Ground Source Heat Pumps promise environmentally friendly heating solutions in Cornwall.

Kensa Utilities and Coastline Housing celebrated their working relationship by taking a recent tour of the European Regional Development Fund supported project Heat the Streets.

Senior members from both companies took a tour of Collin’s Parc in Stithians to take a look at the ground works that have been installed as part of the world’s first in-road ground array infrastructure.

The teams were given the opportunity to look at one of the newly installed ground source heating systems. It is one of 31 ground source heat pumps that are being connected within Coastline Housing properties in Cornwall.

Heating accounts for 34% of carbon emissions in the UK and ground source heat pumps are the lowest carbon, most efficient form of heating. To successfully meet the Net-Zero goals of the government providers must look at ways to deploy low carbon heating throughout the country. Through Heat the Streets, Kensa Utilities are demonstrating a solution for retrofitting multiple properties at scale with ground source heating systems.

The project involves installing ground source heat pump technology in new and existing homes across Cornwall which will then be connected to Shared Ground Loop Arrays, a communal network of underground pipework that will extract renewable heat via boreholes. Once installed, the boreholes will be visually unobtrusive, providing a reliable heat source all year-round.

The infrastructure requires minimal maintenance and has an expected lifespan of 100 years. The ground source heat pumps have an expected lifetime greater than 20 years, also allowing long-term cost savings for Coastline and its customers. 

Through Heat the Streets, Kensa and Coastline can be confident that residents are being provided with optimum comfort and lower running costs. Kensa estimate that replacing the night storage heaters with ground source heat pumps will not only reduce running costs by up to £500 per year, but also cut carbon emissions by 70%. 

Lisa Treseder, Director of Business Development, Kensa Utilities states:

“A Ground Source Heat Pump on a Shared Ground Loop provides the lowest carbon, lowest running costs, and lowest whole-life costs. As a result of these systems, housing providers can reduce their environmental impact, future-proof their assets, and protect their tenants from fuel poverty.

“We are proud of our relationship with Coastline and believe that the model we are demonstrating through Heat the Streets is a scalable blueprint for the deployment of heat pumps throughout the UK”

Gareth Jones, Contracts Manager at Coastline Housing, adds: 

“A number of Coastline households will benefit from this innovative project and it helps us as a social landlord progress towards less reliance on fossil fuels in future in line with the ambitions in our environmental strategy. 

“It’s a real win-win for Coastline and for our customers. As well as the obvious environmental benefits, it will mean lower running costs for customers heating their homes. As a local housing charity, both of these things are very important to us and we hope to be able to roll this technology out to other areas in future.”

Both of these Cornish companies are committed to improving the lives of people through affordable, more efficient low carbon solutions.