Can you spend (relatively) little to renew your house system intelligently while also considering how to optimise future consumption? The answer is yes, as you will find out reading this article.

From the cold that creeps through the cracks in old windows to taps that drip, through electric leakage, mould growth and many other small and large problems. Sooner or later, everyone faces the same question of whether it is more cost-effective to buy a new home or “revive” their house by refurbishing it.  The second option is most certainly less expensive, but will still require time and resources to modernise the various system solutions in the home, such as the electrical and plumbing systems. When planning a refurbishment of your property, it is also worth considering a replacement, or at least an upgrade, of the air conditioning system. This will improve living comfort, since we spend most of our time at home, and also reduce energy consumption and consequently cut the cost of bills. So what are the main solutions for renewing the system at low cost? Clearly, heat pumps are a “green” alternative to the traditional boiler, although numerous parameters must be taken into account, including the current type of system (autonomous or centralised), the user’s needs (heating only, heating and cooling) and the climate of the area where the property is located.

If the heating system is autonomous

For those living in a single-family home or in an apartment block where the heating and domestic hot water production system is autonomous, switching to a heat pump is a solution that provides multiple advantages. As we are well aware, this type of system is much more sustainable as it uses a free renewable source compared to the gas used for the boiler. Moreover, heat pumps are highly efficient, which means lower consumption and large savings on bills, as well as being extremely versatile. 

There are even more advantages if the refurbishment entails replacing traditional radiators with a radiant heating system. This type of solution, consisting of piping installed in the floor, wall or false ceiling in which a heated liquid circulates, ensuring even heat distribution in all rooms, adapts perfectly to the unique features of heat pumps. This is because radiant systems need much lower temperatures to function properly (between 30°C and 35°C) than those required by a radiator (over 60°C).

But what if the refurbishment does not include an upgrade of the heat distribution system?

  • For older systems, with radiators and poor building insulation:

 you can opt for so-called hybrid systems, i.e. solutions that integrate heat pump functions with a boiler. Here is an example: among the many products available on the market is Clivet’s SPHERA EVO 2.0 EasyHybrid air-to-water hybrid heat pump, which won the highly-coveted KLIMAHOUSE PRIZE in the Market Performance category in 2022.

  • For buildings with a traditional radiator heating system,  but with good thermal insulation:

you can opt for a full-electric solution, preferably propane-fuelled. This is because the use of R290 refrigerant can be considered the latest trend in green heat pumps, given its unique ecological, safety and efficiency features. Not surprisingly, Clivet recently introduced its first line of propane heat pumps for residential applications called Edge F.

Find out more SPHERA EVO 2.0 EasyHybrid Find out more Edge F con R290

With a centralised heating system

Even those living in an apartment block can make their heating system more “green” by replacing the traditional condensing boiler with a more advanced heat pump system. It is no coincidence that when it comes to the energy requalification of a building, this type of intervention is one of the first to be planned.

Of course, in this situation the process is more complex because the decision to upgrade the system has to be approved by the apartment owners at a meeting, according to applicable majorities.

Is it really worth replacing the boiler with a heat pump?

The answer is most certainly yes, even if the initial expense, compared to a few years ago, can be very high. Energy savings in the medium term are ensured, as heat pumps do not require gas or methane, saving about 20-25% on energy bills.
Among Clivet’s products specifically designed for centralised systems in apartment blocks, perfect for both requalification interventions and new builds, are the air-to-water heat pumps SHEEN EVO 2.0 (for medium/small buildings) and LARGE EVO (for large apartment blocks).For the requalification of existing systems, Clivet proposes Thunder, a reversible air-to-water heat pump for outdoor installation that also produces domestic hot water and has a capacity ranging from 33.8 to 69.2 kW. 

 

Find out more THUNDER Find out more Sheen EVO 2.0 Find out more Large EVO

The versatility of heat pumps

The heat pump not only heats the house and provides domestic hot water, but it can also be used in the summer to cool the rooms. Of course, the terminal units will change according to the type of product. For air-to-air heat pumps, it will be necessary to install a fancoil system to evenly distribute the fresh air to the various rooms in the home. Air-to-water or water-to-water heat pumps must be combined with radiant panels.

And if, on the other hand, the financial resources available are limited?

In this case, a complete air conditioning and hot water production system can still be created by combining a series of split units with a heat pump.

The alternative option of split systems for mid-season

As we have seen, heat pumps are a real alternative to boilers and therefore are an environmentally friendly, versatile and efficient solution for heating and cooling the house, as well as ensuring the production of hot water. Can traditional split systems we mentioned earlier, which are switched on in the summer to mitigate the heat, actually fulfil this function? Again, the answer is yes. Clivet split systems, for example, are extremely efficient when operating in cooling mode (energy class A+++) and in heating mode (energy class A++). 

This is why these products, such as the Cristallo MULTISplit system, are perfectly capable of heating domestic spaces without the need for a boiler, particularly during mid-seasonFor example, the Cristallo split system, which also has a WiFi connection for remote control, was used successfully by the owners of an apartment in Belluno in Italy, in a block of 5 housing units, not only to cool the south-facing rooms that are extremely hot in the summer, but also to achieve optimal living comfort in the autumn and spring. “With Clivet’s Cristallo MULTISplit we have also cut our gas bill”, commented the property owners with great satisfaction. “We use the split system in mid-season so that we can achieve the desired temperature much faster than by switching on the boiler. Not only that: when we are away, we switch it on half an hour before we return so that we find the house warm”.

Find out more Cristallo