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Replacing gas boilers with Air Source Heat Pumps at a ����Ӱҵ College student house has reduced the property’s carbon footprint by 80% and significantly lowered energy bills, initial data shows.

Two ASHPs were installed at 4 Gresham Road in summer 2024 – see Goodhart House refurbishment a step towards degasification (from October 2024) – and initial figures are very promising.

To date the system is returning an average Coefficient of Performance of 300%, Estates Manager Andrew Gair reports.

A saving of £5,000 on energy bills is expected. An annual gas bill was circa £12,800 previously, and the electrical bill is estimated to be circa £7,800 for space and hot water heating only (for a direct comparison). The estimated cost is because a full heating season is still to be completed.

Andrew says: “If borne out later in the year, this suggests that the system is not only cheaper to run than the gas boiler, but has reduced our carbon footprint by almost 80%.”

The gas energy usage was circa 96 MWh per annum whereas the electricity energy usage is circa 21.7MWh per annum. These figures suggest a gas boiler efficiency of 70%.

The units are also quieter than the theoretical study suggested they might be, which means that they do not need to run on a night-time setting. 

The data informs decisions on the College’s decarbonisation project, which continues with improvements scheduled for the College’s historic Old Courts site, plus outside properties.