the UK. This comes despite the gas industry pushing 'campaigns of misinformation' around the technology, as one Government Minister put it, and confusion from the government on its Clean Heat Market Mechanism that aims to boost heat pump sales. As the North Sea output inevitably continues to decline, unless we start to shift away from gas boilers, then we'll just have to import more gas from abroad to burn in them."
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