Thermal Earth has begun work on a ground source heating system for 170 sustainable homes in Wales.
Specialists in renewable heating and cooling systems, Thermal Earth have recently begun the process of drilling over 100 boreholes at the largest development in the Cardiff Living housing scheme. The boreholes will provide ground source heating and hot water to 170 new homes on the former site of Eastern high school.
The boreholes will be configured in arrays of shared ground loops which will be connected to individual MasterTherm AQ17i ground source heat pumps installed in each of the properties, giving residents complete control over their own climate preferences and energy usage.
The AQ17i from MasterTherm is one of the smallest ground source heat pump models available in the UK, making it a key contender for the replacement of gas boilers in new build residential properties as the gas boiler ban rapidly approaches in 2025.
Shared ground arrays provide savings for the installation of highly efficient ground source heating systems and enable installation to be deployed at scale. This solution will play a key part in the UK government target to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, which is part of the 10-point plan to reach carbon net zero by 2050.
The Cardiff Living development which is being managed by Wates Residential, has been awarded £4.1m of funding from the Welsh Government Innovative Housing Programme (IHP) and will take energy performance standards to a new level as each of the homes will incorporate renewable technologies and smart energy management systems to reduce the energy demand on the grid, as well as helping to tackle fuel poverty by significantly reducing energy bills.
Thermal Earth is working with Cardiff-based sustainable energy services company, Sero to incorporate low carbon technologies into the development of all the new homes including ground source heat pumps, smart thermal storage, electric vehicle charging points, solar panels and smart controls for residents. Sero will provide an innovative grid energy control network that will intelligently draw, discharge and anticipate energy demands, almost completely avoiding the National Grid at peak times.
